Sunday, January 25, 2015

Panic in Kiev?

[En français]

The following article appeared briefly at this URL on censor.net.ua and was quickly pulled down. Ironic? It would seem so. My translation. I bring it to you because it succinctly lays out the situation as I've been able to piece it together from multiple Russian- and Ukrainian-language sources, and because you are unlikely to come across anything this truthful from cough Western media cough.

“Panic in Kiev: Ukrainian forces surrender Donbass”

International observers report of growing panic in Kiev in connection with the successful counteroffensive of the separatists near Donbass.

Over a week of fighting the partisans have delivered a heavy blow to the Ukrainian forces. The group of Ukrainian fighters in Donbas suffered huge losses, the soldiers are demoralized, the officers are confused and unable to control the situation.

Ukrainian military leadership is seriously concerned of a new encirclement near Debaltsevo, as well as in other areas.

The situation is made worse by the fact that army and national guard reserves are almost completely depleted, and plugging the gaps in defense using small formations canoot stabilize the front. Besides, the Ukrainian forces are running low on ordnance, food and medical supplies.

In turn, the partisan field commanders report 752 killed Ukrainian military personnel, 59 destroyed tanks and a large number of people taken prisoner. In view of their combat successes, the partisans are refusing to take part in any further negotiations in the format of the Minsk agreements and threaten to continue the counterattack.

Local authorities in Ukrainian-controlled districts near the front report that Ukrainian soldiers are deserting with their weapons and taking to looting the countryside in increasing numbers.

In this critical situation the military is afraid to report to president Poroshenko the real situation in the southeast of the country, hiding from him the full scale of the catastrophe.

The head of state is still convinced that the situation is under control, and hopes that in case of a real threat he will still have the chance to ask the West for help.

And then there is this video evidence: American “boots on the ground” have invaded Eastern Ukraine. How do you say “Get out of my face, please!” in Ukrainian? I guess the grunts aren't taught that in Basic Training... are they too busy learning how to shell civilians and then blame the other side?

Update: he is Leon Swampy, from the UK.

50 comments:

Anonymous said...

Sounds like the excuse that the military industrial congressional mediatic complex needed to shower American weapons on the Ukrainian neo Nazis.

Unknown said...

Yes ... saw the video on RT now I listened to the voice again, it is an English not a US voice.. he even says 'please'... !!! ...very English !!! thanks for translating this as it is for sure not what we get from Western media....

Brow Furrowed said...

@Bente Petersen
That is not an accent from any part of the British Isles and I wish people who are not from these parts would stop saying it is. Just thought I'd clear that up as it been driving me bonkers reading those YT comments saying he's from my country of birth.

Dmitry Orlov said...

I haven't run across too many Brits who say "Git outa mah face." Lots of yanks though.

Tek said...

That is an North American accent. NOT British or Australian.

Towards infinity said...

Actually the couldron is closed already it seems. way quicker then thought but then again it might have been a low key announcement "in the next few days maybe" when they were already about to strike...
http://fortruss.blogspot.ch/2015/01/breaking-dpr-and-lpr-forces-join-and.html

Unknown said...

Definitely an American. But with who? Military, pmc, cia?

Rhadamanthys said...

I must also add my support that its nothing like a British accent of any type. To my native British ear it clearly comes across as "owa-ma face, owa-ma face please".

The reasons it immediately obvious that its not a Brit speaking is the man's intonation and vowel pronunciation:

1) We always stress the 'T' in out.
2) We never run the words 'out of' into a single "owa". There is always a gap between the two.
3) We stress the Y of 'my' so that it sounds like an i ('eye' or 'e' if a northerner) not an aaa.

Lastly as Dmitry points out, "Get out of my face" is not common parlance in British English. If rushed and unthinking We'd start the sentence with "Don't film me...", "No cameras...", "Excuse me but..." or even the traditional squaddie "F*** off mate."

It is NOT a Brit.

anon anon said...

"outta my face, outta my face" - such a distinctly northeastern US expression. "Please", however, is not ;-)

Unknown said...

How much US "support" of Kiev is getting looted? Anything short of boots on the ground will probably end up in a black hole of Swiss bank accounts. This looks like another Iraqi army fleeing ISIS scenario playing out. And unfortunately for the Ukrainian government Mr. Putin will not allow US drone warfare at his border.

Dmitry Orlov said...

Well, most of it, actually. There is a Russian transitive verb, "oсвоить", which means "to develop," and also, literally, "to make one's own." Well, the Ukrainian stooges have "developed" an awful lot of the aid. After all, they've been learning from the master. Which master? The one with the world's most expensive military, that can't win.

Jon Rudd said...

Maybe Vickie will come to the rescue with another batch of cookies.

Cass Hewitt said...

