Ukraine crisis: Poroshenko vows 'roadmap' for peace

<div dir="ltr" style="text-align: left;" trbidi="on"> <div class="caption full-width" style="-webkit-composition-fill-color: rgba(175, 192, 227, 0.235294); -webkit-tap-highlight-color: rgba(26, 26, 26, 0.301961); -webkit-text-size-adjust: none; -webkit-text-stroke-width: 0px; background-color: white; clear: both; color: #505050; display: block; float: none; font-family: Arial, Helmet, Freesans, sans-serif; font-size: 13px; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: normal; letter-spacing: normal; line-height: 16px; margin: 0px 0px 15px; orphans: auto; position: relative; text-align: start; text-indent: 0px; text-transform: none; white-space: normal; widows: auto; word-spacing: 0px;"> <img alt="Vladimir Putin (L) and Petro Poroshenko in Minsk (26 August 2014)" height="351" src="http://news.bbcimg.co.uk/media/images/77178000/jpg/_77178314_023637122-1.jpg" style="-webkit-user-select: none; border: 0px; color: #505050; font-family: Arial, Helmet, Freesans, sans-serif; font-size: 13px; font-style: italic; font-weight: normal; letter-spacing: 0px; line-height: 16px; position: relative;" width="624" /><span style="color: #505050; display: block; font-family: Arial, Helmet, Freesans, sans-serif; line-height: 16px; width: 624px;">Vladimir Putin, left, and Petro Poroshenko shook hands at the start of the summit</span></div> <div class="introduction" id="story_continues_1" style="clear: left; font-weight: bold; margin-bottom: 18px; padding: 0px; text-rendering: auto;"> <span style="background-color: rgba(255, 255, 255, 0);">Ukrainian President Petro Poroshenko says a "roadmap" will be prepared to end fighting between troops and pro-Russian separatists in the east.</span></div> <div style="clear: left; margin-bottom: 18px; padding: 0px; text-rendering: auto;"> <span style="background-color: rgba(255, 255, 255, 0);">He was speaking after holding his first direct talks on the crisis with Russian President Vladimir Putin in Belarus.</span></div> <div style="clear: left; margin-bottom: 18px; padding: 0px; text-rendering: auto;"> <span style="background-color: rgba(255, 255, 255, 0);">Mr Putin said Russia would assist a dialogue, but stopping the fighting was a matter for Ukraine itself.</span></div> <div style="clear: left; margin-bottom: 18px; padding: 0px; text-rendering: auto;"> <span style="background-color: rgba(255, 255, 255, 0);">Ukraine and the West accuse Russia of arming the rebels, a claim repeatedly denied by the Kremlin.</span></div> <div style="clear: left; margin-bottom: 18px; padding: 0px; text-rendering: auto;"> <span style="background-color: rgba(255, 255, 255, 0);">"A roadmap will be prepared in order to achieve, as soon as possible, a ceasefire regime which absolutely must be bilateral in character," Mr Poroshenko said after two hours of talks with Mr Putin in the Belarusian capital, Minsk.</span></div> <div style="clear: left; margin-bottom: 18px; padding: 0px; text-rendering: auto;"> <span style="background-color: rgba(255, 255, 255, 0);">Earlier this year, Mr Poroshenko declared a unilateral ceasefire but accused the rebels of not following suit.</span></div> <div class="videoInStoryB" style="width: 448px;"> <div class="emp page-bookmark-link-aware" id="emp-28948112-11639" style="height: 252px; position: relative; width: 448px;"> <div style="border-bottom-width: 0px; height: 252px; padding-bottom: 0px; position: relative; width: 448px; z-index: 999;"> <iframe frameborder="0" id="smphtml5iframeemp-28948112-11639" name="smphtml5iframeemp-28948112-11639" scrolling="no" src="http://www.bbc.co.uk/emp/releases/smp-html/player.html?1.3.14" style="height: 252px; left: 0px; position: absolute; top: 0px; width: 448px;"></iframe></div> </div> <div class="caption" style="clear: both; float: