BREAKING NEWS
Dutch PM Rutte Abruptly Calls-off MH-17 Recovery Mission
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Most likely the Dutch government has received intelligence of increased violence in the Donetsk region. Ukrainian warplanes straved the city of Donetsk last night. Ukraine has used ballistic missiles in their attack on the anti-Kiev rebels in eastern Ukraine. Russia has advanced 20,000 troops along the border with Ukraine. There is a chance Putin will decide to intervene on the U.N. principle of R2P, the Right to Protect.
Russia has asked for the U.N. Security Council to meet about the worsening humanitarian situation for the Russian-speaking population.
○ NOS: Recovery Mission Stopped and NRC news blog
○ Transcript PM Rutte: ‘Repatriëringsmissie in huidige vorm gestaakt’ [Dutch]
○ Dutch Safety Board OvV – report of flight recorders delayed by weeks, does not meet official deadline
My earlier report today …
Airlift cargo from Eindhoven, The Netherlands to Kharkiv, Ukraine in joint Dutch/Australian MH-17 Recovery Mission.
Australian cargo planes 24/7 continu flights from Eindhoven to Kharkiv loaded with 100 ton goods. Presumably for medical facilities, six ambulances, a humvee armored vehicle. Two planes are in use. Any idea if more than medical/rescue goods are involved?
Facebook RAAF: Operation Bring Them Home
The Royal Australia Air Force contribution to Operation Bring Them Home has continued, with a C-17A Globemaster transporting medical equipment and supplies into the Ukraine on August 1st, 2014. The Australian Government continues to work alongside Dutch and Ukrainian authorities to ensure the swift identification and repatriation of victims of the MH17 tragedy. (See photos}
Two Royal Australian Air Force (RAAF) C-17A Globemasters and a KC-30A Multi Role Tanker Transport, all from RAAF Base Amberley near Brisbane, sit on the tarmac at Eindhoven Airfield.
NATO/European Strategic Airlift Capability (SAC). Heavy Airlift C-17 supports MH17 ops
○ France24: MH17 search suspended over security concerns: Dutch PM
○ The Guardian: Dutch prime minister calls halt to search for MH-17victims
NATO says Russian invasion is imminent
Further updates below the fold …
NATO warns Russian ‘peacekeepers’ could invade Ukraine
(France24) – NATO officials warned on Wednesday that Russia could use the excuse of an humanitarian or peacekeeping mission to invade eastern Ukraine while revealing that Moscow had amassed 20,000 combat-ready troops near the border in recent days.
Moscow has been steadily building up its military forces in recent days, suggesting that Russia could respond to Kiev’s military gains in eastern Ukraine by launching a cross-border invasion.
NATO’s statement said it was concerned Moscow could use “the pretext of a humanitarian or peacekeeping mission as an excuse to send troops into Eastern Ukraine”. The warning comes after the alleged sighting of several Russian military vehicles bearing the Cyrillic insignia for “peacekeeping” near its border with Ukraine.
“The Ukrainian military has now surrounded Donetsk. They have already begun bombing several suburbs. It could be very bloody when they finally storm the city centre,” Stéphane Siohan, a freelance journalist based in Kiev, told FRANCE 24.
Kiev fears that the pro-Russian separatists will request a “humanitarian” intervention from Moscow if Ukrainian forces come close to defeating the rebels in Donetsk. Siohan described eastern Ukraine’s industrial hub as a ghost town where civilians were afraid of going out in the streets.
