Russia Invades Ukraine

[cobainwasmurdered]

Some sanctions actually got passed http://www.theguardian.com/world/2014/mar/06/us-eu-sanctions-obama-russia-ukraine-crimea and there are some signs of more of a hardline developing after a lot of signs of disagreement.

In another unexpectedly bold move, the EU decided to push ahead much faster than predicted with a political pact drawing Ukraine closer to Europe, the initial spark for the crisis last November when the deposed president Viktor Yanukovych refused to sign the agreement.

Hitherto, the EU has said that Brussels would revive the pact only after elections scheduled for May 25 once a new government is installed. Merkel and Tusk said last night that the agreement would be split in two into political and trade sections. The political part could be signed within “days or weeks” before the elections, Merkel pledged for the first time.

http://eur-lex.europa.eu/LexUriServ/LexUriServ.do?uri=OJ:L:2014:066:0026:0030:ENDF full sanction document from the EU and they're talking about more to come. It's not much but it's a start.

Also:

The monitoring team from the Organisation for Security and Cooperation in Europe (OCSE) tried twice to enter Crimea but were turned away by armed men. They’re about to try again, accompanied by the media. So we'll see what happens there.


Crimea's Parliament have voted to join the Russian Federation and are holding a referendum on March 16th to confirm the decision. How legitimate the vote was or the referendum will be I think is pretty open to question at best. It's also probably what motivated the EU and the US to harden their stances. I'd expect some more major developments before the referendum can happen especially if the Russians refuse to allow it be monitored.

 

[Mickey Massuco]

I would like to know how SS feels about this situation.

 

[cobainwasmurdered]

http://www.theguardian.com/world/2014/mar/07/ukraine-crisis-putin-russia-crimea-us-eu-sanctions-live-updates

OSCE monitors were stopped by armed men from entering the Crimea again.

 

[cobainwasmurdered]

Same guardian feed on an incident involving Russian troops seemingly attempting to take over a base today:

The Guardian’s Shaun Walker has been speaking with the deputy commander of the Yukharina Balka post.

Shaun is told that Russian troops stormed a gate and threatened to shoot to kill; the Ukrainians ignored them; local “self-defense” forces arrived and beat journalists on the scene; and the Russians left.

Almost seems like the Russians are looking to provoke the Ukrainians into shooting first at this point so they can completely eject them and escalate further but that seems nuts. The whole thing is though.

 

[NoCalMike]

Has there been an Obama in mom pants meme created yet, because I've heard that "joke" thrown out by about 10 right wing pundits. "Putin is known for wrestling bears, Obama is known for his mom pants"

If the right wing really wants people to believe they aren't all reading off the same script, it'd probably be a good idea to stop repeating the same lame attempts at a joke. This feels like Iraq all over again (not in the sense of what is going on, but the reaction by the neo-cons) as if anything but using military force amounts to "doing nothing."

Rudy Guli-doesn't-have-a-clue, actually complimented Putin because "he makes a quick decision and follows through, that's a leader" as if that is a wonderful strategy for foreign policy in a very complex world.

 

[cobainwasmurdered]

The Right is in love with Putin it seems. It's pretty fucked up.

Some updates from the Guardian:

Border post taken

Ukraine’s border guards said on Saturday some of their men had been evicted from an outpost in eastern Crimea by Russian soldiers, who seized their apartments and forced them out in the middle of the night with their families. The Ukrainian border service issued this statement.

“Aggressive Russian troops stormed and seized a unit of the border service at Shcholkine and ousted the families of the Ukrainian borders guards. Russian armed servicemen rushed into the unit overnight. During the attack, they beat a duty officer who tried to resist and seized a weapons storage room.

The attackers rushed into the apartments where families lived. Russians seized mobile phones of the chief of the unit, his wife and other officers. They ordered all to pack up and leave the building. At the present time, the unit is occupied by Russian soldiers.”

and video of cameramen being attacked
https://www.youtube.com/watch?feature=player_embedded&v=JQeIYaxwqF0

An anonymous Russian source also leaked to Moscow papers they're considering stopping arms inspection (which is part of the Strategic Arms Reduction Treaty)

he inspections that could be halted are carried out in line with the Strategic Arms Reduction Treaty (START) with the United States and the Vienna Document between Organisation for Security and Cooperation in Europe (OSCE) member states.

Cutting off such inspections would likely be seen by the West as a major violation of such agreements, which are regarded as a cornerstone for the maintenance of global peace in the post-Cold War world.

The New START treaty between Russia and the United States, signed between US President Barack Obama and then Kremlin chief Dmitry Medvedev in 2010, entered into force in February 2011.

The agreement provides for 18 on-site inspections per year as part of a verification regime for a treaty that envisages drastic cuts in missiles and nuclear warheads on both sides.

 

[vivisectvi]

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=UGSrcYLsOMI

 

[Richard]

Putin seems to have quite a bit of support from the left, even if it's "yeah he's bad, but no worse than the U.S."