none; padding: 0px 0px 16px; position: relative; text-rendering: auto;"> <span style="background-color: rgba(255, 255, 255, 0);">Vladimir Putin: "Russia will do everything it can for the peace process, if it starts"</span></div> </div> <div class="videoInStoryB" style="width: 448px;"> <div class="emp page-bookmark-link-aware" id="emp-28948447-11640" style="height: 252px; position: relative; width: 448px;"> <div style="border-bottom-width: 0px; height: 252px; padding-bottom: 0px; position: relative; width: 448px; z-index: 999;"> <iframe frameborder="0" id="smphtml5iframeemp-28948447-11640" name="smphtml5iframeemp-28948447-11640" scrolling="no" src="http://www.bbc.co.uk/emp/releases/smp-html/player.html?1.3.14" style="height: 252px; left: 0px; position: absolute; top: 0px; width: 448px;"></iframe></div> </div> <div class="caption" style="clear: both; float: none; padding: 0px 0px 16px; position: relative; text-rendering: auto;"> <span style="background-color: rgba(255, 255, 255, 0);">Petro Poroshenko: "An agreement has to be reached to secure peace and freedom for Ukrainian citizens"</span></div> </div> <div style="clear: left; margin-bottom: 18px; padding: 0px; text-rendering: auto;"> <span style="background-color: rgba(255, 255, 255, 0);">Prior to their one-to-one meeting, the two leaders also took part in discussions with the EU's top diplomat Catherine Ashton.</span></div> <div style="clear: left; margin-bottom: 18px; padding: 0px; text-rendering: auto;"> <span style="background-color: rgba(255, 255, 255, 0);">The summit came after 10 Russian soldiers were seized in Ukraine's east.</span></div> <div style="clear: left; margin-bottom: 18px; padding: 0px; text-rendering: auto;"> <span style="background-color: rgba(255, 255, 255, 0);">More than 2,000 people have died in fighting between Ukrainian forces and separatists in Donetsk and Luhansk.</span></div> <div> <br /></div> <div style="clear: left; margin-bottom: 18px; padding: 0px; text-rendering: auto;"> <span style="background-color: rgba(255, 255, 255, 0);">The two regions declared independence from Kiev following Russia's annexation of the southern Crimean peninsula from Ukraine in March.</span></div> <div class="caption full-width" style="clear: both; float: none; margin: 0px 0px 15px; position: relative;"> <span style="background-color: rgba(255, 255, 255, 0);"><img alt="Russian soldiers interviewed in Ukraine, 25 Aug" height="351" src="http://news.bbcimg.co.uk/media/images/77169000/gif/_77169833_soldiersfull.gif" style="-webkit-user-select: none; border: 0px; font-style: italic; position: relative;" width="624" /></span><span style="display: block; width: 624px;"><span style="background-color: rgba(255, 255, 255, 0);">Before the summit. a group of Russian soldiers were captured in Ukrainian territory</span></span></div> <div style="clear: left; margin-bottom: 18px; padding: 0px; text-rendering: auto;"> <span style="background-color: rgba(255, 255, 255, 0);">In a statement on his website after the talks, Mr Poroshenko added: "Our main goal is peace. We are demanding decisive actions which will bring peace on Ukrainian soil."</span></div> <div style="clear: left; margin-bottom: 18px; padding: 0px; text-rendering: auto;"> <span style="background-color: rgba(255, 255, 255, 0);">"The logic of a peace plan was after all supported by all the heads of state without exception."</span></div> <div style="clear: left; margin-bottom: 18px; padding: 0px; text-rendering: auto;"> <span style="background-color: rgba(255, 255, 255, 0);">Meanwhile, President Putin said at a news conference that "Russia, for its part, will do everything to support this peace process if it starts".</span></div> <div style="clear: left; margin-bottom: 18px; padding: 0px; text-rendering: auto;"> <span style="background-color: rgba(255, 255, 255, 0);">But he stressed that it was up to the government in Kiev and separatist leaders in the east to work out conditions for a truce.