Civil war in Ukraine

[Cadian]

Alexander Afendikov, the new mayor of Debaltseve.

 

[pmaitra]

Alexander Afendikov, the new mayor of Debaltseve.

Is he a Greek citizen? He's got a Greek flag on his arm.

 

[arpakola]

Is he a Greek citizen? He's got a Greek flag on his arm.

he is of Greek origin , his family migrated to Russia during the 18th century , while Greece was occupied by the Turks (probably just after the failed 1st Greek revolution organised by Orlof ).
his name is Alexander Afendikof (afendiko in Greek means boss ). he was known with the nick name Shasha Grek

RIP to an other Greek killed in Donbass airport

Olga Kovitidi - Vice president of Crimea
also Greek Origin

 

[pmaitra]

Novorossia acquires a treasure trove of UAF equipment abandoned at Debaltsevo

2/19/2015
On the trophies kindly left by the UAF for Novorossia in the Debaltsevo cauldron
By Aleksey Smirnitskiy
Translated from Russian by J.Hawk

We are receiving the first reports concerning the approximate numbers of equipment captured in the Debaltsevo cauldron.

1. Armored vehicles. By first estimates, Novorossia captured over 80 tanks in repairable condition. Some of them were fully operational, even loaded with ammunition. Some have been abandoned without fuel, others were abandoned after their tracks were damaged, most of the vehicles captured have light or medium damage. This is sufficient for at least two tank battalions.

According to the official Kiev GenStaff announcement, as many as 15 tanks managed to leave the cauldron"¦out of at least 5 battalion tactical groups which were originally in the cauldron and 4 additional ones that were sent in to help.

Over 100 BMPs and BTRs have been captured in repairable condition. The junta managed to take out only about 50.

2. Artillery. Not fewer than fifty 122mm and 152mm weapons (not counting 120mm mortars), many of which are repairable, and about 15 BM-21 122mm Grad launchers. At least 500 tons of artillery ammunition.

3. A huge amount of small arms, including heavy machine guns, RPGs, RPOs [flame rocket launchers used for assaulting fortified positions and buildings]. Storehouses of food and medicine. Other goods.

4. Novorossia commanders are especially grateful to the numerous volunteer organizations which have equipped the junta's forces so well: the hundreds of night vision devices, digital radio stations, thermal imagers, modern ballistic computers and fire direction gear, wound treatment and anti-shock kits of Western origin, Kevlar helmets (even though Russian ones are better, there aren't enough of them), modern body armor, will be of great use.

J.Hawk's Comment: Just to reiterate, these are the weapons and equipment which are in repairable condition. Many of UAF's losses were irretrievable—there are many photos circulating on the internet showing fields and roads littered with burned out armored vehicles left behind by the UAF.

 

[pmaitra]

The Beautiful Truth about Minsk II & The Debaltsevo Debacle

By: Joaquin Flores
The Beautiful Truth about Minsk II

P.S.: I will be presenting only excerpts, because this article has some expressed copyright restrictions, and because it is a long and winding, but thoughtful article.

Attempts to push out anywhere resulted in more needless deaths for the disheartened and broken Ukrainian force whose numbers range between five and eight thousand. Putin has publicly urged Poroshenko to allow the UAF soldiers to surrender. Unsurprisingly, Poroshenko has declared victory.

Debaltsevo is a critical area because it has rail through it which connects Lughansk to Donetsk republics. The September 5th Ceasefire was intended to have this in control of Novorossiya. The September 19th memorandum explicitly restates this, and the map of the de-militarized and pull-back lines clearly show that Debaltsevo was to be withdrawn from.

Poroshenko stated that the Cauldron was actually a bridgehead. In fact, he is right, this was not a new development but an ongoing occupation of Debaltsevo which was in violation of the 9-19 memorandum.

Evidence of this was the impending doom of thousands of UAF fighters, leaked information indicated a number of these may be from NATO countries, and Merkel and Hollande were right in knowing that they had better get clarification on this matter directly from the Russian head of state.

