The newspaper “Ostrov” published a transcribed fragment of instructions for Russian special groups (Spetsnaz) of the Main Intelligence Directorate (GRU).

“The military man in uniform goes on speaking:

So, the first stage has been completed – administration centers and the houses of Security Service in two big cities have been overrun. Let us proceed to the second stage. We are going to follow the same scheme, but now you need to split yourselves into smaller groups (30 to 60 people). These groups will attack police departments in small towns. You’ll get the name of your destination on your way to it. After we overrun a department, 20 to 30 local people we have recruited before will join you. They might bring you food. Give them guns, never mind if they don’t know how to use them. Anyway you will be the ones to use weapons if you feel need to do so.

Everyone in the place knows these people, so they will be your “talking heads” and hostage where necessary. They have to speak out previously discussed requirements. Don’t show yourselves. Yours is a military deal. As you join these people and form the first defense line, you must inform us in order to spread information about the state affairs. We have enough people for that in a particular town, as well as throughout the region.

Eventually curious and sympathizing people will start gathering around you. Among them you’ll meet our guys who must bring you all you need. First of all try to involve more people, convince them to stay with you. Distribute publicity materials. The “talking heads” have to provide you with them. Remember, you are just executors…

…Pay special attention to women and kids. They are your voluntary shield.

I repeat once more: those who come to stop you will never shoot at women and their children. It is hard to believe, but don’t worry. Women and kids will stay alive. But if you let them go away, the enemies will kill you. Later on they will kill these women and their children to blame this murder on you. Remember that you resist the Nazi monsters! You have to stand there for about seven days till the beginning of the third phase of liberation operation.

– What measures do we have to take if the police resists?

– Shoot to kill. If you succeed to break into the office, shoot the one who shows resistance to frighten others. To impress make it with extreme atrocity. Make local security forces hide the body. It will demoralize them completely.

– What should we do if they surround us in accordance with the principles of anti-terrorist operations?

– I’m answering. Firstly, we will occupy several towns which will make it difficult for them to deploy antі-terrorist troops everywhere at the same time. Secondly, we have our people in the local security forces who will block such action as much as they can. They are ordered – in case the antі-terrorist forces are deployed despite all our counteraction – to choose some people of authority officials as voluntary hostage. In case of assault they have to be killed. That’s your responsibility. In addition, our Minister of Foreign Affairs lays down conditions of no military solution for his participation in the international negotiations. It’s his additional favor for you guys [laughing in the hall]

– But if the authorities bend before our “talking heads”?

– We need to get information about that immediately. On the way back from negotiation “the heads” must be assaulted. If you fail to do it let them come back and isolate them from the crowd. If you are unsuccessful in persuading people it is the local authorities’ ploy, accuse them of treason and kill one of officials in front of everybody pretending being in emotion explosion. Remember, there should be no agreements with the local authorities at all! We will negotiate with them when they are behind the bars.

Any other questions? No? God help you sons. You were trained for years; you are the pride of our troops. Your motherland relies on you.”

http://euromaidanpr.com/2014/04/28/instructions-for-separatists-in-eastern-ukraine-intercepted-use-women-as-a-voluntary-shield/

http://espreso.tv/article/2014/04/14/instrukciya_dlya_separatystiv_osoblyva_uvaha_zhinkam___vony_vash_dobrovilnyy_zhyvyy_schyt

Originally from here: http://www.ostro.org/general/politics/articles/442475/

Pre-May 2014

Hard to believe people are still arguing about this. Here’s the proof:

Contrary to what the video stated, this isn’t the first evidence of Russians in Ukraine.

Pavel Gubarev, self-proclaimed (and short tenured) governor of Donetsk is a Russian Citizen, as is Mika Ronkainen who climbed the State Administration building in Kharkiv and photographed himself with a Russian flag.

During take-over of Horlivka police, “I’m lieutenant colonel . . . of the Russian Army.”

The SBU has been arresting Russian citizens for weeks.

Separatist leader Oleg Bahtiyarov is Russian.