</span></div> <div style="clear: left; margin-bottom: 18px; padding: 0px; text-rendering: auto;"> <span style="background-color: rgba(255, 255, 255, 0);">The two leaders reportedly agreed to hold further consultations between Ukraine's and Russia's border guard agencies.</span></div> <div style="clear: left; margin-bottom: 18px; padding: 0px; text-rendering: auto;"> <span style="background-color: rgba(255, 255, 255, 0);">Before the face-to-face meeting there were doubts that such talks would even go ahead, the BBC's Duncan Crawford in Minsk reports. The pair last met briefly in June at the D-Day commemorations.</span></div> <div class="caption full-width" style="clear: both; float: none; margin: 0px 0px 15px; position: relative;"> <span style="background-color: rgba(255, 255, 255, 0);"><img alt="A Belarusian honour guard awaits the start of the summit in Minsk, 26 Aug" height="351" src="http://news.bbcimg.co.uk/media/images/77168000/jpg/_77168684_nxwlnwuo.jpg" style="-webkit-user-select: none; border: 0px; font-style: italic; position: relative;" width="624" /></span><span style="display: block; width: 624px;"><span style="background-color: rgba(255, 255, 255, 0);">Belarusian honour guards at the summit in Minsk</span></span></div> <div style="clear: left; margin-bottom: 18px; padding: 0px; text-rendering: auto;"> <span style="background-color: rgba(255, 255, 255, 0);">Mr Poroshenko has repeatedly insisted that the only way to end the bloodshed and stabilise the region is by establishing effective border controls.</span></div> <div style="clear: left; margin-bottom: 18px; padding: 0px; text-rendering: auto;"> <span style="background-color: rgba(255, 255, 255, 0);">The meeting came as part of a summit taking place under the auspices of the Moscow-led Eurasian Customs Union, which also includes Belarus and Kazakhstan.</span></div> <div style="clear: left; margin-bottom: 18px; padding: 0px; text-rendering: auto;"> <span style="background-color: rgba(255, 255, 255, 0);">Baroness Ashton described the multilateral discussions held earlier on Tuesday as "positive".</span></div> <div style="clear: left; margin-bottom: 18px; padding: 0px; text-rendering: auto;"> <span style="background-color: rgba(255, 255, 255, 0);">"There was a sense in which the onus was on everyone to see if they could do their best to try to resolve this," she said.</span></div> <div style="clear: left; margin-bottom: 18px; padding: 0px; text-rendering: auto;"> <span style="background-color: rgba(255, 255, 255, 0);">"We called for a ceasefire linked to the proper management of borders, the importance of ensuring that humanitarian support reached people in the proper manner in full line with international law, and of course the political process".</span></div> <div style="clear: left; margin-bottom: 18px; padding: 0px; text-rendering: auto;"> <span style="background-color: rgba(255, 255, 255, 0);">The EU, along with the US, has imposed sanctions on Russia for failing to rein in the separatists.</span></div> <span class="cross-head" style="display: block; font-weight: bold; margin: 0px 0px 16px; text-rendering: optimizelegibility;"><span style="background-color: rgba(255, 255, 255, 0);">'No mistake'</span></span><br /> <div style="clear: left; margin-bottom: 18px; padding: 0px; text-rendering: auto;"> <span style="background-color: rgba(255, 255, 255, 0);">Earlier, Ukraine said its military had captured 10 Russian paratroopers near the village of Dzerkalne, near the Russian border.</span></div> <div style="clear: left; margin-bottom: 18px; padding: 0px; text-rendering: auto;"> <span style="background-color: rgba(255, 255, 255, 0);">A Russian defence ministry source told the Russian news agency RIA Novosti the soldiers crossed the border "by accident".