To understand the Minsk agreement is to understand the EU's relationship with the Kiev Junta. The EU knows that when it talks to Poroshenko, it is talking to a US sock puppet. The reason that Poroshenko was at the meeting, and not the US, was because the EU and Russia wanted to tell Poroshenko certain things in a security environment which only the nominally neutral Minsk could provide. No one really thinks that Belarus is neutral, but everyone can pretend that they do.

Those who have been keeping an eye on these developments during the 'ceasefire' months will already appreciate that the encirclement did not form out of a recent advance of the UAF. This was not a blunder that pushed forward too far as a result of poor communication or bad planning. This 'bridgehead' it maintained was extraordinarily well fortified. It had intended to be surrounded on three sides and function like a fortification that could tolerate a near-siege. Indeed it was thought even that this bridgehead could become the focus of Novorossiya efforts, wicking them away from elsewhere, and once drawn in and then ground down, the protrusion could push farther south-east. Their strategy has been to develop this cleavage further until they can split Donetsk off from Lugansk entirely.

If on the one hand Poroshenko could get the Russians, in light of the recent advances and the statements from Zakharchenko, to stop the push and return to the September lines, this would be good. If they gain more territory which is not strategically important, this is also fine. Over the course of the last few months, the US lost control of the narrative and accusations that Novorossiya had violated the ceasefire fell on deaf ears. Additionally, as with the MH17 downing, the US failed to get a false flag to result in real shift in the public discourse and the position of their European partners.

The UAF had reason to believe, days before the talks, that a well executed push could keep the encirclement from finally closing, allowing necessary provisions and ammo inside. This only was need to work, or last, until after the agreement was made.

The EU is really a Berlin-Paris axis, and Hollande and Merkel can only exist as representatives of an EU in its present incarnation, a mixture of Eurasianist and Atlanticist tendencies which are at odds with each other. What would be extraordinarily upsetting, and what would corrode the EU leadership's ability to maintain credibility with its own constituencies, would be the video footage of hundreds or thousands of dead and surrendering Polish, German, and American mercenaries encircled at Debaltsevo. This was a hand that Russian leadership played masterfully.

Putin likely told Merkel and Hollande outright in front of Poroshenko that Poroshenko needs Russia and the EU. Poroshenko might be okay with being the last Ukrainian head of state in terms of legacy alone. His thinking has nothing to do with any fealty to a Ukrainian "ideal", let alone the people. Rather there are certain real benefits, mostly economic, to being in the position he is in. If the Ukrainian state fails in the way the US seems bent on doing, then there will be no more IMF payments and no more skimming off the top. War is also profitable for him, but not in his case if he's not the head of state. Poroshenko can also be held responsible for the war crimes and crimes against humanity, but this is only a card that makes sense to play as a threat.

Behind the closed doors at Minsk, Putin tried to disabuse Poroshenko of his thinking that the US would be able to pressure the EU into saying Russia had violated the ceasefire by putting the final squeeze on the Cauldron at Debaltsevo. Putin has to remind Poroshenko of the obvious, but state it plainly and not through filters and monitored channels.

He had to say to Poroshenko something like this in front of Hollande and Merkel: "The US is setting you up to fail. Everything they have you do only destabilizes things further. You've only made enemies on all sides. This is fine for a politician, but not good if you are on the run. You can't carry all that cash; those bank accounts, they will seize them once they are through with you."

So long as he is in power, and holds the rest of Ukraine together in a way workable for the EU and Russia, then he will not be toppled and will not be held responsible.

Poroshenko has already tried to lay responsibility for the crimes in Novorossiya on Yatsenyuk and Turchinov. Novorossiya parliament leader, Tsarev, has made similar statements which hold out the possibility of a later 'truth and reconciliation' in which Poroshenko can avoid certain thing which may be coming his way.

 

[Gabriel92]

a russian army air defense systems near Debaltseve.

