WW4 File: UKRAINE, RUSSIA AT WAR: 65,000 Russian troops hold week-long drill in Volga, Ural regions as President Poroshenko announces week-long cease-fire with Moscow-backed rebels in SE oblasts; 3 soldiers in Donetsk injured by insurgents in mortar/ sniper attack; 300 civilians, soldiers, rebels dead since April, 34,000 civilians displaced; Donetsk “people’s governor” Gubarev calls Kiev cease-fire “fake,” main- tains army still shooting; RAF Typhoons stationed in Lithuania intercept Russian Air Force sortie over Baltic Sea on June 18, latter consists of Tu-22M Backfire strategic bomber, 4 Su-27 Flanker fighters, Beriev A50 Mainstay early-warning plane, Antonov 26 Curl transport

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WW4 File: UKRAINE, RUSSIA AT WAR: Russian state TV reporter killed, colleague missing after position shelled in clashes between Ukrainian forces, Moscow-backed separatists, army making push to enter rebel-held city of Lugansk; gas pipeline blows up in NE oblast of Poltava, “accident” occurred day after Gazprom terminates supply; Right Sector leader Yarosh reported- ly threatened to sabotage Russian pipelines in March; National Security and Defense Council chief Parubiy: “Between 15,000 and 20,000 militants are in Donetsk and Luhansk regions. Nearly half of them are . . . from the Russian Federation,” including “natives of the Cau- casus and special units of the Russian Armed Forces”; NSDC spokesman: “Terrorists get the coordinates of the sites of the deployment of Ukrainian security forces from a Russian satellite”; DPR leader Pushilin names Russian controllers: “We interact with [Alex] Babakov, [Valentina] Matviyenko, [Sergey] Glazyev and Zhirinov- sky. . . . [T]hese are politicians who provide support”

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WW4 File: UKRAINE, RUSSIA AT WAR: Kremlin cuts natural gas supply to Ukraine after payment deadline expires, Kiev’s Naftogaz: Country can manage without Russian energy until Dec.; gas feed to EU untouched; Russia alleges military border violations, follows incur- sion into Donetsk, Lugansk oblasts by 3 Russian tanks, APCs, presumably by Russian soldiers or Moscow-backed separatists; Moscow says Ukrainian Su-27 fighter jet entered Russian airspace on June 5, Mi-8 helo on 12th, infantry fighting vehicle crossed land border on 13th; Russian Foreign Ministry: “We consider such actions an illegal act that will prevent the peaceful resolution of the armed conflict in the SE of Ukraine”; Kiev: 16,000 Russian troops still deployed along main- land border, 22,000 in occupied Crimea, “Separate subunits of 76th Pskov air assault division of Russian Armed Forces redeployed to districts close to Ukrainian border on June 15”; Poroshenko: Government ousts rebels from all frontier areas near Russia; Alex Yanu- kovich phones Lukashenko, says father Viktor no longer trusts Putin, seeks asylum in Belarus or presidency over self-proclaimed Federal State of New Russia

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WW4 File: UKRAINE, RUSSIA AT WAR: Moscow-backed Russophone separatists down Ukrainian Il-76 strategic airlifter on approach to Lugansk International Airport, 49 crew, soldiers killed, President Poroshenko declares day of mourning; Ukrainian Health Ministry: Total of 270 deaths since clashes began in SE oblasts; Moscow denies sending unmarked T-64 tanks to sup- port rebels as 100 protesters storm Russian embassy in Kiev, condemn downing of military plane, break win- dows, tear down Russian flag, overturn diplomats’ cars; pro-Ukrainian volunteer militia fighting separatists: “We won’t forget. We won’t forgive”; NATO: Videos, satellite pics of armored unit at Russia’s Rostov military base, later in Ukraine’s rebel regions “raise significant questions” about Moscow’s role in insurgency; bomb found, defused near presidential office, motorcade route, follows June 7 car bombing in Kiev, just prior to Poroshenko’s inauguration

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WW4 File: UKRAINE, RUSSIA AT WAR: Ukrainian troops destroy 2 tanks, 2 APCs, 2 Kamaz trucks near village of Stepanivka, Donetsk, armored column from Russia waved through rebel-held border crossing in neighboring Lugansk region; DPR chairman Pushilin in Moscow, speaks on Russian state TV, admits acquisition of tanks, NATO chief Rasmussen: Incursion of Russian tanks into Ukraine “marks a serious escalation of the crisis in E. Ukraine”; Kiev says military also intercepted 3 “terrorist” convoys that “intruded from the side of Russia,” 40 Moscow-backed insurgents killed in Snizhne, Russian-made MANPADS, antitank rifles, small arms seized; 100 soldiers of newly formed Azov Battalion evict rebels from state buildings in Mariupol (again), port city sits astride highway leading from S. Russia to occupied Crimea; billionaire governor of Dnipropetrovsk oblast offers to build 1,900-km fence/ trench within 6 months, “protect Ukraine from Putin”; Gazprom CEO Miller demands Kiev pay US$3.5 billion debt by June 16 or face immediate prepayment regime