</span></div> <div class="caption full-width" style="clear: both; float: none; margin: 0px 0px 15px; position: relative;"> <span style="background-color: rgba(255, 255, 255, 0);"><img alt="Smoke rises close to the town of Novoazovsk, 26 Aug" height="351" src="http://news.bbcimg.co.uk/media/images/77171000/jpg/_77171464_9x0luzw2.jpg" style="-webkit-user-select: none; border: 0px; font-style: italic; position: relative;" width="624" /></span><span style="display: block; width: 624px;"><span style="background-color: rgba(255, 255, 255, 0);">Smoke rises close to the town of Novoazovsk, where Ukrainian forces said they had engaged an armoured column from Russia</span></span></div> <div style="clear: left; margin-bottom: 18px; padding: 0px; text-rendering: auto;"> <span style="background-color: rgba(255, 255, 255, 0);">The source also said some 500 Ukrainian servicemen had crossed the border at various times, adding: "We did not give much publicity to that. We just returned all those willing to return to Ukrainian territory at safe places."</span></div> <div style="clear: left; margin-bottom: 18px; padding: 0px; text-rendering: auto;"> <span style="background-color: rgba(255, 255, 255, 0);">But Ukrainian military spokesman Andriy Lysenko said: "This wasn't a mistake, but a special mission they were carrying out."</span></div> <div style="clear: left; margin-bottom: 18px; padding: 0px; text-rendering: auto;"> <span style="background-color: rgba(255, 255, 255, 0);">Ukraine's media that carried the interviews quoted one man, named as Sgt Andrei Generalov, as saying: "Stop sending in our boys. Why? This is not our war. And if we weren't here, none of this would have happened."</span></div> <div class="caption full-width" style="clear: both; float: none; margin: 0px 0px 15px; position: relative;"> <span style="background-color: rgba(255, 255, 255, 0);"><img alt="Map" height="500" src="http://news.bbcimg.co.uk/media/images/77171000/gif/_77171460_ukraine_convoy_20140826_624.gif" style="-webkit-user-select: none; border: 0px; font-style: italic; position: relative;" width="624" /></span><br /> <span style="background-color: rgba(255, 255, 255, 0);"><br /></span> <div style="clear: left; margin-bottom: 18px; padding: 0px; text-rendering: auto;"> <span style="background-color: rgba(255, 255, 255, 0);">Russia has repeatedly denied Ukrainian and Western accusations that it is supporting the rebels.</span></div> <div style="clear: left; margin-bottom: 18px; padding: 0px; text-rendering: auto;"> <span style="background-color: rgba(255, 255, 255, 0);">On Monday, Ukraine said an armoured column had crossed the border into south-eastern Ukraine, sparking clashes near Novoazovsk.</span></div> <div style="clear: left; margin-bottom: 18px; padding: 0px; text-rendering: auto;"> <span style="background-color: rgba(255, 255, 255, 0);">Mr Lysenko said on Tuesday that Ukrainian forces had destroyed 12 armoured infantry carriers there. He said 12 Ukrainian military personnel had been killed in the past 24 hours.</span></div> <span style="background-color: rgba(255, 255, 255, 0);"></span><br /> <div style="clear: left; margin-bottom: 18px; padding: 0px; text-rendering: auto;"> <span style="background-color: rgba(255, 255, 255, 0);">He added that four border guards had been killed by fire from Russian Mi-24 helicopters.</span></div> <div style="clear: left; margin-bottom: 18px; padding: 0px; text-rendering: auto;"> <span style="background-color: rgba(255, 255, 255, 0);"><br /></span></div> </div> </div>

Ukraine crisis: Poroshenko vows 'roadmap' for peace

Vladimir Putin, left, and Petro Poroshenko shook hands at the start of the summit Ukrainian President Petro Poroshenko says a "road...

