WW4 File: UKRAINE-RUSSIA WAR: Ukrainian parliament appoints first Jewish PM amidst festering Moscow-backed insurgency in Donbass; Volodymyr Groysman replaces Arseniy Yatsenyuk, ally of Pres. Poroshenko, previously completed stints as mayor of Vinnytsia, Rada speaker, praised as efficient administrator; White House swift to congratulate Groysman, US VP Biden holds phone conversation with Ukrainian leader on April 15; 2 Russian nationals withdraw testimony in Kiev court, deny being GRU officers, active-duty soldiers when captured in Donbas in May 2015, maintain Ukrainian SBU forced earlier admissions; Saakashvili presents demands to Poroshenko, urges formation of corruption-free cabinet, dismissal of SBU chief, criminal investigation of mayor of Odessa city; former pro-West president of Georgia granted Ukrainian citizenship, appointed Odessa Oblast governor in 2015; Donbas rebels launch 100 attacks against government troops over past 24 hours, 1 Ukrainian soldier killed

While the West focuses on Syria, Putin has not given up his schemes to dismember Ukraine.

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WW4/Middle East Files: Russia’s most advanced helo gunships making combat debuts in Syria, even after Moscow’s official military pull-out; Mi-28N “Havoc” carries out sortie near Palmyra in late March, while Ka-52 Alligator engages rebel targets near Homs in early April; Mi-28N crashes near Homs, both crew killed, bodies recovered, returned to Russian air base in Latakia, Kremlin denies chopper came under fire from rebels, alleges “technical error”; Syrian dictator Assad fetes Russian parliamentary delegation, tells Communist Sergey Gavrilov: “Putin commands such respect among Syrians he could take any state position in the country”; in Feb. article Spanish national daily El Pais reported many Syrians, especially in regime-held Damascus, “experiencing Putin-mania”; Russian Academy of Sciences fronts for Kremlin: “The deployment of US long-range missile-carrying [B-52] bombers [in Qatar] may be aimed not only against Daesh [ISIS]. This may also serve a signal to Russia because those bombers can easily reach the Russian borders . . .” [i.e., USA is a threat to Russia]

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WW4/Middle East Files: Cease-fire brokered by Washington, Moscow on verge of collapse between Assad regime and rebels, ISIS, Al Qaeda-linked Nusra Front excluded from Feb. agreement as Russian Air Force preps for joint op against rebel positions in Syria’s largest city Aleppo, supports Syrian army, allied Iranian troops, Hezbollah guerrillas; Syrian PM al-Halaki to visiting delegation of Russian lawmakers: “We, together with our Russian partners, are preparing for an operation to liberate Aleppo and to block all illegal armed groups which have not joined or have broken the ceasefire deal”; Russian delegation includes United Russia, Communist legislators; USAF deploys venerable B-52 to Qatar on Apr. 9, undisclosed number of Cold War-era strategic bombers to fight ISIS in Syria, Stratofortress played “prominent role” in Desert Storm in 1991; German journalist: Systema self-defense schools in Germany, elsewhere in W. Europe front for GRU, VDV, covert Russian “battle groups” to carry out sabotage ahead of war against NATO

So, while Russia distracts the West with its military operations in Syria and Ukraine, the Kremlin still preps for European war against NATO. This is actually old news (ala Viktor Suvorov’s Spetsnaz: The Story behind the Soviet SAS), going back to the Soviet era.

source 1 source 2 source 3 source 4 source 5 (UK tabloid) source 6 (original German article) source 7 (journalist bio)

WW4/Middle East Files: Pentagon contests Putin’s March announcement concerning military withdrawal from Syria, multiple sources reveal Russia actually building up forces in war-torn ME country; Kremlin TV shows convoy of Russian sappers heading for Palmyra to clear mines after Russian Air Force joined Assad’s troops in routing ISIS from city; US defense officials have seen no Russian aircraft fly back to homeland since March 19, more than 20 fixed-wing fighter-bomber aircraft, more than 12 attack helos, including advanced Mi-28N Havoc, remain in Syria; Pentagon to Fox News: “The Russians installed underground fuel tanks in their air base in Latakia. This was not a temporary move, but a permanent one”; Moscow deployed T-90 battle tanks, rocket-propelled artillery to Syria last autumn, S-400 air defense system to protect Russian air base north of Tartus in Dec.; US-led coalition spokesman in Iraq comments on potential attack on ISIS HQ: “Nobody’s going to get to Raqqa anytime soon, frankly, neither the Russians nor the SDF [US-backed Syrian Democratic Forces]”

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We’re back. This is our first post since before Christmas. We will try to resume regular posts, at least several times monthly.