These are products of the Zakh/Moscow disinfo factory. They insinuate that there really was a coup attempt being worked up against Zakh on Moscow’s instructions, because he was too bolshy. Now, why should Moscow want to put out a disinfo story blaming themselves for something? Well, they want to defend Zakh in the most logical way, which they know will work: by exploiting the obvious fact that everybody hates the Kremlin. They aren’t worried about real resistance: that “Patriotic Maidan” stuff is all done with mirrors. They don’t care that you hate the marmots. He is miles above that sort of thing – RB
The internal problems of the LDNR is no longer possible to hide
Yevgeny Krutikov, Vzglyad, Jul 28 2015
In LDNR has firmly established the practice “not to wash dirty linen in public.” It is done mostly out of good intentions, for example, because of the reluctance to “spoil the image of the Republic,” whatever was understood by that term. In Donetsk there is no coherent concept of state propaganda, are this or people is coincidental, or those for whom this activity is a secondary, optional. Because any leakage of “inner negativity” outside of Donbass is perceived as a provocation and almost a diversion. Of course, enough and sane people who believe that to ignore the problem of the political life cannot, they still catch eyes. In addition, there are illustrative cases, not to notice who is simply a crime. One such story came out on the morning of Jul 14, when in Donetsk was blown up the red “Range Rover” of Elena Filippova, the secretary of the head of DND, Alexander Zakharchenko. The woman survived only by a miracle, and the events of the subsequent days was a solid thriller which in fact has not ended so far and has clearly demonstrated several very unpleasant trends in the DPR.
Soon after the explosion, showered with messages about the shootings around the locations of former GRU (and now, after the reform, the Intelligence Department of the Republican Guard), arresting almost its entire leadership and so on, until the news about the “coup attempt.” Scored the fountain of rumors and gossip, often artificially organized, including the filing of some of the former commanders of the militia, for one reason or another found themselves in disgrace or out of business. Meanwhile no coup attempt was not close. Was the story, which is quite typical for a vague time when there is chaos, war, and on the agenda is the creation from scratch of a new army and state institutions, and in terms of personnel hunger and persistent interference in the life of Donbass by various political forces and individual figures from the outside.
In the middle of the last decade, in Donetsk and the surrounding area acted violent gang of teenagers that had been involved in robbery and robbery, street thugs without shame or conscience. But the head of the gang was standing quite a grown man, born in 1979: Fadeev, Andrei Borisovich. Tall, strong, beautiful, smart, a great organizer and a charismatic personality, and with all of this, he finished up as a bandit with fascist tendencies. As mentionable in police documents was identified by his tattoos: a skull with a beret on the background of the flag of Russia, the labels gott mit uns and homo homini lupus. In 2007, he was finally caught, he was sentenced to 15 years for professional skills (murder, robbery, gang organization and involvement in criminal activity of minors) and sent to the colony at Slavyanoserbsk. There he remained for about seven years. In the summer of 2014, Slavyanoserbsk colony was in a combat zone, Fadeev and just ran away from there; the benefit of the Ukrainian guards and the militia had run away even earlier.
When they reached a native of Donetsk, he joined the militia and quickly found himself at the head of the 2nd company of the GRU. He was nominated because of his abilities, and the biographies of able commanders during the darkest period in the summer of 2014 weren’t really interested. His call sign was “Old”. In the short term Fadeev scored in the 2nd company of the devotees, he personally fighters. Soon the spetsnaz company almost turned into an ordinary gang. The list of his activities is huge, but typica exploits included looting the rich apartments in Donetsk under the guise of “combating sabotage and reconnaissance groups of the enemy,” kidnapping and torture of businessmen for ransom or transfer of the business in the smuggling of coal, raids on trains, and even the embezzlement of humanitarian aid.