 

[AA484]

http://ronpaulinstitute.org/archives/featured-articles/2014/march/09/can-we-afford-ukraine.aspx

Officially, US debt stands at more than $17 trillion. In reality, it is many times more. The cost of the US invasion of Afghanistan and Iraq may be more than six trillion dollars. President Obama’s illegal invasion of Libya cost at least a billion dollars and left that country devastated. The costs of US regime change efforts in Syria are likely thus far enormous, both in dollars and lives. That’s still a secret.

So who in his right mind would think it is a good time to start a war with Russia over Ukraine? And worse, who would commit the United States to bail out a Ukraine that will need at least $35 billion to survive the year?

Who? The president and Congress, backed by the neocons and the so-called humanitarian interventionists!

The House voted overwhelmingly last week to provide $1 billion in loan guarantees to Ukraine. That is just the beginning, you can be sure. But let’s be clear: this is not money for the population of that impoverished country. The Administration is sending a billion dollars from US taxpayers to wealthy international bankers who hold Ukrainian debt. It is an international bank bailout, not aid to Ukrainians. And despite the escalating anti-Russia rhetoric, ironically some of that money will likely go to Russia for Ukraine’s two billion dollar unpaid gas bill!

So what happened in Ukraine? The US government and media claims that the US must save Ukrainian democracy from an invading Russian army that is threatening the country’s sovereignty. But in reality the crisis was instigated in part by US meddling. Remember the intercepted telephone call in which two senior Obama Administration officials discussed plans to replace the elected government in Ukraine with US puppets? That is exactly what happened. Is that not a violation of Ukraine’s sovereignty? Is that what democracy is all about?

The Obama Administration’s policy toward Ukraine is hypocritical. The overthrow of the government in Kiev by violent street protests was called a triumph of democracy, but when the elected parliament in autonomous Crimea voted last week to hold a referendum to decide its future, President Obama condemned it as a violation of international law. What about the principle of self-determination, which is also enshrined in international law?

I have long thought that a referendum to reorganize Ukraine into a looser confederation of regions might help reduce tensions. I still believe this could help, but it seems the US government is not so enthusiastic about democracy when there is a chance for an outcome it opposes.

I strongly believe that Crimeans have every right to transfer sovereignty over their peninsula to Russia if they wish. The only question that remains is whether there will there be an honest election, and I don’t see any reason there can’t be.

The US government tells the rest of the world, “We want you to be good democrats and have elections,” but if they don’t elect the right people then we complain about it and throw them out, like we did in Egypt. In Crimea they want to have an election to determine their future. President Obama condemned those plans for a vote by saying, “We are well beyond the days when borders can be redrawn over the heads of democratic leaders.” Does he not remember that the authorities in Kiev were installed just weeks ago after a US-backed coup against the Ukrainian constitution?

Congress next week will likely vote for sanctions against Russia. Though many mistakenly believe that sanctions are a relatively harmless way of forcing foreign countries to do what we say, we should be clear: sanctions are an act of war.

Cooler heads in the United States are not currently prevailing. There is a danger of an unimaginable conflict between the US and Russia. We must demand a shift away from a war footing, away from incendiary rhetoric. We are broke and cannot afford to “buy” Ukraine. We certainly cannot afford another war, especially with Russia!

 

[cobainwasmurdered]

I strongly believe that Crimeans have every right to transfer sovereignty over their peninsula to Russia if they wish. The only question that remains is whether there will there be an honest election, and I don’t see any reason there can’t be.

20,000 Russian troops occupying their land and putting intense pressure on them. The international monitors not being allowed into the Crimea. Journalists being beaten. The idea that there's anything legit about whats going on or that the referendum will be fair is ridiculous.

 

[cobainwasmurdered]

http://www.theguardian.com/world/video/2014/mar/11/ukrainian-activist-shot-crimea-checkpoint-video

A Ukrainian activist is shot by an armed man at a checkpoint into Crimea. The Ukrainians intend to deliver letters of support and food to Ukrainian military units in Crimea. The armed men in uniforms and balaclavas manning the checkpoint refuse to let them pass. One of them shoots the activist in the chest with a non-lethal round using a handgun. The man staggers around after being shot but is not seriously injured

Lots of sanctions talk still going on but no one is wanting to make the first real move as everyone is trying to find a way out before the referendum I think. At least on The NATO/EU side. What the Russians are thinking is anyone's guess right now.

 

[cobainwasmurdered]

http://www.theguardian.com/world/2014/mar/13/russia-troops-ukraine-border

Moscow has deployed 10,000 troops along its border with Ukraine, deepening the crisis in Crimea ahead of a last desperate effort by the US secretary of state, John Kerry, to broker a deal with his Russian counterpart, Sergei Lavrov, in London on Friday.

A little more intimidation before the referendum.

