Russian Elite Special Forces Commander shares his insights into Ukraine

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Even Putin and Sergei Ivanov would not dare step on Spetsnaz GRU symbol

    

The Saker: The Ukrainian government is constantly claiming that Spetsnaz GRU units are operating in the Donbass. Purely in theory, would you say that that this is possible or do you completely exclude such a possiblity. Please explain the reasons for your reply. What do you make of this video:

Ramzes: As for there being Spetznas in Donbass - you can have it both ways. It is extremely unlikely, however, anything is possible.

Just as it is possible that GRU Spetsnaz can be in the USA, Canada, Germany, Israel, Saudi Arabia at this moment. They might even be in China, Venezuela, or Iran etc...

But GRU will not be operating inside Russia.

American readers need not worry, no GRU Spetsnaz will be popping up in front of the White House or on Wall Street anytime soon, wearing telnyashkas and sporting prison tattoos with big beards. These Hollywood stereotypes do not reflect a true active GRU Spetsnaz soldier, so don't believe the scripts. You will never know we are there.

Reconnaissance is one of our main missions. Our tactics are to never engage in direct battle, we will only engage once we are shot upon. If we are discovered, several people might stay behind to fight while the rest of the group will disappear.

Maybe there are retired ex-military Spetsnaz personnel who are acting independently trying to help the people of Donbass. If the Ukranians catch retired personnel and discover the previous identities then they may make such claims, but NO active GRU unit would be involved in such a manner. That is not our function.

If someone is tortured they will say anything. Intelligence obtained under duress and bodily harm is never accurate. It is only used for public consumption. So if a person is captured they can be forced to say anything, it means very little.

If I left to Donbass by the command of my heart to help the people and was captured, they would claim they caught a Spetsnaz officer, but I would be acting on my own. As a Spetsnaz officer we would never wear any distinguishing badges or marks, nor reveal our identities.

If you think about it - no GRU Spetsnaz unit of 12-25 men would stay and engage in a fire fight against 200 Azov or Right Sector soldiers. That would be stupid. Spetsnaz do not engage in stupidity. This whole video reeks of disinformation, and I do not think it holds much validity. It is for public consumption like Hollywood movies but it does not reflect real warfare tactics.

The Saker: There are constant rumors about US and Polish special forces operating on the Ukrainian side. Again, in theory, do you think that this is possible? What would the foreign special forces offer which the Ukrainian special forces would not be capable of?

Ramzes: I think it is very possible. I think they are helping behind the line of contact, providing expert advisors who tell the private armies and the Ukrainian soldiers what to do, how to do it, when to do it and so on. They will be coaching and encouraging these people how to fight. Providing intelligence, equipment, and strategy but most likely not engage in the fighting. You may have individuals among the Right Sector or Azov Battalions across the line of contacts, but most likely no American or Polish units or groups operating as they would typically.

It is now very much like it was in Georgia during the 90's and now again today. Americans and other nationals provide most of the training, provide the equipment and intelligence but do not engage in battle.


As far as Maidan, nobody knows whether if it was the Polish snipers or Right Sector snipers there on the roofs. This is very difficult to assess and most likely has many complexities that provide cover for the actual shooters who pulled the trigger. What is clear is that it was a provocation and that there was a significant amount of preparation and situational awareness involved. So is the Ukrainian president the one ordering a provocation to unseat himself? This is how shallow the logic and propaganda is, not very difficult to debunk.

Imagine that if the Ukrainian president was reluctant to use his Berkut Riot police to quell the situation on the ground at the line of contact then it makes zero sense that he had the will or stomach to give orders to unleash snipers on an open crowd. Plus the shells and exit wounds clearly show the same weapons were used to hit and kill both the Ukrainian Berkut Riot police and the rioters themselves.

Perhaps it was a mistake for the Ukrainian President to not order the Berkut to properly control the situation, they had the means to do so. The USA understood that at this moment there was weakness in the command structure (it is entirely possible that they manufactured this weakness as well, political and private leverage is also a weapon and tactic used as well) at this critical moment and exploited that event to maximize chaos on the ground and degeneration of social order. Once the Fog of War is as thick as the smoke from the burning tires it becomes difficult to explain and events begin to unfold too fast to keep the public attuned to what matters. By the time the smoke clears it is too late, chaos has sewn its seeds.

This was an extremely difficult position to be put into. Maybe the Ukrainian president is just a regular human not a military man. I myself may not know what order I would give if I was in his shoes, if I had to order my Berkut soldiers to kill my own civilians. Even if they are wild Maidan protestors encouraged by inserted terrorists, they are still people.

Americans might see him as being a weak leader with no stomach to shed blood to maintain power, but as a Russian I understand that these people have families and loved ones too. Ask yourself, could you order your Berkut soldiers to kill and subdue a massive mob like that? It is not an easy question to answer. In hindsight, we can say that giving this order would have saved thousands of lives and likely helped their economy greatly, but in the moment things are not clear and nobody can predict the future. This is an area where civilian leadership may lead to more bloodshed than military leadership.

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The Spetsnaz GRU is the oldest of all special operations forces in Russia

    
The Saker: What is your take on the murder of Alexei Mozgovoi. Do you believe that it is possible for a Ukrainian or NATO diversionary unit to have acted so deep behind the front lines and, if yes, could they have succeeded without an accomplice inside the LRN giving them the information about the schedule and route taken by Mozgovoi?