Fat Russian Nazi Girl Spying in Kherson.

Putin admitted there were Russian troops in Crimea prior to referendum (as if it wasn’t obvious).

The seized cities form a barrier to the Donbas region. It was planned and coordinated.

SWAT like tactics in seizure of Slaviansk Police Station.

They look and move like well trained soldiers. (Kramatorsk).

Even the less regular forces are heavily armed and uniformed..

The moved in a military formation, uniformed & heavily armed, then shot into the air to scare away police. (Another copy of the video)

They don’t shy from gun fights.

SBU intercepted phone call from Russian phone number of instructions being given to subversion group in Sloviansk after their firefight in which one SBU captain was killed.

Same guy in St Petersburg & Donbass.

Kharkiv eye witness spy — the pro-Russians are from Kursk.

Russian neo-nazi Anton Raevski identified in Odessa

“Russian spring” website gives advice for how Russian hooligans can infiltrate into Ukraine (the site)

Pro-Russian hooligans who savagely beat pro-Ukraine protesters in Kharkiv on April 13 didn’t know how to use the city’s metro

Pro-Russian hooligans who stabbed to death two pro-Ukraine protesters in Donetsk, beat others, forced them to kneel, urinated on them, didn’t recognize the anthem of the local football team.

Self-proclaimed Sloviansk deputy-mayor caught in Donetsk returning from Moscow with $19k and encryption equipment.

Instruction intercepted between GRU and special forces operating in E. Ukraine

Simon Ostrovsky describes a sophisticated system of prisoner handling and interrogation.

SBU says their prisons are overcrowded with Russian operatives.

Testimony from locals — they are not from here.

Igor Strelkov fingered by SBU as a high-level Russian agent formerly active in Chechnya. Moscow denies this.

Later Evidence

http://www.kyivpost.com/content/ukraine/live-updates-violence-spreads-to-kyiv-as-kharkiv-mayor-shot-in-critical-condition-345410.html

Russians have three army groups in full combat readiness on the borders with Ukraine — Admiral Kabanenko

Three considerable Russian army groups are located near the Ukrainian border, fully prepared for an armed conflict . This was stated by the ex-first Deputy Chief of the General staff of the armed forces, Igor Kabanenko. This location of the army groups “North”, “Center” and “South” indicates that they are being prepared for “something”, wrote the Admiral Kabanenko in Facebook.

According to the military, there may be two versions of events in the future:
One scenario assumes continuation of “maneuvers” near Ukrainian borders in order to intimidate, while creating more destabilisation through the use Russian special forces (saboteurs);
Another scenario leads to an invasion under the guise of a “peacekeeping operation” to capture Dnipropetrovsk, Odesa and Kyiv.

“All this will be accompanied by psychological warfare aimed at our military and the population,” said Kabanenko.
As reported by the news agency “Rakurs», Ukraine has not received clarification from Russia about the purpose of amassing large numbers of troops at the border.

Source – http://racurs.ua/

Curt: Six people in the past 24 hours have told me that russia will invade and conquer Ukraine shortly – perhaps as early as tomorrow. Fucking barbarians. I love Ukraine. I have nothing from the american side except a few emails from the state department stating that all americans should leave and particularly leave the east. But you know, it’s a little like our invasion of Iraq. Just took a lot of time to get that equipment there.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Z68CCK3fOfI

Undisputed world heavyweight champion Wladimir Klitschko has dedicated his fifth-round knock-out of challenger Alex Leapai to his countrymen embroiled in the ongoing political crisis in Ukraine.

http://www.news-republic.com/Web/ArticleWeb.aspx?regionid=4&articleid=22252458

Latvia’s defense minister said on Friday Russia was trying to stir unrest in the Baltic state by using “specially-trained, professional provocateurs” in the wake of its intervention in Ukraine.

The Baltic countries Estonia, Latvia and Lithuania, now NATO and EU member states, were once part of the Soviet Union and have substantial Russian-speaking minorities, like Ukraine.