Russia,a peaceful country that loves her neighbors

 

[pmaitra]

US-supplied armored Humvee captured by Novorossia militia

2/19/2015
US-supplied armored Humvee captured by Novorossia militia [video at the link]
By J.Hawk

The vehicle was one of the many seized from the UAF at Debaltsevo and its vicinity. It seems to be in perfectly good working order. I suppose the most surprising thing about it is that the UAF had no time to put it up for sale, as it did the British-supplied Saxon APCs...

 

[Gabriel92]

US-supplied armored Humvee captured by Novorossia militia

2/19/2015
US-supplied armored Humvee captured by Novorossia militia [video at the link]
By J.Hawk

The Humvees were supplied since many years ago,but i'm pretty sure that some stupid persons will say that it is a proof that NATO is supplying the "kiev junta nazis" with materials."

 

[pmaitra]

The Humvees were supplied since many years ago,but i'm pretty sure that some stupid persons will say that it is a proof that NATO is supplying the "kiev junta nazis" with materials."

A picture is worth a thousand words.

Many years ago or yesterday, they are NATO weapons and the only conceivable purpose is to use them against Russia.

 

[pmaitra]

The West's Dilemma after Debaltsevo: What to Do about Poroshenko?

Poroshenko has now been shown to be completely off his rocker. He can no longer be sold to the public as the bearer of the truth, the sincere white knight against the dark forces of Russia.

(Moon of Alabama) [SOURCE]

This article originally appeared at Moon of Alabama.

Petro Poroshenko:"80% of troops have been already withdrawn"

The Ukrainian puppet president Poroshenko should have delivered a similar speech. Indeed the war situation in Ukraine has developed not necessarily to his governments advantage. But the speech Proshenko gave (see below) was even more delusional than Hirohito's whitewashing.

Since six days ago several thousand Ukrainian government troops were surrounded in the Debaltsevo pocket. The only road out towards friendly lines was mined and under direct and indirect opposition fire. Several attempts to break out and also into the pocket were defeated with lots of lives and material lost.

Since yesterday and after severe artillery preparations the federalist troops are storming the city. They claim that some 3,000 government troops died there and some 1,000 capitulated(vid) and went into captivity. A few hundred sneaked out at night mostly by foot and today reached the government controlled Artemivsk some 30 kilometers to the north of Debaltsevo. Others fled south away from their own lines and deeper into the pocket. They will be mopped up in due time. Huge amounts of weapons and ammunition was left behind for the federalists to pic up. Reporters in Artemivsk observed some 40-50 dead and some 200 wounded arriving. These were, reporters said, mostly casualties of the escape under fire, not of the earlier fights in Debaltseve. Those who made it out alive are in seriously angry about their higher-ups.

The Minsk-2 meeting was urgently arranged by the German chancellor Merkel when the situation around Debaltsevo deteriorated. But during the negotiations in Minsk Poroshenko insisted that there was no pocket and that his troops were in total control of the situation. The French president Hollande tried to explain the real situation to him but to no avail.

The ceasefire was arranged but the Debaltsevo pocket was not mentioned in the protocols. The federalists reasonably concluded that the pocket was within their acknowledged lines and could be eliminated without breaking the general agreed upon ceasefire. Over the last days we have heard very little protest against this move from the "western" side. Was there a silent agreement to make Poroshenko eat his necktie over the issue like his new adviser Saakashvilionce did?

Now the above is the reality. And here is Proshenko's delusional version delivered in a speech today:

I can inform now that this morning the Armed Forces of Ukraine together with the National Guard completed the operation on the planned and organized withdrawal of a part of units from Debaltseve. We can say that 80% of troops have been already withdrawn. We are waiting for two more columns. Warriors of the 128th brigade, parts of units of the 30th brigade, the rest of the 25th and the 40th battalions, Special Forces, the National Guard and the police have already left the area.
...
We were asserting and proved: Debaltseve was under our control, there was no encirclement, and our troops left the area in a planned and organized manner with all the heavy weaponry: tanks, APCs, self-propelled artillery and vehicles.
...
It is a strong evidence of combat readiness of the Armed Forces and efficiency of the military command. I can say that despite tough artillery and MLRS shelling, according to the recent data, we have 30 wounded out of more than 2,000 warriors.​

Many "western" journalist are now streaming into Debaltsevo and there will soon be reports about the real disaster and the real losses the Ukrainian government troops had there. Those will be hard to hide.