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A Field Guide To The Bizarre And Terrifying Pro-Russian Rebels In Ukraine

<div dir="ltr" style="text-align: left;" trbidi="on"> <span style="-webkit-text-size-adjust: 100%; background-color: white; color: #333333; font-family: Georgia, Century, Times, serif; font-size: 15px; line-height: 21px;">Weeks after Flight MH17 was shot down over eastern Ukraine, fighting still rages as the government battles with the obstinate, heavily armed separatists who remain in control much of the territory around the crash site.</span><br /> <div class="content" id="mainentrycontent" style="-webkit-composition-fill-color: rgba(175, 192, 227, 0.235294); -webkit-tap-highlight-color: rgba(26, 26, 26, 0.301961); -webkit-text-size-adjust: 100%; -webkit-text-stroke-width: 0px; background-color: white; border: 0px; box-sizing: border-box; color: #222222; direction: ltr; font-family: Georgia, Century, Times, serif; font-size: 15px; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: normal; letter-spacing: normal; line-height: 21px; margin: 20px 0px 10px; orphans: auto; padding: 0px; text-align: start; text-indent: 0px; text-transform: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: normal; widows: auto; word-spacing: 0px;"> <div style="border: 0px; box-sizing: border-box; color: #333333; direction: ltr; font-family: Georgia, Century, Times, serif; font-size: 15px; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: normal; line-height: 21px; margin: 0px 0px 15px; padding: 0px; text-rendering: optimizelegibility; vertical-align: baseline;"> In charge of the many masked rebel militiamen in the east is a collection of commanders and self-appointed politicians who are at turns ludicrous, unhinged and dangerous. With previous lives that reportedly range from Russian intelligence officials to Ukrainian candy salesmen, they now lead rebel forces flush with weapons capable of facilitating terrible atrocities and destabilizing an entire region.</div> <div style="border: 0px; box-sizing: border-box; color: #333333; direction: ltr; font-family: Georgia, Century, Times, serif; font-size: 15px; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: normal; line-height: 21px; margin: 0px 0px 15px; padding: 0px; text-rendering: optimizelegibility; vertical-align: baseline;"> The WorldPost presents a who's who of eastern Ukraine's separatist leaders, a group whose members are as strange as they are troubling.</div> <div style="border: 0px; box-sizing: border-box; color: #333333; direction: ltr; font-family: Georgia, Century, Times, serif; font-size: 15px; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: normal; line-height: 21px; margin: 0px 0px 15px; padding: 0px; text-rendering: optimizelegibility; vertical-align: baseline;"> <img alt="strelkov" src="http://i.huffpost.com/gen/1938836/thumbs/o-STRELKOV-570.jpg?5" style="border: 0px; box-sizing: border-box; display: inline-block; margin: 0px; max-width: 100%; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;" /><br style="box-sizing: border-box;" /><strong style="border: 0px; box-sizing: border-box; font-weight: bold; line-height: inherit; margin: 0px; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;">Igor 'Strelkov' Girkin</strong></div> <div style="border: 0px; box-sizing: border-box; color: #333333; direction: ltr; font-family: Georgia, Century, Times, serif; font-size: 15px; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: normal; line-height: 21px; margin: 0px 0px 15px; padding: 0px; text-rendering: optimizelegibility; vertical-align: baseline;"> A key figure in the leadership of the Ukrainian separatists, and one that seems to pop up in every region that's causing chaos for Kiev since the Russian annexation of Crimea began. As the BBC reports, he is considered "one of the most effective military commanders the rebels have." Allegedly a <a href="http://www.thedailybeast.com/articles/2014/07/25/putin-s-number-one-gunman-in-ukraine-warns-him-of-possible-defeat.html" sl-processed="1" style="border: 0px; box-sizing: border-box; color: #03497e; line-height: inherit; margin: 0px; padding: 0px; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline;" target="_hplink">former member</a> of Russian special forces, the rebel commander is at the very least a serious military enthusiast and historical re-enactor.