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Middle East File: Iraq facing worst crisis since with- drawal of US troops in 2011, “failed state” status loom- ing: Iran sends 2 battalions of elite Quds Forces to shore up Shi’ite PM Maliki’s government as Sunni rebels hoist black flag of Islamic State in Iraq and the Levant (ISIS) over major cities in N. Iraq, including Mosul, Tikrit; Ba’athist military officers, Hussein loyalists who eluded arrest after 2003 US-led inter- vention join rebellion; militants confiscate Iraqi Army’s US-built Humvees, seize and fly two helicopters; reportedly execute soldiers, police in captured towns; fearful of rebel advance, Iraq’s Kurds seize control of Kirkuk oil fields; Iraqi government’s authority now confined to country’s south, army “essentially evapo- rated” ahead of rebels’ “stunning advance,” lost control of Euphrates Valley W of capital last year; Iraqi warplanes fire missiles at insurgent targets in Mosul, uniformed Shi’ite volunteers head for front lines 60 miles N of Baghdad; ISIS militants hold 80 Turks hostage in Mosul, Ankara threatens to retaliate if any citizens harmed, Turkish hostages include special forces soldiers, diplomats, children

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Middle East File: Militants of the Islamic State of Iraq and the Levant seize control of Mosul, take over airport, police stations, military bases; 500,000 residents flee Iraq’s second largest city; soldiers abandon weapons, don civilian clothes, join exodus; PM Maliki urges parliament to declare state of emergency; Al Qaeda offshoot controls “considerable territory” in eastern Syria, western and central Iraq, including cities of Ramadi, Falluja; FM Zebari: “Iraq faces a serious, mortal threat”

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WW4 File: UKRAINE, RUSSIA AT WAR: President of Ukraine’s official website: Army, border guards have resecured control of 100 km swathe of frontier near Russian border, follows deep incursion by small armored column via rebel-controlled border crossing, identity and fate of invading troops after battle with Ukrainian army unclear; Poroshenko phones Putin to discuss peace plan for rebellious SE oblasts, calls arrival of Russian tanks, heavy artillery “unacceptable”; Pushilin, self-styled chairman of “Donetsk People’s Republic,” spotted at Moscow meeting with veteran neo-fascist/neo-imperialist Zhirinovsky

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WW4 File: UKRAINE, RUSSIA AT WAR: Russia takes advantage of Ukraine’s failure to swiftly recapture frontier from insurgents, mini-invasion force of 3 T-72 main battle tanks, APCs waved through rebel-held border crossing near Dyakove, Lugansk; Russian armor proceeds to Snizhne in neighboring secessionist region of Donetsk, Ukrainian military engages 2 T-72s near town of Horlivka; Interior Minister Avakov: “The fight is under way. I cannot say about its final outcome, but part of this column has been destroyed”; Kiev fears Moscow preparing to send more guerrillas into rebel- lious SE oblasts, 80 “self-defense” militiamen involved in Crimean takeover later received training at special services base in Rostov Oblast, formed “sabotage group” to aid separatists in mainland Ukraine; rebels lay siege against Lugansk International Airport last weekend, security forces finally repel attackers on Wed.; ATO spokesman says army defended hotly con- tested Kramatorsk airport during rebel attack on June 10, 40 “mercenaries” (i.e., from Russia) killed; 60 Russians, Belarusians volunteer for Interior Ministry’s Donbas Battalion in defense of Ukraine

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WW4 File: UKRAINE, RUSSIA AT WAR: Amid Ukraine crisis, 4 Russian Bear H bombers intercepted over Aleutians on June 9, 2 TU-95s continue flight across N. Pacific, repelled 50 miles off N. California coast; Krem- lin brands NATO’s “Baltops” naval maneuver in Baltic Sea, land drills in Baltic states as “act of aggression,” matches alliance’s 6,500-troop deployment with units from Russian Navy’s Baltic Fleet, Russian Air Force, VDV, stealth corvette Soobrazitelny live-fires missiles at surface targets; Putin’s personal envoy Markov issues truculent warning to Helsinki ahead of FM Lavrov’s visit: “Russophobia could start the third [world war]. Finland is one of the most Russophobic countries in Europe, together with Sweden and the Baltic states. Russia recommends Finland not to join NATO”; con- veniently forgets Finns’ “Russophobia” might be linked to 1939 Soviet invasion; France, Italy dispatch spy ships to Black Sea, monitor Russian military activity in occupied Crimea