In this especially volatile situation in the GRU, was once in the camp began to appear red “Range Rover”, at the wheel of which sat a young girl named Alexandra. It is said that Alexandra was acting extremely rude in the arrangement GRU; even to senior officers she was rude, and constantly bragged about her connections with top officials of the DNR. In the end, somewhere in May 2015, for no apparent reason she was appointed first Deputy head of the GRU with the military rank of major.The emergence of “Major Sasha” was perceived to have passed fire and water commandos as a direct insult. Disagree on her appointment she was in the rank of the first Deputy head and recalling the connection, began to squeeze her out from GRU, but the 2nd company of the Fadeev/”Old” strongly favored her. It soon became apparent that “Old” and “Major Sasha” were lovers, and that Sasha is not lying when boasts of ties to the “top”. Her mother is Elena Filippova, secretary of the head of the Republic, Alexander Zakharchenko. The car which blew up on Jul 14 belonged to the mother, this is even the same first travelled Sasha.
The behavior of a company Fadeev/”Old” was very arrogant. It is said that they claimed that everything they did was done with the knowledge and patronag of Zakharchenkoe personally. There was no policy, they did not understand the concept. They never even thought that discredit the President, and through him the DPR and the whole idea of Novorossiya. From GRU began a mass exodus of experienced officers and commandos. And after the assassination attempt on the mother, “Major John” ordered to correct 2nd Rota to surround the location of the GRU, to arrest several commanders. During the day in the center of Donetsk almost started the carnage. All this time in the information space were only rumors and gossip, and heated opposition towards Zakharchenko people by Ukrainian propagandists. And it took the intervention of the army and “external forces” for captured officers of the GRU to be released and the 2nd company disarmed. The investigation into the assassination attempt on Elena Philippov continues, although it’s possible that it was not an attempt on secretary Zakharchenko, but on her daughter, “Major Sasha”.
A quick career for charismatic gangsters in these kind of wars, is a world phenomenon. There’s nothing specifically Donetsk in this, although the main message of the Ukrainian propaganda consists precisely in the fact that in DNR are all the bandits and uneducated hooligans. The leadership of the Republic has to deal with the material available, and the peculiar views, habits and even the origin of the local “nuggets” even earlier perceived as a plus. But now, in a climate of general insecurity, we should resolutely get rid of people like Fadeev/”Old”. The criminal situation in the Donbas leaves much to be desired, and such incredible stories inflict heavy blows on the leadership of the DNR and on the DNR at large.
Staffing is actually one of the DNR’s main problems. The Republic is full of all sorts of different kinds of political freaks, mainly of far-left beliefs (charming – RB). They were attracted by the radical slogans of social equality and the fight against oligarchs. Being well-educated in Humanities, many of them work in the very institutions that should be specialized propaganda machine of Novorossia. But consistent outreach is not conducted, and as a result tactics of silencing “negativity” began to dominate in everything. There were “figures of silence,” with journalists almost no one is working with, despite the generally friendly attitude of the Russian press.
The “sent” and “validating” do not always coexist in the local social climate. They in and of themselves are not angels, and many of them believe that their mere occasional participation in hostilities automatically puts them in the untouchable caste. So it was with some “volunteer” troops, including of Caucasus origin, DNR authorities eventually forced asked to leave the territory of the Republic. As for civilian advisers, most of them highly politicized and “hurt” the idea of the White guard, and the Trotsky. And then there are multi Cossacks, some leaders are ready around the clock to criticize the world around them. DNR need not even human “reserve”, and the core staff is right now. Zakharchenko is not able alone to take manual control 24 hours a day. He is forced to rely on the people around him, which can be very, very random. Elena Filippova, according to rumors, actually moved to Donetsk from Transnistria. How and why did she became secretary of the head of DNR? Perhaps we need to ask Antyufiev (Shevtsov), who last summer held the post of first Deputy head of the government and worked with law enforcement agencies. In just three months, he managed to lead a lot of former employees of the MGB from Transnistria and placed them in key positions.
