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[Guardian G.I.]

Both Russian and Ukrainian sources state that an emergency session of the Ukrainian parliament is to be held on Monday the 26th of January. It's speculated that Rada will enact martial law in Ukraine.

The question is, how decisive the actions of the opposing parties will be? I think if things get really shitty, NATO can probably even launch a military intervention of their own in the near future instead of sending advisors and small arms, and after that, an open full-scale war between NATO and Russia with its allies can easily break out.

[Sergarr]

Both Russian and Ukrainian sources state that an emergency session of the Ukrainian parliament is to be held on Monday the 26th of January. It's speculated that Rada will enact martial law in Ukraine.

They won't do it, since it'll cut off the IMF funding, and without IMF funding, Ukraine is completely and utterly screwed beyond belief.

[Knit tie]

Col. Cassad's update on the battles. So far, the rebels are slowly advancing, but the AFU are showing great tenacity and bravery in defense.

It's to be expected, since they're a Slav nation (and more importantly, Slav culture), and all Slav nations/cultures have that common trait.

Ukrainians fought the Grand Army and stormed Berlin - no matter how harebrained their commanders are, the common soldiers are not going to yield easily. Already, there are reports of rebels taking heavy losses.

[Guardian G.I.]

Both Russian and Ukrainian sources state that an emergency session of the Ukrainian parliament is to be held on Monday the 26th of January. It's speculated that Rada will enact martial law in Ukraine.

They won't do it, since it'll cut off the IMF funding, and without IMF funding, Ukraine is completely and utterly screwed beyond belief.

Eh, the US will simply fund Ukraine through other means.

[MonkeyHead]

I guess this is a NATO adviser too, then. Or probably a volunteer, seeing as he's from Azov battalion judging by the emblem and the video origin.
(14 minute 30-50+ seconds, the person to the right appears to be speaking english clearly, the person holding the camera is speaking broken english to him)

As a native English speaker, neither person sounds quite "right" to me, and even the better English speaker has a slight eastern "twang" to his speech. Why are they speaking in English?

Of course, it is a massive stretch to pin anything on the identities on the individuals in question based on the language. Anyone can speak it after all, just like how anyone can buy the insignia of the Russian marines

OSCE observers possibly?

They don't wear military uniform, from other videos with OSCE in them.

What are English-speaking people in soldier's uniforms doing in Mariupol???

I'm not sure who spoke English in that video. Probably ivze is right on that one.

2 minute 33-36 seconds - you can hear a soldier sayion "out of my face, out of my face please" while shielding his face from the camera with hand.

Now that accent is harder to place. Initially I thought it sounded almost Mancurian (Manchester, UK), but the more I listen, the more it sounds almost a vague  generic American, with a very slight eastern European twang. But, again, why in English?

As pretty much everyone suspects, both sides appear have people in amongst them that are probably not officially there. Its a good old proxy war like in the 80's! Ah, nostalgia!

[Mictlantecuhtli]

I love how Russia sends soldiers in and the topic is "why are there OSCE observers there" [possibly to go check for those chemical weapons and keep tabs on the terrorists]. If america ever invades and wants to annex a nation, I'll remember the professional doublespeak employed in this invasion.

[Helgoland]

How many roubles is one US dollar?

1$ is around 50-60 roubles, it is fluctuating right now

(From another thread)
Has the rouble exchange rate stabilized? And is Russia/the Russian Central Bank still spending enormous amounts of money on maintaining a non-crazy rate of exchange?

[MonkeyHead]

Some slightly more objective reporting on events at Mariupol. One rebel commander says "yes, we are responsible for the shelling of a civilian area", one says "no, it was the Ukrainians". Make of it what you will. The rebels seem to be gaining ground, but at great loss of men and materiel. No info offered on Ukrainian losses, though I expect them to be signifigant, considering the nature of the combat.

[Sergarr]

I love how Russia sends soldiers in and the topic is "why are there OSCE observers there" [possibly to go check for those chemical weapons and keep tabs on the terrorists]. If america ever invades and wants to annex a nation, I'll remember the professional doublespeak employed in this invasion.

OSCE observers wearing military uniform, without any special emblems signalizing that they're from OSCE?

Protip: if you wanted to troll, you should be less obvious.

[Mictlantecuhtli]

Wouldn't be the only official people not wearing official insignias, what's the difference? 

[Knit tie]

OSCE observers don't wear military uniforms and, especially, unit insignias. By international law.

They are probably battle tourists or mercenaries from whatever "Blackwater" is called nowadays.

How many roubles is one US dollar?

1$ is around 50-60 roubles, it is fluctuating right now

(From another thread)
Has the rouble exchange rate stabilized? And is Russia/the Russian Central Bank still spending enormous amounts of money on maintaining a non-crazy rate of exchange?

It's still fluctuating, but not greatly, in the region of 63-66 roubles per dollar. Central bank is still spending money, which we still have piles of, but less than it used to.

Some slightly more objective reporting on events at Mariupol. One rebel commander says "yes, we are responsible for the shelling of a civilian area", one says "no, it was the Ukrainians". Make of it what you will. The rebels seem to be gaining ground, but at great loss of men and materiel. No info offered on Ukrainian losses, though I expect them to be signifigant, considering the nature of the combat.

Rebel commanders tend to squabble between themselves and play blame games, so I'd not expect their opinions to be the objective truth, either. Ukrainian losses are almost certainly higher than rebel losses, considering that the rebels have so far been winning most battles despite being significantly fewer in number than the AFU.

[Guardian G.I.]

Wouldn't be the only official people not wearing official insignias, what's the difference? 

That's how OSCE observers generally look like.


And that's our mysterious foreigner.

[Arx]

Wouldn't be the only official people not wearing official insignias, what's the difference? 

In your previous post, you complained about Russian soldiers being called OSCE observers. Now you defend them being OSCE observers?

Even if it's some kind of technique, I can't see how it improves the discussion.

[Knit tie]

Wouldn't be the only official people not wearing official insignias, what's the difference? 

In your previous post, you complained about Russian soldiers being called OSCE observers. Now you defend them being OSCE observers?

Even if it's some kind of technique, I can't see how it improves the discussion.

There's no discussion here, silly, only flamewar.

[Mictlantecuhtli]

Uh.. no. The conspiracy theory de jure was 'why are there english speakers there' [implying it is EU/American.. mercenaries?] I am saying they are likely OSCE observers if they have armor and aren't actually fighting people. But okay. This is just another convenient example where Russia sends in troops, is currently assaulting a town, and the topic is 'Why are there [implied Americans] there'.