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Final Phase Backgrounder: Russian Communists urge referenda on changing names of St. Petersburg, Volgo- grad back to Leningrad, Stalingrad, Putin expresses support for initiative; CPRF’s long-standing policy to restore Soviet Union; CIS co-founder Shushkevich maintains Putin rebuilding USSR through formation of Eurasian Union, Russian special services intervention in Ukraine; freest former Soviet republics–Ukraine, Georgia and Moldova–have lost “chunks of territory” to pro-Moscow separatists; Lukashenko “doing his part” in Belarus via KGB-controlled “democracy,” collective farms, 80% of economy in state hands; C. Asian repub- lics have made “scant progress towards” democratic reform in 23 years; Shushkevich denies he, colleagues Yeltsin, Kravchuk had “ulterior motive” in dissolving USSR, but KGB defector Golitsyn predicted contrived demise of Soviet Union, followed by “new worldwide communist federation” (New Lies for Old [1984], p. 346), identified CIS as component of “longstanding overall Communist strategy of convergence” (The Pere- stroika Deception [1995], p. 149); Borodin: Russian-Belarusian Union State “great development of commu- nism,” USSR to be restored in 2017, centennial of Bolshevik Revolution

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WW4 File: UKRAINE, RUSSIA AT WAR: Heavy fighting resumes around rebel stronghold in Ukraine’s Donetsk Oblast, shelling heard in downtown Slavyansk as govern -ment troops, Moscow-backed separatists exchange fire, rebels shoot down Ukrainian An-26 transport plane on June 6, 5 of 8 aircrew survived; insurgents attack military base in Artemivsk, repelled, others claim to detain pro-Kiev mercenaries from Poland, Czech Rep. (possibly to deflect attention from Russian citizens fighting on behalf of “people’s republics” in Donetsk, Lugansk); newly inaugurated President Poroshenko: OSCE-brokered talks to close “porous” border between Ukraine, Russia; Washington reassures European allies in face of Russian aggression, deploys 2 B-2 stealth bombers to UK, 3 B-52s arrived last week; NATO navies carry out “Baltops” maneuver in Baltic Sea, “Sabre Strike” land drills in Estonia, Latvia; Polish paratroop- ers host US, Canadian counterparts, conduct grenade training; London to commit 1,000 soldiers, 25 tanks to NATO drill in Poland later this year; Hagel tours US missile cruiser in Black Sea; NATO’s largest-ever cyber- warfare drill “Locked Shields” held this past March

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WW4 File: UKRAINE, RUSSIA AT WAR: Outgunned by Moscow-backed rebels, invaders from Russian Federation, Ukraine’s State Border Guard shuts down 8 checkpoints in Donetsk, Lugansk Oblasts, self-styled PM Nikitin: Armed wing of “Lugansk People’s Republic” controls 150-200 km swathe of border region, creating invasion corridor for Russian Armed Forces, still poised nearby; Ukrainian fighter jet supported border guards at Marynivka crossing, attacked rebels, Russian mercenaries; PM Medvedev: Russia has received 4,000 refugees from Ukrainian civil war; governor of Russia’s Rostov Oblast declares “state of emergency,” deal with alleged influx of Ukrainian refugees, Kiev denies such exodus; Kremlin recycles months-old propaganda, alleges “extremists” entering Russia from Ukraine

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WW4 File: UKRAINE, RUSSIA AT WAR: Skirmish erupts near Ukrainian border village of Marynivka, Donetsk, border guards (with standing order to “open fire”) repulse convoy of Russian mercenaries in trucks, infantry vehicle, 100 Moscow-backed rebels arrive on scene to support invaders, 5 Ukrainian soldiers injured, 15 separatists killed, latest episode of infiltration by guerrillas from Russian Federation; Kiev claims heavy fighting with artillery around rebel stronghold of Slavyansk on Tues., Wed. leads to 300 insurgent deaths, residents flee, self-styled PM of “Donetsk People’s Republic” denies losses; rebels seize border guard base near Lugansk city after troops retreat, remove Ukrainian flag; USA to send military advisers to former Soviet republic, assess need for “defense reform,” Obama approves US$5 million in body armor, night vision goggles, communication devices for Ukrainian army, non-lethal supplies for border guards, follows shipment of 300,000 MREs; Putin, Poroshenko meet, speak at D-Day event in Normandy, no handshake seen, Ukrainian president-elect to be sworn in June 7