Zakharchenko seems to some people in Moscow to be not quite 100% loyal (unlike Plotnitsky in Lugansk). He’s too uncompromising, too honest and sometimes too straight. This is clearly evident in recent times, in the behind-the-scenes debate over the “demilitarized zones” and “withdrawal of troops.” And indeed the discussion around Minsk 2 showed that the opinion of the DNR very own. And this is due primarily to the tight coupling of the Republic’s leadership to what is happening on the front and on the street (in the broadest sense of the word). And another negative trend of recent times: the loss of motivation on the part of VSN (Novorossian forces). Up until Minsk 2, there was a clear understanding of the goals of this war, a holistic view of what it is. Of course, it could vary depending on the political orientation of the units, but overall it was a single. Now, after endless talks about nothing more than strange “truce” and strange attempts to maintain it at any price, this holistic view of the future is not found any more. And this leads not only to loss of motivation, but also partially to decomposition. At the stage of “brigadista” revealed problems with the handling, but now the situation has only worsened because of the obvious psychological and ideological problems and ordinary human fatigue.
Well, as I said, you can see the deliberate blurring between Fadeev, the girl, and the supposed gulpistas from Transnistria summoned by Antyufiev. It’s like a bad pulp thriller, with a superabundance of plot motifs piled on top of each other for no good reason. And this one, in some ways, is even worse, though at least it explains who Antyufeev is, or was – RB:
Donetsk lawlessness
Alexei Sanin, Lenta.ru, Jul 28 2015
Zakh, looking more like Plotz every day (Photo: Dmitry Korotaev/Kommersant)
Since the military operation in the center of Donetsk, when the military surrounded the building which housed the intelligence division of the Republican Guard, has spread a lot of rumors about a major redistribution of power within the DNR. Some observers even predicted an early retirement for the head of the Republic Alexander Zakharchenko, citing the serious contradictions within the elite DNR. However, to talk about the power crisis in the breakaway Republic is a little too early. Rather, we need to talk about the need for tough cleaning personnel officers of the armed forces. Lenta.ru understood what was the reason for the internal conflict in Donetsk. We are talking about the conflict in and around the former GRU, and now the Intelligence Department of the Republican Guard of the Republic of Donetsk.
Without going into details, the story is as follows. For quite a long time, the 2nd company of the GRU is headed by Andrew Fadeev, someone born in 1979, a native and resident of Donetsk city. He has proved himself as a good fighter with obvious organizational skills and charisma. However, it was not always so. The commander of the intelligence structure is very rich biography. In 2007, Fadeev was convicted by a Donetsk court to 15 years imprisonment for murder with aggravating circumstances as part of an organized criminal group and involvement in the criminal activities of juveniles. At the beginning of hostilities, he has already served in Slavyanoserbsk colony about 7 years, but when the colony was in a combat zone, Fadeev with several “colleagues” escaped. Returning soon to his home town, he joined the militia under the Callsign “Old” and quickly made a career in local GRU.
In his new role, “Old” kind of solved staffing issues, by effectively making the 2nd company of the GRU, in legal terms, into an organized criminal group. The record of this gang includes the kidnapping of businessmen for ransom, attempts to “squeeze” businesses, the torture of hostages, bandit raids on the rich flats of Donetsk under the guise of “combating subversive groups,” smuggling of coal in Starobeshevo district, including the capture of railroad trains, and even embezzlement of humanitarian aid. Sheer banditry was covered by the “laws of war.” In the beginning of 2015, in the arrangement of the spetsnaz “Old” got a girlfriend, 22-year-old Alexander Filippov, posing as the daughter of the secretary of the head of the Republic Alexander Zakharchenko, Elena Filippov. The girl boasted of her high position and allegedly close relations with the leadership of the Republic, speaking in a patronizing tone (to put it at its mildest) to people much older and more experienced than herself. And in May, officers were shocked to find out that their “fighting friend” had been appointed first Deputy chief of the GRU and assigned the military rank of major.