</div> <div style="border: 0px; box-sizing: border-box; color: #333333; direction: ltr; font-family: Georgia, Century, Times, serif; font-size: 15px; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: normal; line-height: 21px; margin: 0px 0px 15px; padding: 0px; text-rendering: optimizelegibility; vertical-align: baseline;"> As Oleg Kishin notes in his <a href="http://www.newrepublic.com/article/118813/igor-strelkov-russian-war-reenactor-fights-real-war-ukraine" sl-processed="1" style="border: 0px; box-sizing: border-box; color: #03497e; line-height: inherit; margin: 0px; padding: 0px; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline;" target="_hplink">excellent profile</a> of Girkin for The New Republic, the commander was avidly involved in events in which he would don period costumes to act out famous historical battles. A Russian <a href="http://ilja-nikiforov.livejournal.com/245010.html" sl-processed="1" style="border: 0px; box-sizing: border-box; color: #03497e; line-height: inherit; margin: 0px; padding: 0px; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline;" target="_hplink">livejournal page</a> shows him in the heat of these pretend battles, including one particularly striking image of Girkin armor-clad as a Roman centurion. Among the many fascinating nuggets involved in Kishin's piece is a refutation by Kishin that he controls the social media pages that pointed to his involvement in the shooting down of Flight MH17. Instead, the article says, the only online activity known to be fully managed by Girkin is an online forum for trading antiques, where his username is Russian for "Cat."</div> <div style="border: 0px; box-sizing: border-box; color: #333333; direction: ltr; font-family: Georgia, Century, Times, serif; font-size: 15px; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: normal; line-height: 21px; margin: 0px 0px 15px; padding: 0px; text-rendering: optimizelegibility; vertical-align: baseline;"> U.S. intelligence says the MH17 was shot down by the rebels Girkin claims to command. Since the disaster, Girkin has relished the spotlight. Days after the event, the AP <a href="http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2014/07/20/mh17-ukraine-rebels_n_5603470.html" sl-processed="1" style="border: 0px; box-sizing: border-box; color: #03497e; line-height: inherit; margin: 0px; padding: 0px; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline;" target="_hplink">reports</a>, he began pushing the grotesque conspiracy that the plane was already full of dead bodies before taking off. Of all his strange decrees, his <a href="http://www.rferl.org/content/strelkov-profanity-order-ukraine-separatists/25474850.html" sl-processed="1" style="border: 0px; box-sizing: border-box; color: #03497e; line-height: inherit; margin: 0px; padding: 0px; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline;" target="_hplink">latest proclamation</a>may be the most ill-thought-out yet -- banning his forces from using bad words.</div> <center style="border: 0px; box-sizing: border-box; margin: 0px; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;"> <div style="border: 0px; box-sizing: border-box; direction: ltr; font-family: inherit; font-size: 1em; font-weight: normal; line-height: 1.6; margin: 0px 0px 15px; padding: 0px; text-rendering: optimizelegibility; vertical-align: baseline;"> <iframe allowfullscreen="" frameborder="0" height="315" src="http://www.youtube.com/embed/DinMf_7dQK4?rel=0" style="border: 0px; box-sizing: border-box; margin: 0px; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;" width="420"></iframe></div> </center> <div style="border: 0px; box-sizing: border-box; color: #333333; direction: ltr; font-family: Georgia, Century, Times, serif; font-size: 15px; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: normal; line-height: 21px; margin: 0px 0px 15px; padding: 0px; text-rendering: optimizelegibility; vertical-align: baseline;"> <small style="border: 0px; box-sizing: border-box; font-size: 9px; line-height: inherit; margin: 0px; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;">Igor Bezler yells orders at a group of new recruits in a video released in April, 2014.</small><br style="box-sizing: border-box;" /><strong style="border: 0px; box-sizing: border-box; font-weight: bold; line-height: inherit; margin: 0px; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;">Igor 'The Demon' Bezler</strong></div> <div style="border: 0px; box-sizing: border-box; color: #333333; direction: ltr; font-family: Georgia, Century, Times, serif; font-size: 15px; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: normal; line-height: 21px; margin: 0px 0px 15px; padding: 0px; text-rendering: optimizelegibility; vertical-align: baseline;"> The man allegedly behind the shooting down of Flight MH17, if the <a href="http://www.nytimes.com/2014/07/19/world/europe/malaysia-airlines-plane-ukraine.html?hp&action=click&pgtype=Homepage&version=Banner&module=span-ab-top-region&region=top-news&WT.nav=top-news&_r=0" sl-processed="1" style="border: 0px; box-sizing: border-box; color: #03497e; line-height: inherit; margin: 0px; padding: 0px; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline;" target="_hplink">leaked</a> Ukrainian audio tapes said to feature his voice are to be believed, Rebel Chief Igor Bezler is perhaps the most fearsome and notorious of the separatist leaders. The claim to that title was strengthened by a recent <a href="http://www.theguardian.com/world/2014/jul/29/-sp-ukraine-rebel-igor-bezler-interview-demon" sl-processed="1" style="border: 0px; box-sizing: border-box; color: #03497e; line-height: inherit; margin: 0px; padding: 0px; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline;" target="_hplink">report</a> in The Guardian, in which Bezler threatens to have journalist Shaun Walker and his accompanying photographer shot to death.