“There are risks that Russia might try to destabilize the situation in the region,” Raimonds Vejonis, Latvia’s defense minister, told Reuters in an interview.

“We see it very clearly in Ukraine’s case, where they have acted and are still trying to escalate the situation in different ways,” the minister added.

“They are trying to increase negative sentiment in society through certain specially-trained, professional provocateurs.”

As an example, he mentioned comments by Aleksandr Gaponenko, an activist for non-citizens’ rights in Latvia, to Norwegian television that Latvia’s government intended “to suppress protests with the power of army”.

Around 26 percent of Latvia’s 2 million people are ethnic Russians. Many do not have Latvian citizenship and so cannot vote or apply for certain public-sector jobs. Moscow has long complained about the rights of ethnic Russians in the Baltics.

“There are no direct military threats to Latvia and the Baltic region, but there is increased activity of Russia’s Armed Forces near the border,” Vejonis said.

http://www.reuters.com/article/2014/04/25/us-latvia-defence-idUSBREA3O1Q420140425

See also: “Congress of Non-Citizens” banned from holding protest concert in Riga
http://www.baltic-course.com/eng/legislation/?doc=90856

Igor Strelkov, the commander whom officials in Kiev have described as a Russian intelligence officer, gave a picture of the fighters he brought to Slovyansk, who since early April have transformed the city into the epicenter of eastern Ukraine’s pro-Russia unrest. The new government in Kiev has described Slovyansk as the “most dangerous city in Ukraine.”

“The unit that I came to Slovyansk with was put together in Crimea. I’m not going to hide that,” Mr. Strelkov told the Moscow-based Komosomolskaya Pravda tabloid in a video interview released Saturday. “It was formed by volunteers—I would say half or two-thirds of them citizens of Ukraine.”

. . . .

Ukraine’s State Security Agency had earlier described Mr. Strelkov as an active-duty officer of Russia’s elite Main Intelligence Department. Mr. Strelkov didn’t directly address the Russian reporter’s question about possible Russian military-intelligence involvement in his mission. The commander also didn’t speak about himself or his background. Moscow has denied its involvement in the unrest in eastern Ukraine.

Most of the men in the command possess war experience, including former service in the Russian or Ukrainian militaries and tours in Chechnya, Central Asia, the former Yugoslavia and Iraq, according to Mr. Strelkov. He said some “even managed to visit” Syria.

The slim, middle-aged commander with a trimmed mustache has risen to become one of the most important figures in the rebellion in Ukraine’s east, emerging as the de facto military leader of a pro-Russia uprising that has threatened to split the country. His tight operation of highly skilled militants offers a serious challenge to the new pro-Europe authorities in Kiev.

. . . .

“The motivation of those who arrived with me [from Crimea] and joined up is broader,” Mr. Strelkov said. “They say: ‘We don’t want to stop with that accomplishment. We want to go further and free Ukraine from the fascists.'”

. . . .

A man also named Igor Strelkov, working with an elite intelligence regiment of Russian paratroopers, had been involved in a 2001 “kidnapping” of a Chechen man during the Russian war in the breakaway republic, according to Chechnya’s human rights ombudsman’s website, which said the incident occurred near the village of Khattuni. It couldn’t be determined if it was the same Mr. Strelkov.

http://online.wsj.com/news/articles/SB10001424052702304788404579526160643349256

http://euromaidanpr.com/2014/04/27/three-ukrainian-sbu-officers-captured-and-held-by-terrorists/

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=bF8MAFxEX94

All told, international organizations report that around 5,000 people, including minority Christians, Jews, and at least 3,000 Tatars, have fled Crimea and sought refuge elsewhere in Ukraine. . . .

On April 15, the UN High Commissioner for Human Rights issued a report on Crimea documenting what the Russian government has tried to hide by denying international monitors access to Crimea: the imprisonment, torture, and killings of Crimean citizens who opposed Russia’s illegal annexation of the peninsula prior to the March referendum.

