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| Europe |
| Chechens Fighting in Ukraine Could Erode Support for Separatists |
| 2014-05-31 |
| [VOA News] Pro-Russian separatists battling Ukrainian forces in eastern regions say they're facing a shortage of fighters, but they seem to have found a source hundreds of miles to the east, in Russia's conflict-torn North Caucasus. Chechens, renowned for bloody tenacity and fearlessness during two wars in the southern Russian region over the past two decades, have joined in the battle against Ukrainian armed forces around the Donetsk region. While the presence of battle-hardened Chechens may bolster the fight on the battlefield, it's an open question whether they will actually help or hinder the separatist cause. "It kind of undermines the whole theme that this is a local battle," said Michael Bohm, a Moscow-based journalist and an author of a book on Russian psychology. "For the average grandmother, grandfather, for the average person, who is not particularly in favor of Kyiv but doesn't want to join Russia, they are not going to look very favorably upon this." |
| Posted by:Fred |
| #5 And they're more competent than the Bulgarians were. |
| Posted by: Pappy 2014-05-31 15:21 |
| #4 The Chechens have always been big on returning to Mother Russia for the latest in training and hardware. |
| Posted by: ed in texas 2014-05-31 14:02 |
| #3 These could be forces aligned with the now pro-Russian Kadyrov clan. Apparently they conducted an assassination in Moscow so why couldn't they operate in Ukraine? |
| Posted by: Elmerert Hupens2660 2014-05-31 02:13 |
| #2 Chechens are fighting *against* the Ukrainians and *with* the Russians? I don't get it. |
| Posted by: SteveS 2014-05-31 01:35 |
| #1 Foreign Jihadis are now repor flocking to the Black Sea Region in the wake of the on-going Ukraine-Crimea Crisis. Russia will soon be under new Hard Boyz assault, while China's + India's is just beginning - THE US-WEST + VATICAN HAD BETTER PREPARE FOR A DAY FOR WHEN THE HARD BOYZ MAY GET DE FACTO CONTROL OF RUSSIA, CHINA'S, + INDIA'S NUKE ARSENALS. Nostradamus + the medieval Crusader States called - they want their Castles back from Saladin. [Once again, 1960's-70's = 2014 TOM CRUISE'S NEW FLICK "EDGE OF TOMORROW" here]. * DEFENCE.PK/FORUMS > PRESSTV - HEADS UP, THE US IS LOSING IN UKRAINE. * SAME > [ABS-CBN News] [Pro-Hizb-ut-Tahrir]PAN-ISLAMIC RALLY URGES PAKISTAN TO LIBERATE JERUSALEM. * FREEREPUBLIC > IRANIAN COMMANDER SAYS COLLAPSE OF US EMPIRE IS NEAR. |
| Posted by: JosephMendiola 2014-05-31 01:29 |