Ukraine Conflict Intel

Map Of Ukraine 1918:

Map of Ukraine 1720

Ukrainian Forces

50 volunteer battalions (about 10,000 men?)

Azov Battalion - extreme rightists 300 men (July) 500 men (aug 29

The key figures in the Azov Battalion are its commander, Andriy Biletsky, and his deputy, Ihor Mosiychuk. Oleh Odnorozhenko

Andriy Biletsky is also the leader of a Ukrainian organisation called the Social National Assembly. Its aims are stated in one of their online publications:

    • "to prepare Ukraine for further expansion and to struggle for the liberation of the entire White Race from the domination of the internationalist speculative capital"

    • "to punish severely sexual perversions and any interracial contacts that lead to the extinction of the white man"

Rebel Forces

Vostok Battalion

Russia and Nato

Russia

"Nato said it believed at least 1,000 regular Russian soldiers were operating inside Ukraine." http://www.theguardian.com/world/2014/aug/31/vladimir-putin-kiev-statehood-talks-ukraine-russia-mariupol

"3,000 to 4,000 Russian volunteers"

Ukrainian Ground Forces:Approx: 57.000

National Guard of Ukraine

Activated March 2014 by Yatsenyuk (previously deactivated in 2000). Approx 10,000 men as of March.

Aleksandr Zakharchenko, a rebel commander and the prime minister of the Donetsk People’s Republic, said on Thursday that Russians, including active-duty soldiers on leave, had been fighting against Ukrainian government forces

"Mr. Zakharchenko said that 3,000 to 4,000 Russians had fought alongside separatists since the conflict erupted."

Mr. Zakharchenko, who says he has Ukrainian citizenship, took over as prime minister of the Donetsk People’s Republic this month, replacing Alexandr Borodai, a Russian. Several other Russians who had figured prominently in the rebel ranks, including the military commander Igor Strelkov, have also dropped from sight in recent weeks.

Rebel fighter poses next to a T-72 tank in Novasovsk that he has affectionately nicknamed Taniusha after his wife, Tatyana. Ukraine claim the rebels have received the tanks from Russia, but the militia say they were captured during clashes with government forces. Photo by Harriet Salem/VICE News.

NYT 8-29-2014