The world is already familiar with some of the more horrific reports that have emerged in recent weeks, such as the discovery on March 18 of the body of Crimean Tatar activist Reshat Ametov two weeks after he had been abducted, bearing clear evidence of abuse. On March 25, Human Rights Watch reported that two Euromaidan activists in Crimea had been kidnapped and brutally tortured by Russian and local forces in secret facilities for 11 days.

After spinning a fictitious tale of protecting members of the ethnic Russian minority in Ukraine, the Russian government and its proxies are subjecting members of ethnic minorities in Crimea to the very abuses they pretend to oppose. On March 31, pro-Russian thugs beat a 14-year-old Tatar boy for speaking Tatar in public. On March 18, Crimean Deputy Prime Minister Temirgaliyev announced that Tatars must give up their land to be used for other purposes. On March 15 and 16, pro-Russia thugs kidnapped Ukrainian Greek Catholic priests, interrogated them, and had local “authorities” charge some of them with “extremism.” Following anonymous death threats, the Chief Reform Rabbi of Crimea has fled. All told, international organizations report that around 5,000 people, including minority Christians, Jews, and at least 3,000 Tatars, have fled Crimea and sought refuge elsewhere in Ukraine.

http://blogs.state.gov/stories/2014/04/25/crimean-residents-face-russian-style-repression#sthash.hYS3Cmkl.dpuf

“If you ask the head of the SBU Valentyn Nalyvaichenko, he will confirm that SBU prison cells are overcrowded with separatists, including many current Russian GRU officers”, – said Interior Minister Arsen Avakov in his interview to the Ukrainian TV channel Inter.

Replying to the question of when the Ukrainian society will receive information from the interrogations of these detainees, Avakov said that such interrogations are conducted regularly, but it is only the competence of SBU Chief to make decisions about disclosing their contents.

http://euromaidanpr.com/2014/04/27/sbu-prison-cells-are-overcrowded-with-russian-gru-military-intelligence-officers/

http://euromaidanpr.com/2014/04/26/instructions-for-surviving-under-russian-terrorist-occupation-distributed-in-sloviansk/

1. Never approach the locations where protests are being held in front of the administrative buildings that have been captured. Your presence is beneficial to terrorists. You will first become a living shield, and then a hostage. For Russian separatists, the more casualties there is, the better – the brighter picture can be shown by the Russian Media.

2. Do not listen to those who promote and advocates in the streets for the federalization of Ukraine and separatism, and to those who call onto people to storm the government buildings. They are being paid 1000 hryvnia per day [around 100$ – ed.].

3. If you see the buildings that have been captured [by separatists], or young people of athletic build approaching them, or people wearing military ammunition, or people of any age and appearance that carry bags with food – let the nearest policeman, Ukrainian Army soldier, or SBU [Ukrainian Security Service] representative know. If you cannot inform them directly, call the numbers listed in the bottom of this pamphlet.

4. Do not under any circumstances join any of the spontaneously appearing squads or brigades – Russian secret services will use this information against you and will blackmail you with intention of forcing you into participation in unlawful actions and into supporting terrorists.

5. Avoid mass gatherings of people – there are combatants of the Russian secret services present among the protestors, who are tasked with physically eliminating anyone who is attempting to criticize Russia’s policy. They will use you as a living shield that is what occupants of the Soviet Union did during years 1941-1945 [German Nazis].

6. Restrain your loved ones, relatives and friends from supporting terrorists and from participating in any anti-Ukrainian actions/protests. By doing so, you will save their lives and health. Terrorists view all the protestors as potential casualties. By the way, the terrorists were ordered to kill the civilians that have any contacts with the local authorities.

http://maidantranslations.com/2014/04/26/kharkiv-citizen-whose-head-was-beaten-in-on-palm-sunday-will-be-treated-in-austria/

http://www.bbc.com/news/world-europe-27173473

http://euromaidanpr.com/2014/04/25/freedom-of-press-infringed-by-armed-donetsk-separatists-in-eastern-ukraine/