It will then be difficult for the "west" to continue working with Poroshenko. He has now been shown to be completely off his rockers. He can no longer be sold to the public as the bearer of the truth, the sincere white knight against the dark forces of Russia.

How will the "west", Obama and his neoconned State Department react to that? Will they prepare a coup against Poroshenko or do they have other means to get rid of their useless puppet or to save the situation?

[HR][/HR]
What the west needs to understand is that no matter how corrupt, a person who becomes president by virtue of all inclusive elections, even if that victory is by a small margin, he is always a better ruler than an appointee. Scrambling for the microphone and bleating "democracy" won't turn an appointee into a democratic leader.

 

[Gabriel92]

Luhansk dying out: no people, no cars; gangs of terrorists rule the city. PHOTOS

Terrorists in Luhansk: No people in Luhansk - fighter, Luhansk, Russia, terrorism, Ukraine, Russian Aggression Against Ukraine, Terrorists in Luhansk, Empty streets : Russian world in action (16.02.15 15:35) « Photo news | EN.Censor.net

I bet there will be a nice future in this city.

 

[pmaitra]

State Department's Nuland Threw a Fit over Merkel-Hollande in Minsk

Wants to "fight against the Europeans," is railing against EU's "defeatism."

(Deep Resource) [SOURCE]

This article originally appeared at Deep Resource.

Potty mouth

There are increasingly signs that Merkel and Hollande operated behind the backs of the Americans, when they traveled to Minsk last week, in an attempt to reach an agreement between the warring factions.

During a closed-door meeting at the Munich Security Summit, Nuland fumed that the Europeans needed to be fought:

Der Spiegel described a closed-door meeting, apparently reported on anonymously both to it and to the Bild newspaper, held by Assistant Secretary of State Nuland at the Munich Security Conference one week ago, with "perhaps two dozen U.S. diplomats and Senators."

There Nuland gave instructions to "fight against the Europeans" on the issue of arming Ukraine to fight Russia.

She was described as "bitterly" referring to the German Chancellor's and French President Hollande's meeting with Russian President Putin as "Merkel's Moscow junk," and "Moscow bullshit," and she welcomed a Senator's calling German Defense Minister Ursula von der Leyen the "Defeatism Minister."​

We guess that "defeatism minister" has replaced "cheese-eating surrender monkey." But apparently William Engdahl was right when he remarked that Merkel and Hollande had committed insubordination. And that is a good sign.

Now come on Francois, pick up the phone and call to Saint-Nazaire harbor and give permission for these chopper carriers to sail to Petersburg, Murmansk or Sevastopol. Perhaps the little monster will explode.

Nuland does not need not stinking peace, she wants a major conflict with Russia. But we 500 million Europeans need Nuland like the plague and should treat her as such.

spiegel.de – Victoria Nuland: Amerikas Krawall-Diplomatin
larouchepub.com – Der Spiegel: 'In the Crisis, Nuland Herself has Become the Problem'

P.S. Krawall = Riot

 

[pmaitra]

Debaltseve Trap is Failure of Ukrainian Military – Western Media

Read more: Debaltseve Trap is Failure of Ukrainian Military – Western Media / Sputnik International

Journalists of some leading Western media were surprised to hear Ukrainian President Petro Poroshenko's announcement that the retreat from Debaltseve is "a planned withdrawal".

The New York Times wrote that Poroshenko in his address to the people tried to misrepresent the actual situation near Debaltseve. In fact, the pullout of Ukrainian troops from the embattled city was shadowed by heavy casualties and was not well planned.

