Is "America's Secret Army" in the Ukraine?

The Facebook post by Russian Foreign Ministry on April 8th blatantly accusing the United States of deploying 150 private operatives (supplied by Greystone Ltd.) dressed as Ukrainian soldiers into Southeast Ukraine has spread like wildfire over the past few days.

National news coverage in America has hovered around refuting these accusations by downgrading Russian decision makers, and repeating statements by Greystone Ltd. which deny their involvement.

However there is of course more to the story than this...

http://greystone-ltd.com/

1. Greystone Ltd. is a aviation and protective services company affiliated with the group formerly known as Blackwater (now Academi). They are both infamous for their part in the 2007 Baghdad shootings that killed 17 civilians and wounded 20 others. In 2008, five operatives from Blackwater were put on trial for manslaughter, but charges were dropped later that year on a technicality.

2. Dr Nafeez Ahmed, a security expert with the Institute for Policy Research & Development said:

“On the face of it, the uniforms of the people in the videos are consistent with US mercs - they don't look like Russian soldiers mercs. On the other hand, why run around in public making a show of it?” Ahmed also added that “Of course the other possibility is it's all Russian propaganda.”

3. Russian Underlying Intention: The Daily Mail explained that “any suggestion that a US mercenary outfit like Blackwater...had begun operating in east Ukraine could give Russian President Vladimir Putin the pretext for a military invasion.”

4. The Voice of Russia reported - (Americans)...are not the only ones. A Russian national that took part in clashes in Kiev was arrested in Russia’s Bryansk region this week...made a statement on record that he met a large number of foreigners taking active part in the fighting with police.

He claimed he saw dozens of military-clad people from Germany, Poland, and Turkey, as well as English speakers who were possibly from the US.

5. "According to the website: Greystone has recently been awarded contracts for executive protection services in Russia and the Caucasus region of Eurasia, southeast of Ukraine."

B.G.

Web Info:
http://www.military.com/daily-news/2014/04/10/russia-virginia-based-private-soldiers-in-ukraine.html?ESRC=topstories.RSS
http://rt.com/op-edge/ukraine-blackwater-mercenaries-russia-794/
http://blogs.wsj.com/emergingeurope/2014/04/08/security-firm-denies-involvement-in-ukraine/
http://rt.com/op-edge/foreign-mercenaries-in-ukraine-373/