Mysterious Russian Mr Fixit heads Ukraine rebel state
AFP
May 18, 2014, 4:32 am


Mysterious Russian Mr Fixit heads Ukraine rebel state AFP Mysterious Russian Mr Fixit heads Ukraine rebel state
Donetsk (Ukraine) (AFP) - A mysterious "consultant" from Moscow who helped steer through Russia's annexation of Crimea has been appointed prime minister of the self-declared Donetsk People's Republic in eastern Ukraine.

"In essence, I am what can be called a professional consultant," the burly Aleksandr Borodai told journalists at his first press conference Saturday in a plush Donetsk hotel.

"I have resolved all kinds of complicated conflict situations," the 41-year-old said. "For that reason, personally speaking, my specialisation was what was needed here."

The unshaven Muscovite -- who says his expertise is in ethnic conflict -- was chosen as premier by the parliament of the Donetsk rebel republic on Thursday just days after it declared independence from Kiev following a disputed referendum and appealed to join Russia.

His appointment will fuel claims that the Kremlin is pulling the strings behind the separatist uprising in east Ukraine but Borodai rejected any links to the Russian authorities.

- 'Closely connected' -

"I am a Russian citizen but I am a private individual so you cannot accuse the Russian government of having a hand in what's going on in the Donetsk People's Republic because of my presence here."

However he freely admitted he had recently been in the Black Sea peninsula of Crimea -- which Russia took over in March -- working as a "political strategist" and that he saw what was happening in the east of Ukraine as part of the same "geopolitical project".

"The territory of Crimea is quite closely connected to the Donbass and naturally the people who set up these popular movements and were the initiators are the same people, they are connected to each other," he said of the eastern industrial belt encompassing Donetsk and Lugansk.

"So when I finished the work in Crimea I automatically... came here to work in southeast Ukraine."

Authoritative Russian daily newspaper Vedomosti reported Friday that Borodai worked as an advisor to recently-appointed Crimea governor Sergei Aksyonov, who led the region's drive to join Russia.

According to Vedomosti, Borodai -- a graduate of the philosophy department of prestigious Moscow State University -- has a consultancy in Moscow and worked at a major investment fund.

- 'Logical choice' -

Borodai said he still lives in Moscow and that he would be in Donetsk "for as long as is necessary".

Others in the rebel leadership said he was chosen precisely because he is an outsider.

"Donetsk is politically cut-off so it is difficult to find someone who is not too associated with one group or the other," the rebel state's deputy prime minister Andrei Porgin told AFP.

"From this point of view the choice of Borodai is logical because he wasn't connected to anyone too closely."

Whether Borodai is really in charge of the disparate and often chaotic rebels running the self-proclaimed republic is far from sure.

Many argue that the rebel state's new defence minister Igor Strelkov -- a shadowy figure who the Ukrainian secret service accuses of being a Russian military intelligence agent -- is really the one calling the shots.

Strelkov denies this and says he is from Crimea.

Yelena Blokha, a spokeswoman for the separatist government, told AFP that Strelkov and Borodai have "friendly relations" but said she did not know whether they knew each other from Crimea or had met before.

Borodai -- who once reportedly edited a Russian nationalist newspaper -- has also faced allegations that he is a member of Russia's security establishment.

In April, Ukraine's National Security Agency released taped telephone recordings of alleged conversations of Russian agents coordinating attacks around the rebel stronghold of Slavyansk. Ukrainian media reported one of the voices was that of Borodai but he dismissed it as a fake.

In 2002, according to the Moscow Times newspaper, he also dismissed reports that he had been appointed a deputy director of Russia's Federal Security Service (FSB) as a hoax arranged for his 30th birthday.

At Saturday's press conference though he sidestepped a question about whether he had any official or unofficial links to the Russian security services or the Kremlin.

"Do you understand what sort of a question you're posing? Even if there were, do you think I'd answer," he said.

Pressed for more details about his life, Borodai -- who says he brought a small team of specialists with him -- remained mum.

"As far as possible I want to conceal personal information about myself -- not because it's so top-secret, it is absolutely not top secret, but simply because honestly speaking I don't want to give it."
https://au.news.yahoo.com/thewest/world/a/23612216/

Book suggests missing Malaysian airliner accidentally shot down



May 18, 2014 11:20 am

Sydney - The first book about missing flight MH370 suggests it may have been shot down during a military exercise and the accident is being covered up, it was reported Sunday.

Flight MH370 - the Mystery, written by Anglo-American author Nigel Cawthorne, cites anonymous sources to suggest that misinformation was released so the search would concentrate on the wrong area, The Sun-Herald newspaper reported.

The book published by Sydney group New South cites a claim by New Zealander Mike McKay that he saw a burning plane from the oil rig he was working on in the Gulf of Thailand on March 8, the day the plane went missing.

Cawthorne links the supposed sighting to joint US military exercises in the region at the time.

Cawthorne writes if MH370 was accidentally shot down during live fire exercises "those involved would have every reason to keep quiet about it."

He even suggests that if a flight black box is found it could be a fake planted by those involved in the coverup. But, he added, "I’m not saying that’s what happened." The book goes on sale Monday.

http://www.nationmultimedia.com/breakingnews/Book-suggests-missing-Malaysian-airliner-accidenta-30233919.html

It's always a plausible theory, but needs a decent length of tin foil with it, too.

