‘I am very, very tired.’

19-year-old Ukrainian soldier in village of Pisky, where war continues, despite official cease fire.

http://dailysignal.com/2015/06/20/ukraine-war-looks-like-8-days-front-line/

Another soldier: “You have no second chance here.”

(Seldom are soldiers as angry as portrayed in movies. Mostly, soldiers are tired. You can get angry at the enemy for forcing you to dive into mud or dirt or when his fire interrupts your meal. Eating is a major part of a soldier’s day, especially the evening meal, when maybe you have a chance to wash your face and hands before eating, at the least using canteen water to wash your hands. Interruption of the evening meal brings a special kind of anger, but it lasts only as long as the interruption.)

The EU and hypocrisy of Kosovo

“[W]hen you look at the EU, it resembles nothing so much as what Nazi slogans described as the ‘European family of nations’ working together for the prosperity of all. The whole endeavor has roots in National-Socialism. Then there is the bizarre situation that the map of Europe today looks suspiciously like the one from 1942, and all of Hitler’s allies in the Balkans are now the staunchest allies of the American Empire. In that corner of Europe, at least, WW2 is still being fought. Only this time, the Luftwaffe and the panzers are supposedly the ‘good guys.’”

http://politicalmavens.com/index.php/2015/07/08/russian-hypocrisy-on-crimea-and-the-worlds-buyers-remorse-on-kosov/

The EU was created to keep Germany inside its borders and to keep the French from thumbing their noses at the rest of Europe. Reality is, France and Germany want to run Europe because ... well, they are France and Germany.

More on ‘Light reading’

Kostyantynivka and Slovyansk are two cities mentioned in Small Unit Actions During the German Campaign in Russia, Part II, Section XV, ‘Sudden Initiation into Russian Winter Combat (February 1942).”

Both cities are in eastern Ukraine, in the Donetsk region, and were areas of recent fighting between Ukraine government and Russians.

On March 16, 2015, a Ukrainian army armored vehicle struck and killed an 8-year-old Kostyantynivka girl.

“The accident took place at around 3 p.m. in the center of the city of 95,000 residents. The armored vehicle lost control on the road and hit the little girl, her aunt and her baby cousin. The aunt received heavy injuries and was taken to a local hospital, but the baby was not injured, according to the Ukrainian authorities.”

A riot followed.

Interior Minister Arsen Avakov stated: “If anyone in Kostyantynivka, with weapons, stands against the laws of the Ukrainian authorities, using this road accident for mass clashes, then a single warning shot will be fired, and then they (police) will shoot to kill. If there is no time for warning, they will shoot to kill immediately."

http://www.kyivpost.com/content/kyiv-post-plus/riots-in-kostyantynivka-after-armored-vehicle-hits-and-kills-a-child-383664.html

On July 4, 2015, in Slovyansk: “It's one year since Ukraine's army liberated the strategically vital eastern city of Slovyansk. On July 4 the occupation of transport hub ended following some of the heaviest fighting seen in the government's battle against Russian invaders and Russian-backed militants.”

https://www.kyivpost.com/content/ukraine/ukraine-today-ukraines-slovyansk-marks-first-anniversary-of-liberation-from-russian-backed-militants-392760.html

Times of not-war between Ukrainians and Russians are simply interludes.

Georgian soldier dies fighting for Ukraine

Aleksandre Grigolashvili died in Lugansk on Dec. 19. He joined the Georgian army in 2007 and fought in Afghanistan and South Ossetia. Family members said he went to the Ukraine two months ago to fight for the pro-Kiev forces against pro-Russian militia.

http://www.eurasianet.org/node/71436

Lugansk was formerly called Voroshilovgrad. Pro-Russian forces declared the Lugansk People’s Republic last May and announced merger with the Donetsk People’s Republic.

That a former Georgian soldier went to Ukraine to fight against pro-Putin militia, after fighting Russians in South Ossetia and Taliban in Afghanistan, shows the problems of the area far exceed Ukraine and Russia.

Grigolashvili’s death is being used by political factions in Georgia, but that should not surprise anyone. Politicians are quite adept at using dead soldiers for political benefit.

Abu Omar al-Shishani, another former Georgian soldier, is a commander of ISIS in northern Syria. Although al-Shishani, as Tarkhan Tayumurazovich Batirashvili (his Georgian birth name), fought Russia in the South Ossetia war, he now leads Chechens in ISIS.

http://www.eurasianet.org/node/68956

None of these wars is truly local. All forces have soldiers who have fought each other in other countries.

Obama unfriends Putin

Except he didn’t. He unfriended 11 of Putin’s hired guns, but not the don himself.

“U.S. President Barack Obama imposed sanctions on 11 Russians and Ukrainians on Monday blamed for Moscow’s military seizure of Crimea, including ousted Ukrainian President Viktor Yanukovich, and Vladislav Surkov and Sergei Glazyev, two aides to Russian President Vladimir Putin.

“Putin himself, suspected in the West of trying to reconstitute as much as possible of the former Soviet Union under Russian authority, was not on the blacklist.”

http://www.reuters.com/article/2014/03/17/us-ukraine-crisis-idUSBREA1Q1E820140317

“’First, as authorized by the executive order I signed two weeks ago, we are imposing sanctions on specific individuals responsible for undermining the sovereignty, territorial integrity and government of Ukraine. We’re making it clear that there are consequences for their actions.’”

http://www.washingtonpost.com/world/transcript-obama-announces-sanctions-after-crimea-referendum/2014/03/17/b000e574-ade4-11e3-9627-c65021d6d572_story.html

Both at http://legalinsurrection.com/2014/03/obama-announces-sanctions-after-crimea-vote//#more

(“There will be consequences.” Translation: As president I will make some meaningless announcement.

(Nothing he says means anything. He knows what he says is meaningless. He doesn’t care.)