Putin's imminent invasion of Mariupol is beginning to unfold

The "Black Swan Event" abyss that Putin, together with his 'siloviki', has fallen into is finally beginning to reveal itself. And it is focussed around the strategic city of Mariupol.

As Tom Burridge (left) witnessed yesterday (April 23) from the east of the city of Mariupol,

"Pro-Russian rebels have shelled Ukrainian army positions east of the key city of Mariupol in breach of a ceasefire deal, the BBC has witnessed." (BBC News : April 23, 2015) (my emphasis)

And as David Blair and Tom Parfitt (left) report from Moscow,

"Russia is carrying out a new military build-up in eastern Ukraine, massing troops on the border and deploying advanced air defences inside its neighbour, according to the US State Department." (The Telegraph : 23 Apr 2015)

In response to this Russian military build-up along the eastern Ukrainian border controlled by Putin's proxies and Russian soldiers, Poroshenko (below:right) will be asking,

".... the European Union next Monday to send experts to eastern Ukraine to carry out missions ranging from removing mines to training police, its ambassador in Brussels said on Thursday."
(Adrian Croft: Reuters: Thu Apr 23, 2015)

"An EU mission would complement the monitoring role of the Organisation for Security and Cooperation in Europe, he said, suggesting it could help Ukraine regain control over its border with Russia, de-mine parts of war-torn Donetsk and Luhansk regions and help to train local police." (ibid Adrian Croft) (my emphasis)
 
Already the sound of Putin's "friends" in the EU can be heard clamouring against the EU sending experts to eastern Ukraine, arguing that this will only increase Putin's apoplectic rage by the sheer mention of EU experts "sniffing" around the porous eastern Ukrainian-Russian border that he is using to send his Russian soldiers and lethal armaments into eastern Ukraine.

 'fragrant' Mogherini            Steinmeier

Foremost amongst them will, no doubt, be the 'fragrant' Mogherini and the "Putinversteher" Walter Steinmeier. (left)

Will Angela Merkel also be amongst this 'braying' crowd of Putin supporters in the EU? We can but wait and see.

If this suggestion of Poroshenko of sending EU experts into eastern Ukraine was enough to send Putin into spasmodic fits of apopletic rage, then the current presence of US trainers in western Ukraine is practically making him 'tear his hair out'.

Gabriela Baczynska and David Alexander inform us that,

"The Russian Defense Ministry said on Thursday that U.S. troops were training Ukrainian forces in the conflict zone in eastern Ukraine, but the Pentagon flatly denied it, accusing Moscow of a "ridiculous attempt" to obscure its own activity in the region.".... 

"This is a ridiculous attempt to shift the focus away from what is actually happening in eastern Ukraine," said Eileen Lainez (right), a Pentagon spokeswoman.. (Reuters : Thu Apr 23, 2015) (my emphasis) (cf. also: Alan Cullison : The Wall Street Journal: April 23, 2015)

At the same time, Lesley Wroughton tells us that,

"U.S. Secretary of State John Kerry told his Russian counterpart in a phone call on Wednesday that Russia must withdraw its forces from eastern Ukraine, a senior State Department official said on Thursday......

[Furthermore that]

Kerry told Lavrov that current U.S. training of Ukrainian National Guard units in the western part of Ukraine was "fully transparent, defensive" and at the invitation of the Ukrainian government, the official added." (Reuters: Thu Apr 23, 2015)

Meanwhile, Putin's agents continue to be discovered and arrested in Ukrainian cities.  

"A militant from the so-called Luhansk People's Republic has been arrested in Dnipropetrovsk. Grenades and communications equipment were discovered after the 37-year-old man was arrested on Thurs April 23, 2015." (Ukraine Today)

Presciently, Natalia Zinets informed us on Tues Apr 21,2015 that,

"Ukraine is planning an operation involving tens of thousands of police to guard against any attack by separatists or Russian agents during World War Two commemorations next month, security chiefs said on Tuesday.

Tension is mounting in the capital and other cities amid an increase in rebel attacks in the east." (Reuters : Tue Apr 21, 2015) (my emphasis)

This current arrest in Dnipropetrovsk merely underscores the immoral depths to which Putin and his 'siloviki' clan is sinking.

We now await to see what will be decided at Monday's meeting in Kiev between Poroshenko and the EU leaders. 

(to be continued)