Ramzes: I think that it is possible. In no way is this good for DNR and LNR headquarters. Mozgovoi was a clever and very strong commander. Many people did not like him within the LNR and DNR but they all knew they needed him as he proved his battle expertise. His value was well understood. Along with his passionate views, it made him unpopular to some, but nobody within the LNR or DNR would dare execute this murder, it would be treason.

Mozgovoi was more of a problem for the Ukrainian and American interests as his battlefield awareness and command was responsible for many successes.

Many Ukrainian Spetsnaz were trained by Russian GRU back in the day. They were trained well and are familiar with our methods. Many people from the Ukraine can penetrate deep into DNR and LNR structures without being detected. It is an extremely complicated scenario due to our long common history. Now we have external agents acting on these people and anything is possible.

I know people personally who are actual brothers who are currently fighting on opposite sides of this war. They understand that this war is not needed for the people. They have no choice in the matter, as they must act to save their families.

If you are a Ukrainian man and wish to stay at home and avoid this war you will likely be killed by Right Sector or Azov Battalion agents. Also, if they choose to escape to Russia their homes and possessions will be taken. However, if you go to fight against DNR & LNR, then OK, go ahead and fight.

Many people in the Ukrainian Army see the only way to save their family and possessions is to join the Ukrainian Army because there is no choice. For this reason you see many people who fight when clearly their heart is not into it, they do not want to kill their brothers and cousins but are being forced to do so by fascist thugs who are running across the country acting with crazy brutality and with full impunity. You see this wherever certain geopolitical actors are involved. Rule by terror and chaos.

May people from LNR & DNR speak directly with Ukrainian military who understand that this is a political situation and actively coordinate fire positions so as to not kill one another. For example brothers who previously served in Afghanistan together will do what they can to avoid killing one another now that they find themselves on opposite sides of the battle. But this only applies to the Ukrainian Army and the DNR & LNR. The Pravy Sektor and Azov Battalions as well as private mercenaries are the main units causing all the damage, chaos, terror and violence, while the others are trying to avoid the politics and ride out the violence.

As for Mozgovoi's death. Of course their could be deep intelligence penetration inside the LNR, their could also be high tech reconnaissance from USA intercepting communications without a physical spy inside actively betraying Mozgovoi's route.


The Saker: Recently there have been speculations in the Russian media about MH17 being shot down by a BUK missile after all. In that hypothesis the Ukrainians managed to drive a BUK missile launcher into the the territory of the DNR undetected and then fired at MH17. Do you believe that it is possible for a Ukrainian crew drive a MH17 missile launcher undetected into the DNR-controlled territory and fire it in order to blame the Novorussians for the shot?

Ramzes: I have a special attitude regarding this. I was in the sky on July 17th at the exact time MH17 was shot down. I saw a military military plane in the sky. There is only one military plane that can be in the sky at this time. Only a Ukrainian military jet could be in the airspace at that time. I was not the only person who saw this military plane. Many of us saw it. I saw it with my own eyes.

The state that media then reported that Ukrainians denied having a plane in the air at that time. So ask yourself why are they lying?

I checked an American run flight path tracking website and I saw my commercial flight, I saw MH17, I saw that at that exact time (20 minutes after MH17) my commercial plane's flight path was logged on this website. The next day discussing this with fellow officers and friends we looked at the website again and in less than 24 hours my commercial flight was not on this web site . Why would they delete the flight record of a commercial flight? This is a daily scheduled flight from Greece to Russia. This flight appears on the July 16 and on July 18, and it was there on July 17 as per its regular schedule yet it was removed from the record on July 17th.

If a BUK was also involved it makes sense, as military redundancy is always a practice employed when striking a target. It makes sense to have it hit by military jets, then by a BUK then by a bomb inside the aircraft and so on. This all points to a high level of preparation for this attack. However I do not think this was executed by high level professional operatives, it was most likely done by someone who could order ground units and planes to attack (read Oligarch) but not someone slick enough to have a bomb on board or make this look like an accident (read CIA or Special Ops). It could be CIA if they wanted to make it look like an oligarch to trigger anger and a response. Again anything is possible, but we know 100% it was not local fighters from the DNR or LNR. Especially not with Russia in any way supporting such craziness.


The event was made to be the most important news, which implies it was a diversionary tactic for public consumption while on the ground troops were amassing and preparing for, and initiating battles. Again, it was a cover for engagement. Clearly the LNR and DNR are suing for peace as is Moscow.

So this tragedy was a clear and important pivot to make the world to pay attention, and while the world paid attention to MH17 other orders were being executed on the ground to create the pretext for a full war.

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Thank you for providing the blog service for your readers world wide. Dear Saker readers please do help by making a donation as we understand in Russia that the information warfare in Western countries is relentless, this campaign is being conducted against us and that we deeply appreciate the time, energy and effort it takes to stand tall and speak truthfully. Together we can act as an effective Spetsnaz group. To know the whole situation and to individually do what needs to be done.

Mozgovoi was a man driven by his consciousness he was a man of principals and actions. Let his soul observe us all continuing to support what he died for - the truth and lasting peace.

Thank you and God Bless.

Below is a great video on Russian Spetsnaz. While only available in Russian, it is still a great watch just for the scenery.

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