The Telegraph also underscored that Poroshenko's words do not match the development of the situation. Despite his announcement that the Ukrainian troops "gave a blow in the teeth to those who were trying to encircle them", in fact the organized withdrawal turned into "the trickle of exhausted men and battered vehicles".

A reporter for British Channel 4 News says "hundreds of Ukrainian troops tell stories which can be described with only one word — defeat".
A journalist from The Independent described the retreat of Ukrainian troops from Debaltseve which was not organized and looked more like fleeing.

According to journalist, it is quite difficult to determine the number of killed Ukrainian servicemen. However, he says citing a soldier from Donbas battalion that 10 percent of their 400 troops were killed, another 10 percent were captured. Meanwhile, Ukrainian President Petro Poroshenko said a total of six soldiers were killed, the newspaper wrote.

The Guardian also noted that the withdrawal from Debaltseve was not organized and soldiers were fleeing from the besieged city. "The Ukrainian authorities insisted that Debaltseve had never been surrounded, but army medics and soldiers who escaped the city told the Guardian that shelling and mines along the road had cut off the flow of ammunition, supplies and ambulances to Debaltseve for more than a week", according to the article.

The Wall Street Journal described the withdrawal from Debaltseve in the same manner. "It wasn't a withdrawal. A withdrawal is supported by artillery and along a planned route. They abandoned us," the newspaper cited one of the soldiers who managed to survive.

Most media outlets compared the retreat from Debaltseve with the situation near Ilovaisk and said this defeat seriously damaged the image of the Ukrainian military and government, including Poroshenko.

 

[pmaitra]

Captive "Azov" regiment trooper press conference Donetsk 19/02/15:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=4BOv_KSWRRc

Kiev regime forces PoWs:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=621-LBhvz-I

Dog abandoned by previous owner. Militia wonders (jokes) whether it is a friendly or enemy. Another replies that it is neutral.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=P8nCCVYiJD4

Destroyed positions of the UAF 128th mountain-infantry brigade near Debaltsevo. This one, I believe is from Transcarpathia, and the local oligarch boss is Viktor Baloga. Lots of destroyed stuff:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=St1EELlsorA

Militiaman Mozgovoi asks media to look beyond TRP, ratings, sensationalism, and look at the human side:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=g9n2Tr93Xxw

 

[sgarg]

The Humvees were supplied since many years ago,but i'm pretty sure that some stupid persons will say that it is a proof that NATO is supplying the "kiev junta nazis" with materials."

Can you tell us:

a. When these Humvees were supplied, price paid by Ukraine, and under which contract?
b. How many were supplied?

 

[sgarg]

Luhansk dying out: no people, no cars; gangs of terrorists rule the city. PHOTOS

Terrorists in Luhansk: No people in Luhansk - fighter, Luhansk, Russia, terrorism, Ukraine, Russian Aggression Against Ukraine, Terrorists in Luhansk, Empty streets : Russian world in action (16.02.15 15:35) � Photo news | EN.Censor.net

I bet there will be a nice future in this city.

This is wartime. Have you seen wartime pictures of France? I have.

You are remarkably ignorant.

 

[sgarg]

Despite Debaltseve, I have no illusions. The war has NOT concluded. The bloodshed has NOT STOPPED.

Most likely the war will intensify. The USA is in a mood to act UNILATERALLY on the issue of military supplies to Kiev.

Russia MUST BE READY. It is time to activate the war plans.

NovoRussia Must push Kiev out further so that Kiev is unable to shell the NovoRussian cities. This is very important.

 

[pmaitra]

Graham Phillips aka Grisha Phillipov interviews militiamen. He sticks an Ukrop blue-yellow heart to one militiaman, and he back off and tosses it to the ground. Apparently, he doesn't like Ukrops. Other militiamen laugh. Another militiaman, brandishing a book, "Героям Слава," remarks, "Украинский блять пропаганда."
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Xclyk0PLdaA

How the Territory Around Debaltsevo Was Won:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=cruC8fIifMs

Driving Through Debaltsevo:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=R1IKsDD9C-E

 

[pmaitra]

So, Ukrops, who are belong to the Slavic race, believe they are racially superior to the Russians, who also belong to the Slavic race? Well, folks, that's Ukrop-Bandera logic for you.

