Putin denying Russians access to the truth about his war with Ukraine.

"As fierce exchanges of artillery and mortar fire grip Shyrokyne, there are rising fears of a new offensive towards Mariupol. The daily clashes here make a mockery of the ceasefire agreement signed in Minsk in February." (Daily Telegraph : 30 May, 2015) (my emphasis)

So wrote Tom Parfitt (left) from Shyrokyne yesterday.

 “Shyrokyne is a strategic height,” said Yevgeny Adarenko, a Ukrainian military spokesman. “If we give it up completely there will be no point defending the settlements around it.”(ibid Tom Parfitt) (my emphasis)

Yet whilst the daily clashes between Ukrainian soldiers and Puitin's Russian and rebel   around Shyrokyne continues apace,

" French President Francois Hollande and German Chancellor Angela Merkel have called on Russian President Vladimir Putin to rapidly implement measures agreed under the Feb.12 Minsk ceasefire, Hollande's office said in a statement." (Reuters: Mail Online : 29 May 2015) (my emphasis) (pic: Putin, Merkel, & Hollande)

"Diplomats and officials from the four countries will meet in Paris on Jun.10 to review progress in the Minsk process, the French statement said." (ibid Reuters)

There is, however, a rather large fly in the Minsk2 protocol 'ointment' that Merkel and Hollande are still vigorously trying to apply to the war between Ukraine and Putin's Russia viz. 

Putin's constant denial that there are Russian troops fighting alongside his proxies in eastern Ukraine.  (see: Hiding in Plain Sight: Putin's War in Ukraine [which] provides irrefutable evidence of direct Russian military involvement in eastern Ukraine) (Atlantic Council : May 27, 2015)

A month ago, Bradley Klapper and Ken Dilanian of Associated Press reported that,

"American officials briefed on intelligence from the region say Russia has significantly deepened its command and control of the militants in eastern Ukraine in recent months, leading the U.S. to quietly introduce a new term: "combined Russian-separatist forces." (left) The State Department used the expression three times in a single statement last week, lambasting Moscow and the insurgents for a series of cease-fire violations in Ukraine." (Business Insider UK : Apr. 30, 2015) (my emphasis)

Yet neither Merkel nor Hollande are willing to refer to the pro-Putin combatants in eastern Ukraine as, the combined Russian-separatist forces, even in the face of the recent capture by Ukrainian armed forces of two Russian men who are members of the regular Russian army.

And to prevent the Russian people from breaking free of Putin's propaganda that there are no Russian soldiers fighting in eastern Ukraine,

".... Russian president Vladimir Putin passed a law that made information related to peacetime Russian military casualties a secret, [and] the Kremlin has denied that two Russian men captured by Ukrainian armed forces are members of the regular Russian army. ( Christopher Harress : International Business Times : 29 May, 2015) (my emphasis)

What is rather disturbing about this new law of Putin's is that his propaganda machine has deliberately used the wife of one of the captured Russian men to practically denounce her own husband on Russian TV as a liar, an echo of the 'denouncements' that took place during the era of Stalin.

  
This new law of Putin's that now makes it a crime to report on the death of any Russian soldier, including any reporting by the relatives of the fallen soldier, throws into sharp relief witness reports that,

"...in recent days [they have seen].. Russian army massing troops without insignia and hundreds of pieces of unmarked weaponry on the border with Ukraine.

Asked if this indicated Russia planned an invasion of Ukraine, Kremlin spokesman Mr Peskov (left) told a conference call with reporters: "I find the wording of this question, 'if an invasion is being prepared', inappropriate as such.". (ABC News : May 29, 2015)

"Ilya Yashin (right), said: "This [law] shows that the war with Ukraine — undeclared but ongoing — is a major sore spot for Putin.

"This ... [law] should be seen as a threat to activists, politicians and journalists who deal with this." (ibid ABC) (my emphasis)

More importantly, this law should also be seen as a threat to the Russian people themselves who will be denied the truth when Putin's combined Russian-separatist forces invade Mariupol, and the body bags of Russian soldiers flow across the border back to Russia.

If Putin can treat his own constituents, the Russian people, with such contempt by denying them access to the truth about the Russian fallen in eastern Ukraine, what chance, if any, does either Merkel or Hollande have in convincing him "to rapidly implement measures agreed under the Feb.12 Minsk ceasefire"?

The Ukrainian take-over of the border between Russia and eastern Ukraine, currently controlled by the combined Russian-separatist forces, is only six months away, according to the Minsk2 protocols.
   
Will Putin ever allow this take-over to happen?

As the old saying goes, "Pigs will fly"


(to be continued)