It wouldn't be the first time America has shot down a civilian aircraft and tried to cover it up so I could believe this theory.

But if it was shot down there would have been wreckage visible on the surface in the original search area on the flight path.

I might give this book a read to see how strong this theory is.


Edited by roar #1: 18/5/2014 09:58:10 PM

Holy shit these floods in The Balkans are a bit crazy.

They're worried now that a lot of the leftover land mines from the war have now moved :shock:

-PB

i think the book is just another part of the cover up
plane probably crashed due to structural failure and they dont want that to get out as Boeing contracts would be called into question worldwide

Planes just don't fall out of the sky because of structural failure. And why would the American government look to cover this specific incident up when Boeing planes have been involved in other big crashes?

Edited by roar #1 : 19/5/2014 12:26:31 PM

um, yes they do
ever heard of metal fatigue?

ever heard of explosive decompression? remember the number of hull losses the DC-10 suffered back in the day just because it had a fault cargo door?

also Boeing is the largest US exporter by dollar value
i'd think the US government would be quite interested in covering their backs if required

I was thinking System failure not structural #-o

If the American government were to try and cover something up it would be more plausible that they were involved in another way other then just covering up for Boeing, which if it was something like a structural failure they wouldn't do.

you need to understand just how big Boeing is and how important it is to the American economy to understand why the government would become directly involved in protecting its interests

I understand how big Boeing is, and they have been involved in a number of famous crashes over the years and have taken responsibility where it's warranted, why would the government suddenly get involved in this crash?

And how could they go about retrieving all of the surface wreckage in foreign waters without anyone noticing?

blackmail the Malaysians
send the international search party to off the coast of Perth while you secure the actual area with navy boats
all the while the media campaign of blanket bullshit continues in the background, ...or foreground as it were

i don't have any proof of this of course. just a theory which is more plausible than any of the others we've been bombarded with over the past few months

But the thing about this crash is that no theory is more or less plausible then another theory. Every theory has a number of points for and against it being the case.

It's pretty obvious that a goverment/s are holding back information and it must be for a pretty important reason, but to say the American government are trying to cover up for Boeing is a stretch.

why is it a stretch? why wouldnt they help their most important corporation out?

I find the theory of the military shooting the plane down difficult to believe.

However, did anybody catch the 4 corners report on the whole saga last night? If you've got a spare 45 minutes, it's well worth the watch.
http://www.abc.net.au/4corners/stories/2014/05/19/4005244.htm

Bottom line is, regardless of how the airline went missing, regardless of what happened to it, I think there's a lot of blood on the Malaysian Government, and their military's hands. Monumental fuck ups in all departments. The military not responding to an unidentified object in the sky almost smack bang over their radar? That's just bullshit.

Something tells me the Malaysian Government know the truth, if not all the truth, and if that truth ever comes out, heads aren't going to just roll, but the shit is going to hit the fan big time. Something tells me that it's politically related, and the government are covering it all up to protect their arses.

bullshit
nothing personal, but if its on the ABC and its several months after the fact, its a stitch up job
they're well known for this

Please provide examples.

^^^ Woah woah WHOAH there lad. That is not what RC does.

Baseless allegations and theories without evidence is his go. Please do not insult this great intellect by asking for actual cited examples of something.

Boy oh boy, whatever next.

It wouldn't be the first time the us military has shot down a civilian aircraft if you believe the conspiracy theories in regards to TWA flight 800.

But then even if they did, it would be very hard almost impossible for them to retrieve the wreckage without anyone knowing.

Edited by roar #1 : 20/5/2014 01:05:04 PM

here's one
http://cometherevolution.com.au/shameful-episode-of-four-corners/

do you really think a backward country like Malaysia can pull off such an elaborate cover up?

it would be better for you if you posted less bitter drivel and more substance

A link to a blog? Well if it's on the internet it must be true.

What was the article trying to make a point about anyway? That a reporter didn't get involved in a civil war by not stopping a boy from being tortured? I don't understand the point of it.

the episode appeared on the cusp of the revolution and called for international support to it whilst using dubious propaganda completely biased toward toppling Assad.

your 'link to a blog" "if its on the internet it must be true" statement is just moronic. i dont have time to type all that out myself for a tangent example of 4 Corners bias. its self defeating anyway as i could just as easily say "its on the ABC it must be true"

So really you've got nothing to back up your claim of the ABC being un trustworthy.

crackers fast providing some serious #vintage posts :lol:

-PB

so you agree then that your position is "if its on the ABC it must true"?

Coming from the King of unsubstantiated rubbish this is high praise indeed.

RC: "Australia is in the Northern hemisphere."

Anyone else with half a brain: "WTF! No it's not."

RC: "Fucking fuck, blah blah, you're all just sheep, I'm doing you a favour etc etc"

Anyone else with half a brain: "Care to provide evidence of that outlandish claim?"

RC: "Mumble, mumble, ABC, mumble, conspiracy, mumble, consensus is not science, mumble, burp, fart, Leftie wankers, mumble burp, open your eyes."

...and then you go on to post more drivel
you sound like an alcoholic