Enjoy this video and see what delusional fools these Ukrops are:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=O5vcrOwCKqA

 

[pmaitra]

Ukraine: Country of Draft Resisters, Oligarchs and Paramilitaries

Superb setting for a social realist novel – terrible surroundings to actually live in.

Sophia Pinkham (The New Yorker) [SOURCE]

This is an excerpt from an article that originally appeared in The New Yorker.

Earlier this month, Lina Yaroslavska, who works at a non-governmental organization in Lviv, in Western Ukraine, wrote on Facebook that she was full of fear after her ex-husband was drafted in the latest wave of mobilization for the conflict in the country's eastern regions.

"He said he was ready to defend Ukraine. I have a lot of questions about who is defending whom," Yaroslavska wrote. "For me, this seems like a kind of sacrifice, one in which the Church also participates, by giving its blessing: those who have power over the people pluck up guys, and, whether or not you want to, whether or not you can, you're sent to this dragon to be devoured."

With a rapidly increasing number of casualties in the conflict that began in the aftermath of the Maidan revolution, last winter, more and more Ukrainian women are thinking about this dragon. (On Thursday morning, French, German, Russian, and Ukrainian leaders announced a new ceasefire agreement; it remains to be seen whether both sides will abide by it. The last ceasefire, in September, proved largely ineffective.)

In January, I met up with an old acquaintance, Lena K., at a café in Kiev, across the street from her office. She told me straight off that the past year had almost killed her.First, there were the Maidan protests, in which she was intensively involved, coördinating medical aid for the wounded protesters.

Then, in August, her husband, the father of their young daughter, had been drafted. Lena didn't want him to go, and she knew that you could buy your way out of the draft; this was Ukraine, after all, one of the most corrupt countries in the world. She'd heard rumors that even some military personnel had managed to escape mobilization. But Lena's husband, who had no real military training, only some theoretical knowledge of artillery, said that he wanted to defend his country.

The Ukrainian Army provides almost no equipment to its conscripts, so Lena and her husband scrambled to purchase several thousand dollars' worth of supplies—a good helmet, boots, camouflage, a bulletproof vest, sleeping bags, hemostatic bandages—and to procure prescription painkillers. After three weeks of training, her husband was sent to Donbass. He has now been on duty for four months, without any break or hope of rotation.

Lena and her husband were lucky to have the money and connections to get the necessary equipment and supplies; but they couldn't do anything about the broader problems of lack of training or experience in the armed forces.

There's still plenty of patriotism and bluster, but many Ukrainians are frightened, furious, and desperate for the yearlong conflict with the Russia-backed separatists to end.

In Kiev, I talked with a number of people who were worried about being drafted in the next wave of mobilization, which has been accompanied by a new crackdown on draft dodgers. "I don't want to be cannon fodder," an acquaintance told me, his voice shrill with anxiety. People have started discussing legal arguments that reject the legitimacy of the draft on the grounds that Ukraine has not declared war.

But dissent is not welcome in public forums; those who criticize the war effort are likely to be accused of betraying their country. Some Ukrainians, and Ukraine supporters, take any criticism of the conflict to be Russian propaganda, no matter how trustworthy the source. And the stakes are getting higher.

On February 8th, Ruslan Kotsaba, a Western Ukrainian journalist who posted a video criticizing the draft and the war, was detained by the Ukrainian Security Service on suspicion of treason. (The Security Service has denied that the arrest was made because of the video, but have not provided any further explanation.)

In the video, Kotsaba says, "It would be better for me to spend two to five years"—the sentence for noncompliance with the draft—"in prison than to go into a civil war, to kill or help kill my countrymen in the east. . . . I reject this draft, and I call on all sensible people to reject it."

