Yet More Evidence Of Russian Action In Ukraine

Russian President Vladimir Putin signed a law Thursday making reports on military casualties, in particular those incurred during “special operations.” during peacetime a state secret. Anyone releasing such information can be prosecuted, a troubling fact given that the decree gave no definition on what a “special operation” is.

The decree comes at the same time when Russia is attempting to quash rumors about it deploying troops to aid separatists in Ukraine, especially in the wake of the extensive and damning Nemcov report about Russian involvement in Ukraine’s separatist war. Boris Nemcov, a prominent Russian opposition leader, was likely assassinated by the Russian government back in March to prevent the release of the report, which was finished and released by several friends and associates of Nemcov. In a related note, opposition activist Vladimir Kara-Murza, the federal coordinator of Open Russia, was hospitalized after losing consciousness from a mysterious illness. Kara-Murza was previously reported as being in good health, and the illness has been blamed on a kidney failure rather than poisoning.

Such an action by the Russian government is to be expected, as not only do most Russians claim to believe that the Russian military is not active in Ukraine, they also overwhelmingly oppose deploying Russian troops to Ukraine to aid separatists. All this is another reason for the Russian government to keep the presence of Russian troops in Ukraine a secret. House Armed Forces Chairman Mac Thornberry has claimed that the Russian military has employed mobile crematoriums to dispose of the bodies of killed Russian servicemen, citing classified US and Ukranian reports. Representative Seth Moulton also stated the existence of crematoriums in the Ukraine, but was unable to confirm the existence of such reports. Unconfirmed footage and reports of mobile crematoriums in the Ukraine have circulated the internet for some time.

Regardless of Russian attempts to keep their actions in Ukraine classified, reports have surfaced of the Russian military massing hundreds of soldiers and heavy weaponry such as artillery and armored vehicles at the Kuzminskij firing range around 50 kilometers from the Ukrainian border. Reporters noted large quantities of soldiers and military vehicles being transported via rail to the city of Matveev Kurgan near the Ukrainian border. Many of the vehicles have number plates removed while soldiers are reported to have removed any identifying markings from their uniforms. The Russians are likely using the ceasefire to build up a force to aid the separatists. President Obama has repeatedly failed to come to an agreement whether or not to supply the Ukrainian armed forces with arms capable of countering the more advanced Russian weaponry, despite signing the Ukraine Freedom Support Act. As many have noted, the Ukrainian military is under-armed and under-budgeted, with little hope of withstanding heavier Russian-backed attacks. If Russia’s aggression is not halted now, we can have no guarantees on peace and Russia respecting the territorial sovereignty of Estonia, Georgia, or numerous other former Soviet states.