Moscow intervened in Ukraine amid growing unrest by pro-Russian residents and rebels. U.S. Air Force General Philip Breedlove, the head of NATO forces in Europe, noted that "little green men" - troops in uniform of unclear national origin - helped the rebels shape the military situation in Ukraine.
At the same time, Russia built up its military forces and supplies on the border under the guise of conducting an exercise. It eventually intervened, moving to annex Crimea in the south in the first case and to prevent the defeat of pro-Russian rebels by Ukrainian forces in the second.
"To the little green men thing, we've clearly now seen the script play out in Crimea, we've seen the script play out in eastern Ukraine. We're beginning to see some of the script in Moldova and Transnistria," Breedlove said in a discussion at the Atlantic Council think tank.
Russian troops earlier this year staged military exercises in Moldova's breakaway Transnistria region, which borders Ukraine on the southwest, and Moldova's president warned Moscow against annexing the region like it did Crimea.
Russian Deputy Prime Minister Dmitry Rogozin last year warned Moldova that its drive for closer ties to Europe could cause it to lose control of Transnistria for good and lead to more costly energy ties with Russia, its main gas supplier......................Reuters..................http://www.voanews.com/content/reu-nato-breedlove-russian-intentions-moldova/2451080.html
15/9/14
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Breedlove: Hybrid Warfare in NATO Nations Opens Door to Invoke Article 5...
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“What we now have to do is look at those forces and our border nations where there are substantial Russian populations and how we better prepare those nations to survive the initial onslaught of this hybrid war,” Breedlove said during an Atlantic Council speech on Monday.
The West has repeatedly accused Russia of sending fighters and armored vehicles across the border into Ukraine under a cloak of anonymity. Moscow rejected the allegations. The NATO Commander referred to this situation as “the little green men scenario.”
"Clearly we had great acceptance among the NATO allies that if you attribute this little green men issue to an aggressor nation, it was an Article 5 action, and it would mean all assets would come to bear,” Breedlove said, referring to the allies’ collective defense doctrine...............http://en.ria.ru/military_news/20140916/192977784/Breedlove-Hybrid-Warfare-in-NATO-Nations-Opens-Door-to-Invoke.html