Terrific News if correct.

Re the vid, the voice IS British. I might have left UK 45 yrs ago, but I still get the intonations. Moreover, it's a very English thing to say "Please" in such a situation. True no Brit would say "Outta my face" - when in Britain and dealing with other Brits. But if he's been hanging out with Yanks, there'd be nothing unusual about picking up the slang.
So, I'm picking it's either a mixed group from NATO, with Brits and Yanks at least, or maybe a private mercenary group, a la Blackwater. Which is my pick, for what it's worth !!

Dmitry Orlov said...

OK, just take a poll then

StevenStarr said...

My vote: the guy is American, come on, get real. Blackwater or Langley?? that is the question.

The success of the NAF makes me wonder if the result will be some horrendous false flag event . . . Kiev is on the verge of a coup and the UAF is getting its ass kicked, time for something major to blame on the Russians, right?

Waterloo Bridge said...

100% NOT British sounds American or maybe Canadian? We can get those two accents confused but definitely North American.

Adagio said...

Having downloaded the video and listened many times over I am going with it being one of our yanks. Probably a mercenary but, even thou it sounds odd (doesn't everything anymore), it might also be a US volunteer.

I can't picture a CIA operative to be so sloppy as to address anyone in that situation with American idioms.

Jason Heppenstall said...

I would be willing to bet any money on that soldier not being British. He sounds nothing like a Brit and, in any case, there is no way a British soldier would say 'please'.

They are far more likely to shout obscenities and threaten to kill you. And they would never say 'outta my face' - that's just absurd.

Judy said...

Definitely 100% not British accent. Do Americans really not say please? How about Canadians?

If you were 'pretending' not to be there and someone shoves a camera in your face then why even open your mouth? Just give them the shoulder. And the camera man immediately desists filming the soldiers. Have they been warned about not filming foreigners? Was there just the one American or more?

Rhisiart Gwilym said...

Not a British accent. Thanks for this brief on what's happening, Dmitry. I think that the Debaltsevo Cauldron is now pretty well lidded and stewing, judging by the news flying about the web right now...

Ronald Langereis said...

Great news that has the sound of the authentic. In regard to the confusion British, American, Canadian, suppose he's someone from anywhere else in Europe, not having any Ukrainian, speaking English, from a country where they are used to be courteous. Belgium? Hahaha.

Bill the Butcher said...

No Brit in the world would ever say "Outta my face". It's not an English expression, it's Americanish.

Unknown said...

"He is a Brit" "Probably an Aussie" "Clearly not a Canadian"
"My Vote: American" "Could be a South African" "Kiwi, anyone?"

I just don't get it. What's wrong with you guys? We all know there are mercs from all over the place on the Poroshenko/CIA/Mossad side. Scandinavians, Poles, Balts, Dutch and sure, yes, - take a deep breath of relief everybody! - there are also Brits, Americans, Canadians, Aussies, Kiwis. I hope you all feel better now.

The more i look at it, the more i get the feeling that there is something much deeper about your U N S P E L L agenda, Dmitry, than just promoting an easier way for spelling English words.

_smr

Unknown said...

I live in the south of France near a French Foreign Legion Base, and the accent and terminology reminds me much of those guys when speaking English, whichmight point to mercenary

Lawrence Blair said...

Sounds like a well educated U.S. Army officer. Educated enough to say please anyway. I wouldn't be surprised if we didn't have advisers in Donbass. Reminds me of how we crept into Vietnam in some ways.

jo6pac said...

Thanks and an Amerikan for sure.

KSL said...

US American from the East coast is my vote.

Unknown said...

I'm from the US, and his accent is definitely North American, probably either the northern part of the US, or perhaps Canada. Since he actually bothers to say 'please' under combat conditions, I'm leaning towards Canada.

Justin Kase said...

My guess is a mixed American accent. USA/USAF officer background and/or PMC intel. Does it matter?

What is odd and might matter is the total lack of noticeable initiative on the part of Ukr forces in response to current LPR/DPR attacks. They have enough strength to respond robustly. Maybe Ukr military leaders capable of such initiative (if any) have been removed for political reasons or they are in reserve and waiting for something. More mercs? False flag? OTAN orders? Perhaps they never intended to actually fight, just bait Russia into attack and wait for OTAN response? RUMOR: Is Belarus calling up reserves?

Jim R said...

The survey says:
http://poll.pollcode.com/25976993_result?v

⅔ USA.

Mister Roboto said...

Considering how completely and casually corrupt Ukrainian civilian life is, I'm not at all surprised to hear that the Ukrainian military is hobbled by similar corruption.

The soldier in the video sounded almost like Peter Griffin from that "Family Guy" cartoon show, so I say he's American. The Swedish Chef from "The Muppet Show" sounds more British than that guy!