</div> <div style="border: 0px; box-sizing: border-box; color: #333333; direction: ltr; font-family: Georgia, Century, Times, serif; font-size: 15px; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: normal; line-height: 21px; margin: 0px 0px 15px; padding: 0px; text-rendering: optimizelegibility; vertical-align: baseline;"> Flying off the handle into a fury after being asked by Walker why he was keeping hostages in his compound, Bezler reportedly screamed, "Burn their notebooks! Seize their electronics! Search everything for compromising material and then destroy it! If you find anything, execute them as spies!”</div> <div style="border: 0px; box-sizing: border-box; color: #333333; direction: ltr; font-family: Georgia, Century, Times, serif; font-size: 15px; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: normal; line-height: 21px; margin: 0px 0px 15px; padding: 0px; text-rendering: optimizelegibility; vertical-align: baseline;"> Like the other Igor, Bezler is also thought to have been in the Russian army prior to his involvement in the Ukraine crisis. As Julia Ioffe of The New Republic <a href="http://www.newrepublic.com/article/118770/who-igor-bezler-russian-rebel-implicated-malaysia-flight-17" sl-processed="1" style="border: 0px; box-sizing: border-box; color: #03497e; line-height: inherit; margin: 0px; padding: 0px; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline;" target="_hplink">notes</a>, it's thought he drifted listlessly through a series of jobs after his army career, including security guard and funeral director, before dusting off the fatigues once more.</div> <div style="border: 0px; box-sizing: border-box; color: #333333; direction: ltr; font-family: Georgia, Century, Times, serif; font-size: 15px; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: normal; line-height: 21px; margin: 0px 0px 15px; padding: 0px; text-rendering: optimizelegibility; vertical-align: baseline;"> <img alt="borodai" src="http://i.huffpost.com/gen/1939207/thumbs/o-BORODAI-570.jpg?3" style="border: 0px; box-sizing: border-box; display: inline-block; margin: 0px; max-width: 100%; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;" /><br style="box-sizing: border-box;" /><strong style="border: 0px; box-sizing: border-box; font-weight: bold; line-height: inherit; margin: 0px; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;">Alexander Borodai</strong></div> <div style="border: 0px; box-sizing: border-box; color: #333333; direction: ltr; font-family: Georgia, Century, Times, serif; font-size: 15px; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: normal; line-height: 21px; margin: 0px 0px 15px; padding: 0px; text-rendering: optimizelegibility; vertical-align: baseline;"> When the separatists handed over the black boxes from Flight MH17, it was Alexander Borodai who had his hands on the evidence. The Washington Post <a href="http://www.washingtonpost.com/news/morning-mix/wp/2014/07/22/the-eye-rolling-russian-rebel-at-the-center-of-the-malaysian-airlines-investigation/" sl-processed="1" style="border: 0px; box-sizing: border-box; color: #03497e; line-height: inherit; margin: 0px; padding: 0px; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline;" target="_hplink">reports</a> Borodai, the prime minister of the Donetsk People's Republic, has been in charge of the area around the crash site. A shlubby, <a href="http://media.boingboing.net/wp-content/uploads/2014/07/eyeroll.gif" sl-processed="1" style="border: 0px; box-sizing: border-box; color: #03497e; line-height: inherit; margin: 0px; padding: 0px; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline;" target="_hplink">eye-rolling figure</a> who appears in civilian clothes rather than the masks and camouflage of those who usually flank him, Borodai is ostensibly the political figurehead of the separatists.</div> <div style="border: 0px; box-sizing: border-box; color: #333333; direction: ltr; font-family: Georgia, Century, Times, serif; font-size: 15px; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: normal; line-height: 21px; margin: 0px 0px 15px; padding: 0px; text-rendering: optimizelegibility; vertical-align: baseline;"> As the BBC <a href="http://www.bbc.com/news/world-europe-28450303" sl-processed="1" style="border: 0px; box-sizing: border-box; color: #03497e; line-height: inherit; margin: 0px; padding: 0px; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline;" target="_hplink">reports</a>, he has been the focus of worldwide anger over the inadequate security of the crash site and the mishandling of victims' bodies. In keeping with his habit of denying the separatists do anything nefarious, Borodai dismissed the serious allegations as "pretty impudent slander."