Ukraine posts video of captured Russian major asking for Putin’s help

[uhnope]

Source: Business Insider / RFERL

Ukraine’s state security agency has released a new video purporting to show a Russian army officer who was detained last month in eastern Ukraine appealing to President Vladimir Putin to secure his release.

The soldier in the video was identified by the Ukrainian Security Service (SBU) as Major Vladimir Starkov, who Ukrainian officials say has admitted that he was serving in Russia’s armed forces at the time of his capture.

Ukraine is likely to use the video to bolster its case that Russia is backing separatists fighting Kyiv’s forces in eastern Ukraine in the 15-month-long conflict and undermining a cease-fire deal reached in February in Minsk.

Russia has repeatedly denied its soldiers are fighting in Ukraine, despite mounting evidence to the contrary. The Kremlin has conceded that Russian citizens, including servicemen, have fought alongside the rebels but says they are volunteers operating outside of official control.



Read more: http://www.businessinsider.com/ukraine-posts-video-of-captured-russian-major-asking-for-putins-help-2015-8

[Duckhunter935]

1. They sure get a lot of

Resupply of munitions.

[R. Daneel Olivaw]

2. The munitions are just 'volunteering' and operating outside of official Kremlin control.

[cosmicone]

3. Russian actors hired by the CIA? n/t

[PosterChild]

4. Same ones who faked the moon shot /nt/

[NuclearDem]

7. No longer just a river in Egypt.

[tabasco]

9. I thought this was a joke until I saw who posted it.

Still ......[font size=8] LOL!

[cosmicone]

11. Who is in denial now?

You mean it is not a possible? CIA has done worse tricks.

[NuclearDem]

12. It's obviously the CIA.

There's absolutely no way a Russian military officer could be caught by Ukraine assisting rebels sympathetic and strategically advantageous to Russia.

Clearly, this was the work of the CIA.

[EX500rider]

13. Obviously!

Assuming one have a Russian paycheck coming it's obvious anyway....lol

[FLPanhandle]

5. He better hope he doesn't get released back to Russia

Putin will arrange a fatal "accident" for him after that video.

[EX500rider]

6. Russia Wants Its Secrets Back..

August 13, 2015: The Russian bureaucracy is a wondrous thing, revealing all sorts of secrets and items that are supposed to be kept hidden. It’s been this way for centuries and recently there was another example in a Russian military court near the border with eastern Ukraine. This area (Donbas) is where Russian troops have been operating (illegally) since 2014. Despite all the evidence, including some Russian troops captured inside Ukraine by Ukrainian troops, Russia denies that any of their troops are in Ukraine. But recently official (public) records of the local military court (tribunal) showed that there were 62 prosecutions of soldiers for refusing to serve in a combat zone (in this case Ukraine) compared with 35 cases for the previous five years (2010 to 2014). Before Russia went into Ukraine in early 2014 most prosecutions of soldiers for not going to a combat zone involved service in the Caucasus. That is still a dangerous place, but now largely handled by locals or paramilitary units of Interior Ministry. The Russian Army is largely responsible for keeping the undeclared war in Donbas going and a growing number of Russian troops refuse to cooperate.


http://strategypage.com/htmw/htlead/articles/20150813.aspx

[Sunlei]

8. Looks young to be a Major. Guess a rank increase is about the only benefit of Russian Army service

[tabasco]

10. Not really. n/t