The soldiers did nothing, quietly cursing and watching the situation. She quickly developed a rigorous activity, displacing from GRU anyone dissatisfied, and giving a clear and obvious preference for the 2nd Rota of Fadeev/”Old”. And as the mother of Alexandra held a high official position at Zakharchenko, naturally, all her actions were justified by “orders” of the chief. Incidentally, this is an important detail: the gang was simply covered with the name of the head of DND, and any political implication is not and should not be. Wondering what is happening, the officers of the GRU and spetsnaz fighters refused to work with their two “fighting friends.” The pair responded with mass dismissals, on charges of disloyalty. The conflict raged for several months in a verbal altercation involved a variety of political figures of the DNR, including high-ranking military officials and (ahem – RB) popular media figures.
Finally, things came to a head in the truest sense of the word on Jul 14: the red Range Rover, at the wheel which was Elena Filippova, blew up in the street in the center of Donetsk. The secretary of the President of the Republic survived but her daughter, faithful to her faction in the GRU, raised the alarm and arrested several of the officers, his comrades, accusing them of the attempted murder of her mother. “Old” kept the suspects for some time in the basement, but in the end, they had to be let go because in the army and regulatory agencies it was widely understood that this situation was not tolerable. Along the way, it also became clear that mother and daughter Filippov strongly clashed with the Minister of internal Affairs DND. This monstrous story (which is not over yet) is not unexpected. Criminals can infiltrate into units of any army. But the Armed forces of Novorossiya (VSN) are formed only, and in a combat situation. Such stories generally “kin spot” civil wars of the post-Soviet space. On the Ukrainian side of the conflict criminals and bandits too.
However, there is an important caveat. The saddest thing is that the President knew nothing about the current GRU unhealthy atmosphere. Yes, no man is able to control in the military environment all at the same time. It is clear that Zakharchenko has to shift the work to His subordinates, which can also be random people. But the fact of the formation of such environment in the leadership of the Donetsk Republic can serve as a basis for harsh criticism of Zakharchenko. No joke, for a long time in DND literally under the noses of the authorities operated a group of bandits who almost openly worked brigandage and lawlessness under the guise of the name of the head of the Republic. It beats in DND, only building its statehood, perhaps stronger than the daily shelling of AFU.
Now there were rumors that the leadership of the DNR needs serious cleaning and updating. From where appeared Elena Filippov, as it turned out the secretary of the head of the Republic, and daughter in Donetsk? According to some, they came from Transnistria, where she came from Lt-Gen Vladimir Antyufeyev (also known as Shevtsov), who for three months in the summer of 2014 held the position of first Deputy head of government, working with law enforcement. With him came a large group of former employees of the Ministry of State Security (MGB) of Transnistria, and he was able to quickly point and place them to key positions. In September, Shevtsov was fired after the scandalous, illegal arrest of several MPs of the DNR. However, his placemen are quite possibly still working in various positions in the Republic. This is not, of course, to judge them solely by their former patron, but if serious about cleaning managerial staff, to think definitely worth it.
In addition, the scandal in the GRU has revealed serious shortcomings in advocacy. The rumors around the “girl Sasha” developed wild versions which could not quickly stop, betraying to the public some details of the history, but with (ahem – RB) incorrect emphases. In the end, all of these flaws affect the reputation of Zakharchenko. Moreover, such problems are notable not only for domestic observers but also for foreign ones, and the Kremlin, which since the days of Minsk 1 has fixed function “curator” of the militia, is very carefully watching what is happening. Afloat is clearly supported by several authoritative figures, able to change intractable and uncompromising Zakharchenko, especially in the face of continuing foreign games around the withdrawal of troops, demilitarized zones and in general Minsk 2. But most importantly, after Minsk 2, against the backdrop of outright mess, there is a serious loss of motivation in some units VSN. To the “Minsk-2” and “truce” it was clear what all this is psychological, and ethical point of view. After “strange negotiation process,” or one that seems strange for the majority in the Donbass, it became clear what in principle, is intended to occur. But among those who hold to “brigadista” principles, it revealed serious problems with the handling and subordination of different equipment, and even the political orientation of the units. And purely political and personal conflict and squabbles only exacerbate the situation.
Niqnaq 