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EU/USSR2 Files: Fascism resurgent amidst Eurocrisis: Moscow’s hidden control over European politics revealed, 30-year-old warnings of KGB defector Golitsyn confirmed (again): Far-right parties—e.g., Britain’s UKIP, France’s National Front, Belgium’s Vlaams Belang (VB), Hungary’s Jobbik, Greece’s Golden Dawn—parrot Kremlin script in Brussels, vilify USA, EU, NATO, Ukraine; Farage frequent interviewee on state-owned Russia Today; Le Pen troops to Moscow before Euro vote, Putin says Marine “one of Europe’s most promising new leaders”; Dewinter: “We can be a good partner for Russia in the European Parliament, and Russia sees us as a potential partner”; VB, Austria’s Freedom Party, Bulgaria’s Attack, Italy’s Northern League sent “independent observers” to Crimea to validate Russian annexation; Jobbik chair- man Vona trekked to Russia in 2008, rubbed elbows with Communist MP Kalashnikov, Moscow State U. Prof. Dugin during follow-up 2013 trip; Gulyás, ex-member of Hungary’s parliamentary committee on national security: “Jobbik is a phony nationalist party which serves only Russian interests”; Eurasianist Dugin wrote CPRF constitution, advises current State Duma speaker Naryshkin, inspired creation of new Eurasian Union, attended founding congress of insur- gents’ New Russia Party in Ukraine in May 2014

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WW4 File: UKRAINE, RUSSIA AT WAR: NATO’S top commander on Moscow-backed insurgency in Ukraine’s Donetsk, Lugansk oblasts: “Russia is continuing to de- stabilize Ukraine . . . Russian irregular forces, Russian-backed forces, and Russian financing are very active in E. Ukraine. This has to stop. . . . [W]hat you see in the E. part of Ukraine are very well-led, very well-financed, very well-organized clashes with Ukrainian forces”; Breedlove on Russian regular forces near Ukrainian border: “There are several large formations that are remaining and they have not reduced their presence in any way”; Pentagon admits “dangerous” Apr. 23 provo- cation by Russian fighter pilot over NW Pacific, Su-27 “Flanker” rolled sideways to reveal air-to-air missiles, flew within 100 feet of cockpit of US RC-135 spy plane, ret. USAF Lt. Gen.: “President Putin sees weakness in the current American leadership and is trying to intimi- date us”; follows Russian Air Force’s Apr. 12 provoca- tion against US destroyer in Black Sea; White House reassures European allies in face of Russian aggression in Ukraine, Pentagon deploys 3 B-52 strategic bombers to Fairford, England; Boeing installs advanced avionics in venerable “Stratofortress,” first such upgrade since 1960s

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WW4 File: UKRAINE, RUSSIA AT WAR: 500 Moscow-backed insurgents launch 8-hour siege of border guard base in Lugansk city, 5 separatists killed, 10 soldiers wounded, Ukrainian fighter jets show up to repel attack; Kiev’s ATO spokesman denies air force bombed regional state admin bldg. in city, militants caused blast; rebels attack army checkpoint near insurgency “epicenter” Slavyansk, mine power plants to deter government offensive; NATO chief confirms Russia pulls back 2/3 of regular forces near Ukrainian border, even as Russian strategic aviation holds missile drills in W. Military District; Obama, Poroshenko to meet during Warsaw security conference; self-proclaimed Donetsk, Lugansk “people’s republics” form “Federal State of New Russia,” self-styled DPR PM, Russian citizen Borodai admits Moscow “financing” separa- tists; SBU defector Khodakovsky assumes command of Vostok Battalion at Donetsk city army base, irregular force consists of mercenaries from Russian Federation; pro-Kremlin Chechen president belies earlier denials, Kadyrov vows to send “74,000” more fighters to support rebels

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Self-proclaimed pro-Moscow political entities in SE Ukraine:

Federal State of New Russia (FGN, est. May 24, 2014)

consisting of

Donetsk People’s Republic (DNR, est. Apr. 7, 2014)

– People’s Governor: Pavel Gubarev (born Ukrainian SSR, Russian National Unity [neo-Nazi], Progressive Socialist Party of Ukraine [communist], New Russia Party)

– Chairman of Supreme Soviet: Denis Pushilin (born Ukrainian SSR)

– Prime Minister: Alexander Borodai (born RSFSR)

– Supreme Commander: GRU Colonel Igor Girkin/Strelkov (born RSFSR)

and

Lugansk People’s Republic (LNR, est. Apr. 24, 2014)

– People’s Governor, Commander of “Army of the Southeast”: Valery Bolotov (born Ukrainian SSR)

– First Deputy People’s Governor: Sergei Tsyplakov

– Commander of Lugansk Guard: German Prokopyev

Russophile political party to rule FGN:

New Russia Party (PN, est. May 13, 2014); founding congress attended by Russian neo-facscists/neo-imperialists/Eurasianists Alexander Dugin, Alexander Prokhanov and Valery Korovin; Dugin past member of Pamyat, National Boshelvik Party, past ideologist for Communist Party of the Russian Federation

Donbass People’s Militia, PN paramilitary wing (est. March 2014), under joint command of Gubarev and Girkin/Strelkov