In a divided country in which every government institution has been hollowed out by corruption, and where a Ministry of Information Policy was formed to coördinate the "information war" with Russia, the air is clouded with conspiracy theories. In January, the filmmaker Oleksandr Techinskiy, who made the documentary "All Things Ablaze," about the Maidan protests, told me, "The closer you get, the less you understand."

Meanwhile in Washington a growing number of powerful voices are advocating for "lethal aid" to Ukraine. On February 2nd, the Atlantic Council, the Brookings Institution, and the Chicago Council on Global Affairs released a joint report, written by a group of former senior officials from the U.S. government, including Strobe Talbott, calling for the provision to Ukraine of three billion dollars in military aid, including "lethal defensive arms."

Many Western arguments in favor of aid to Ukraine try to draw a clear division between the old Ukrainian government and the one that came to power after the revolution, a year ago.

"The new Ukraine seeks to become the opposite of the old Ukraine, which was demoralized and riddled with corruption," George Soros (for whose foundation I once worked) and Bernard-Henri Lévy wrote in the New York Times last month. "The new Ukraine, however, faces a potent challenge from the old Ukraine," which "is solidly entrenched in a state bureaucracy that has worked hand in hand with a business oligarchy."

But what exactly do they mean by "the new Ukraine?" Do they mean its president, Petro Poroshenko, an oligarch who made his fortune in the world of post-Soviet business, in which corruption is almost mandatory? Or its Prime Minister, Arseniy Yatsenyuk, who spent years as a successful politician in the old Ukraine?

The Maidan revolution has had little success in transforming the way in which the government conducts its business—slowly, opaquely, incompetently, and with plenty of what Levy and Soros politely refer to as "leakages."

Poroshenko, who owns one of the largest confectionery manufacturers in the country, earning him the nickname "the chocolate king," was elected in 2014 by terrified citizens who hoped that he could use his experience and connections to stop further aggression from Russia.

Last winter, as separatism gained momentum, the oligarch Ihor Kolomoisky, who is worth an estimated $1.6 billion and has made deals under every Ukrainian Administration for the past two decades, was appointed governor of Dnipropetrovsk (on the border of the conflict-torn Donetsk region), where he funded the Dnipro Battalion, a paramilitary organization.

There is one way the new Ukraine differs dramatically from the old Ukraine, and that is in the emergence of paramilitary battalions funded by oligarchs, political parties, and private donations. These bands of half-trained volunteer warriors have done much of the fighting in the current conflict, operating largely independently of the government, and often without adequate coördination.

While both the Ukrainian government and citizens often treat these volunteers as heroes, there are signs that they may pose a risk of armed revolt.

This summer, members of the Azov Battalion, which has an unsettling fondness for Nazi symbols, told the Guardian that once the war in the east was over, they'd "bring the fight to Kiev," and that they wanted to install a strong military leader. They didn't think it would be very hard. "What are the police going to do?" one Azov fighter said. "They could not do anything against the peaceful protesters on Maidan; they are hardly going to withstand armed fighting units."

In November, Ukraine incorporated the volunteer battalions into the National Guard, legalizing them, bringing them under at least nominal control, and providing them with additional arms. The fighting branch of the Right Sector—a far-right nationalist party that has only one representative, Dmytro Yarosh, in Parliament, but which has played an outsized role in the current conflict—was not incorporated into the National Guard, and there are concerns about the fact that its actions are technically illegal.

A video posted to YouTube in October shows two Right Sector fighters shooting at an unseen enemy. Between volleys, they speak about how they prefer Right Sector to other battalions because it's easy to join and because everyone is equal. But they have concerns. "The Security Service already catches us one by one and keeps interrogating us. We're considered a criminal group," one says. "When the war is over, we'll still have our weapons, right? Right."

Yarosh has made efforts to pass legislation that would legalize Right Sector's military activities, but he rejects the possibility of integrating its fighters into government forces. He also wants the government to help arm the Right Sector battalion; at present, they fight with whatever weapons they can find, including those captured in battle.