I am convinced the calls are authentic,
despite Russian denials. We know the parties to the conversation except for one
unidentified operative (“Alph”). The conversations are carried out in the crude
language of criminal and prison slang. The tape bleeps out an expression that
contains the F-word.
This evidence plus cross examination would
be sufficient to support murder charges either in a criminal court or an
international court of human rights.
Here is the background:
On
April 17, Volodymir Rybak – a pro-Ukrainian city council member in the city of Horlivka (near the city of Slovyansk) was videotaped intent on pulling
down the Russian flag flying over city hall. Rybak was next seen on video surrounded
by pro-Russian thugs. His tortured body (along with that of a Kiev student) was found floating in a river
on April 22. Rybak was buried on April 24.
The
Ukrainian secret service intercepted three cell phone calls among Russian
special-service agents and the self-declared mayor of Slavyansk,
the first two on the day of Rybak’s disappearance, the third after his body was
fished out of the river on April 22.
Here
are the conversations
On April 17, Russian special ops officer,
Igor Bezler (code name “Bes”) telephones Russian operative “Alph”. The first conversation
(available on You Tube) proceeds as follows:
Bezler (Bes): “Alph,” listen
carefully, go into the City Hall, Rybak is there raising a ruckus. People are
trying to cool him down. Take him out and torture him (otpressyuete, prison
slang). Get him in the car and take him someplace far away. Then let me know
where to go. Do you understand? Stay connected! Muzhiki (guys), wrap him up
and get him in the car. Tie him up – his arms, his eyes- so that he
can’t see anything.
Notable in this conversation is that Bes wants to know
where Rybak is being taken so he can deal with him himself. This would put Bes
at the torture/murder site.
The second conversation follows shortly thereafter.
Apparently Bezler asks whether any
special ops people have been caught on the videotape:
Alph: “Bes,” we watched the video,
you can’t see anything there: you can only see that he is trying to remove the
flag from the city hall, and he is getting beaten up.
Bes: OK, got it
Alph: So none of our people can be seen there. Everything is
“normalno” (OK)
Bes: Good
The
third conversation is between the commander of the Russian special forces, Colonel
Igor Strelkov and the self-appointed major of Slovyansk, “Slava” Ponomarev. The
body of Rybak has been taken to Strelkov’s headquarters and he wants it
removed.
Their
conversation follows:
Strelkov: “Slava: you (“Ty,” familiar form) please
decide the question of the corpse. This should be taken care of quickly and get
it off our hands. The body is lying here and beginning to smell.”
Ponomarev: “The corpse. Yes. Yes. Right away. I am just
finishing with the journalists. (Ponomarev has just told reporters that Rybak
was murdered by pro-Ukrainian forces). I’ll take care of it.”
Ponomarev (continues apologetically): “My stupid
guys (literally “goats”) brought the body to you there [expletive deleted] – to
the basement. I am coming right now. I’ll organize the burial of this rooster.”
Strelkov: “Ok. Good.”
I publish this translation
to illustrate the kind of Russian forces and stooges that intend to run those
parts of Ukraine taken over
by Russia.
What a nightmare! I would not like to be a liberal, Ukrainian, Gypsy, Tartar,
or Jew caught up in the embrace of Putin’s executioners.
As someone who has
studied and written
about Stalin’s Great Terror, I was asked in an interview to compare Putin’s and
Stalin’s executioners, called in the Stalin years Palachi. My response
is that Strelkov and Bezler are worse than Stalin’s NKVD killers. The
Strelkov’s and Bezlers are totally cold blooded, without emotion or feeling.
They are doing their job. Although some of Stalin’s Palachi were
sadists, who enjoyed killing and torture, many did it out of fear for their own
lives. Their fears were justified because about half were murdered themselves.
Putin’s Strelkovs and Bezlers are not motivated by such fears. They may even be
convinced that what they are doing is justified. Such is their twisted
thinking.
Paul Roderick Gregory is a research fellow at the Hoover Institution, at Stanford, and the Cullen Professor of Economics at the University of Houston. Gregory is also a research professor at the German Institute for Economic Research in Berlin. His specialties are Russia and comparative economics. He blogs at at paulgregorysblog.blogspot.com.
