What's Cooking in the Debaltsevo Cauldron?

UPDATE: We definitely jumped the gun on this one. This is the problem with the internet. Best to throw your computer out a window and go back to the glory days of hunting/gathering.

Apparently Petro Poroshenko has slipped into an opium-filled Edgar Allan Poe fantasy—a beautiful, hazy dreamworld where 8,000 Ukrainian troops are not surrounded in Debaltsevo. Here is DNR leader Aleksandr Zakharchenko explaining to captured UAF soldiers that Kiev denies the very existence of the cauldron: 

[video:http://youtu.be/i3pvOaF2Kjg]

Reality is a cruel, cruel mistress. But the question still remains: What exactly is cooking in the Debaltsevo cauldron?

There are reports (although apparently without independent confirmation) of rebel forces around Debaltsevo intercepting communications in English, Polish, and French. In layman's terms: Either the NAF has trapped the entire faculty of Kyiv National Linguistic University, or there are foreign mercenaries operating in Debaltsevo—which is not only against the recently signed Minsk agreement, but would also be a huge embarrassment to Kiev if the soldiers were to be captured.

And if mercenaries were found with NATO equipment, it would be...well, let's just say, bad. 

We are not interested in contributing to the non-stop rumor mill that surrounds this conflict—an endless barrage of baseless accusations, usually on Twitter, coming from both sides. But there does seem to be mounting evidence as to why (despite the obviously hopeless situation of the entrapped troops in Debaltsevo) few seem willing to put down their arms.

Case in point: Civilians evacuated by NAF forces in Debaltsevo say that they saw black men zooming around on APCs. (We should mention that this accusation is widely mocked and ridiculed on respectable websites such as "Reddit". Why? Why would a civilian make up such a story? Is the entire world on Putin's propaganda payroll? Of course the answer is yes.)

Time will tell, but it seems that the rebels are intent on taking Debaltsevo. What they find waiting for them is anyone's guess. Maybe some French professors?

[video:http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Fu22mdFATAM] 

UPDATE: As a wise reader points out, the woman from the video was almost certainly not commenting on skin color. She's probably just a little bit racist. We apologize for our sloppy interpretation.