Unknown said...

Definitely NOT Canadian. A canuck would say "outta my face, eh?

charries said...

"I would be willing to bet any money on that soldier not being British."

And I do bet a $100 donation that the man is English. If he isn't, Jason Heppenstall, you owe a $5 donation.

It is beyond question that this was an Englishman speaking in an English accent. It really is surprising and discouraging that so many people who clearly understand little about it, suggest that the accent is from anywhere in North America.

There must be software which will identify this accent. Will somebody please use it.

Silent Otto said...

If he was an Aussie he would have said "p...ss off mate , ive got a flight to catch before these Russkis catch me !"

Unknown said...

Mr. Orlov provided an interview to Global Research Hour, published 1/25/15, available at:

http://www.globalresearch.ca/lessons-from-the-soviet-collapse-a-conversation-with-dmitry-orlov/5426760

jetstove said...

Most important...the accent is definitely not Ukrainian or Russian.

seraphim said...

It was obvious that something was going seriously wrong when the accusations of massive influx of "regular Russian troops" started to fly again.

Anonymous said...

RE: the mystery man:

Take it from a native, he's American through and through.

Jagger said...

It is impossible to say from the video if he is with a mercenary outfit or CIA or an independent Ukrainian-American.

That American that died last year fighting with the Ukrainians was a Ukrainian-American, ex-USMA officer that moved back to the Ukraine in the 1990s. When the war started, he volunteered. And he wasn't a nazi, at least from reading his background and his tweets. He was a mis-guided Ukrainian patriot that was very disturbed by what he saw amonst the Ukrainian military and politics. But he didn't or couldn't leave and paid the price.

Whyawannaknow said...

As a US citizen, I thought the accent was odd. Not exactly Chicago, not quite like NY/NJ.

As far as British/colonial accents- South Africa Maybe.

Unknown said...

The accent is American, but it is not a regional accent, more of a racial accent. He sounded black to me. And he did *not* say "please". He said, "outta my face, bitch". Also "get outta my face" is very much a black American expression, although younger people of all races adopt a lot of black idioms. I think there is even a popular song or video game that uses the expression. His face was obscured, so it's hard to tell his race.

Lance M. Foster said...

He moves more like a white man. His voice is nasal, and the "please" has a slight glide. American pronunciation but there is something not quite American underneath it. Sort of like how someone born elsewhere but either moved to America as a teen, or someone from elsewhere who is gifted as a polyglot using American English, but the a in "face" and the e sound in "please" has a slight off glide, that isn't really American. As far as the nasal sounds those are more northeastern American and the "outta my face" is more of from that area too. I have no idea what a Ukrainian sounds like, but could it be a Ukrainian born in the Ukraine, moved to the northeastern U.S. as a young teen or even a kid, then back to the Ukraine? But if so, wouldn't he speak Ukrainian instead of the American phrase? Unless, the intention is to get people to THINK Americans are involved ;-)

charries said...

He has now been identified as an Englishman. See Russian Insider.

Martino said...

He's from Dayton Ohio.

Unknown said...

Then again, I could be wrong: English Speaking Azov Fighter in Mariupol ID’d as Brit from London, England.

Brow Furrowed said...

The mystery man is from the Isle of Man and, at least in the second video, is talking in a Manx accent, rarely heard on the mainland, tinged with whatever other accents one picks up doing such work. I think that explains the confusion.

He's been tweeting away like mad for the last few days and even has his own blog to peruse. https://twitter.com/swampy_chris/status/559829721643745280
http://swampy.soup.im/?m=201501

Unknown said...

Could it be that he is volunteering as a fighter in the Ukranian army? I know there are volunteers on the Novorussiya part and I could understand why they would be doing so.. I live in the USA and i know we have a lot of Ukranian supporters here if you wave a Russian flag they are like rabid dogs and I imagine there are some in Europe. No one has really touched on the volunteering aspect, if you could touch on that Dmitry.

Uncle Funch said...

I'll say Canadian, or North mid to East US. I work in Northern Minnesota and North Dakota six months outta da year.
However, a man in that bossiness(presumably a hireling soldier, or advisor) would likely pick up a modified accent through his intensive contact with others from all over the world. I am not speculating, I spent four years in Afghanistan, and two in Iraq, and met a lot of interesting privateers.
I would also add that anything is possible. I met an Iraqi who could speak absolutely perfect Detroit English complete with all slang and idioms. The guy had never been outside of Baghdad.

Lisa V said...

Well, he is obviously not British, but then why someone from Britain pretended to be him?

What else is there to hide?

Unknown said...

Nikolai Azarov, Prime Minister of Ukraine 2010-14.
(English subtitles – transcript in the youtube comments).
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=2v033nO-51I