</div> <div style="border: 0px; box-sizing: border-box; color: #333333; direction: ltr; font-family: Georgia, Century, Times, serif; font-size: 15px; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: normal; line-height: 21px; margin: 0px 0px 15px; padding: 0px; text-rendering: optimizelegibility; vertical-align: baseline;"> <img alt="pushilin" src="http://i.huffpost.com/gen/1939365/thumbs/o-PUSHILIN-570.jpg?1" style="border: 0px; box-sizing: border-box; display: inline-block; margin: 0px; max-width: 100%; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;" /><br style="box-sizing: border-box;" /><strong style="border: 0px; box-sizing: border-box; font-weight: bold; line-height: inherit; margin: 0px; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;">Denis Pushilin</strong><br style="box-sizing: border-box;" />The Chairman of The Donetsk People's Republic, Denis Pushilin was a salesman in a pyramid scheme before his rise to power. As the Washington Post <a href="http://www.washingtonpost.com/world/europe/pro-russian-separatists-in-eastern-ukraine-were-nobodies--until-now/2014/04/30/c504e687-cc7a-40c3-a8bb-7c1b9cf718ac_story.html" sl-processed="1" style="border: 0px; box-sizing: border-box; color: #03497e; line-height: inherit; margin: 0px; padding: 0px; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline;" target="_hplink">reports</a>, his former employment was as meandering as that of some of the other leaders on this list: he worked as a candy salesman before joining up with what the Post calls "a company that runs a notorious Russian Ponzi scheme."</div> <div style="border: 0px; box-sizing: border-box; color: #333333; direction: ltr; font-family: Georgia, Century, Times, serif; font-size: 15px; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: normal; line-height: 21px; margin: 0px 0px 15px; padding: 0px; text-rendering: optimizelegibility; vertical-align: baseline;"> Apart from this colorful detail, there is actually not much known about Pushilin. His lack of documented history highlights how potentially ill-equipped the former salesman may be to deal with international diplomacy.</div> <div style="border: 0px; box-sizing: border-box; color: #333333; direction: ltr; font-family: Georgia, Century, Times, serif; font-size: 15px; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: normal; line-height: 21px; margin: 0px 0px 15px; padding: 0px; text-rendering: optimizelegibility; vertical-align: baseline;"> <img alt="gubarev" src="http://i.huffpost.com/gen/1939358/thumbs/o-GUBAREV-570.jpg?4" style="border: 0px; box-sizing: border-box; display: inline-block; margin: 0px; max-width: 100%; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;" /><br style="box-sizing: border-box;" /><strong style="border: 0px; box-sizing: border-box; font-weight: bold; line-height: inherit; margin: 0px; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;">Pavel Gubarev</strong><br style="box-sizing: border-box;" />The second member of this list with a recorded history of wearing absurd outfits, the People's Governor of Donetsk was allegedly worked as a former hired Santa Claus, according to a New York Times <a href="http://www.nytimes.com/2014/05/24/opinion/the-pushback-in-ukraine.html" sl-processed="1" style="border: 0px; box-sizing: border-box; color: #03497e; line-height: inherit; margin: 0px; padding: 0px; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline;" target="_hplink">op-ed</a>. Footage from one of his performances has made its way to YouTube, where it gives a bizarre look into the former life of someone now in part connected to the continued fighting and death that looms over eastern Ukraine.</div> <div style="border: 0px; box-sizing: border-box; color: #333333; direction: ltr; font-family: Georgia, Century, Times, serif; font-size: 15px; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: normal; line-height: 21px; margin: 0px 0px 15px; padding: 0px; text-rendering: optimizelegibility; vertical-align: baseline;"> <iframe allowfullscreen="" frameborder="0" height="315" src="http://www.youtube.com/embed/rtmL5P6vBKw?rel=0" style="border: 0px; box-sizing: border-box; margin: 0px; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;" width="420"></iframe></div> </div> </div>

A Field Guide To The Bizarre And Terrifying Pro-Russian Rebels In Ukraine

Weeks after Flight MH17 was shot down over eastern Ukraine, fighting still rages as the government battles with the obstinate, heavily arme...

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