 

[vivisectvi]

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=pFlLN9E2kcY

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=EdBeGwXgoqI

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=V9Dk2emDU0o

 

[cobainwasmurdered]

http://www.theguardian.com/world/2014/mar/15/ukraine-crisis-fatal-clashes-as-tensions-rise-before-crimea-vote-live

So Russia vetoed the UN Security Council resolution to call the Crimea referendum illegal, but China abstained which some consider a "win" since they've softened their support of Russia so much from the start and have usually been Russia's ally against the West. The other 13 countries voted in favor.

Ukraine is claiming it repelled a detachment of Russian troops in Southern Ukraine. and Russia has announced it's "reviewing" requests for protection from people in Ukraine which is obviously the next step in invasion.

We now have a report from Reuters on the confrontation between Russian and Ukrainian forces.

Ukraine’s military scrambled aircraft and paratroops on Saturday to repel an attempt by Russian forces to enter a long spit of land belonging to a region adjacent to Crimea, Ukraine’s defence ministry said.
“Units of Ukraine’s armed forces today...repelled an attempt by servicemen of the armed forces of the Russian Federation to enter the territory of Kherson region on Arbatskaya Strelka,” a ministry statement said. “This was repelled immediately.”
It said the Ukrainian military used aircraft, ground forces and its aeromobile battalion in the operation. The territory in question is a long spit of land running parallel to the east of Ukraine’s Crimea peninsula, now controlled by Russian forces.

Also check out the pro-putin march in Moscow that is totally just a bunch of civilians out to show how much they love their man:

The one dude wearing blue jeans is in deep shit.

 

[tekcop]

It's amazing the number of Russians that buy into all the propaganda. From seeing people on Twitter condemning the Western media for making stuff up about the conditions in Sochi during the Olympics to people beleiving that the Ukrainan government is run by a bunch of Neo-Nazis (huh?) that are mass killing ethnic Russians in the streets because the Russian news said so.

 

[cobainwasmurdered]

http://english.pravda.ru/society/anomal/16-03-2014/127114-riot_gas-0/

speaking of propaganda...

Putin has been fighting the criminal Jewish oligarchs and slowly dismantling their corruption and hold on power;

One of the many many sickening/crazy lines in the article. They make FoxNews look subtle.

Everything else is from the Guardian as usual.

Amnesty International is worried about some missing activists

Amnesty activists missing in Crimea

Amnesty International has expressed concern for the welfare of three activists in the Crimean capital Simferopol in Ukraine who have disappeared after apparently being chased by unknown vehicles and having shots fired at them late on Thursday night.

Two of the activists’ mobile phones have been traced to the vicinity of Simferopol’s military commissariat, which is being guarded by military officers in unmarked uniforms, though the officers deny that they are holding them.

The three activists - Oleksiy Gritsenko, Natalya Lukyanchenko and Sergiy Suprun - have been in the region since last week. Today the father of Gritsenko confirmed to Amnesty that there has been no contact with any of the three since 11pm last night, following a call from Lukyanchenko to fellow activists to say that their car was being chased by vehicles and shots had been fired at them.

Ukraine and Russia have seemingly agreed to a true until March 21st (My Mom's Bday!)

Russia and Ukraine have agreed a truce in Crimea until 21 March [Ihor Tenukh, acting defence minister] announced. … The agreement provides some respite for Ukraine’s beleaguered troops, who have been trapped … since Russian forces began occupying the peninsula on 27 February. Ukrainian soldiers have been encircled ever since, in some cases without electricity. Local residents have smuggled in food to them amid a nervous standoff with the Russian military.

But there seems little doubt that Ukrainian forces will be evicted from Kremlin-controlled Crimea once the truce expires on Friday. Crimea’s deputy prime minister, Rustam Temirgaliyev, said on Sunday troops would be given safe passage out. He predicted that eastern Ukraine would be next to join Russia.

 

[Captain of Outer Space]

95% vote to seceed.

"Oh, Bart, why didn't you at least forge plausible results?"

 

[2GOLD]

95% vote to seceed.

"Oh, Bart, why didn't you at least forge plausible results?"

Capitalist dog! Why cannot you not leave alone the glory of mother Russia! The results are obvious a cry from these poor people to be returned to the loving and gentle arms they miss so and become comrades once more!

 

[cobainwasmurdered]

http://www.theguardian.com/world/2014/mar/18/ukraine-crisis-putin-plan-crimea-annex-speech-russia-live?commentpage=1

Russian troops are reported as attempting to storm a Ukrainian base in Crimea and a Ukrainian soldier is dead.

Ben Brown @BenBrownBBC
#Simferopol russian troops pushing back press at scene of shooting at Ukrainian base. Bursts of automatic fire heard

The Ukrainian serviceman who died was shot in the neck, the BBC’s Ben Brown reports. He says two bursts of automatic fire were heard and he says another man, a captain was also reportedly injured.

Turkey has also threatened to close the Bosporus to Russia if they harm any Tartars in the Crimea. The West's sanctions are being looked at as toothless so far. Putin made a big speech and confirmed the annexation of Crimea.

 

[vivisectvi]

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ffYW3nlBwZk

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=SKxRJ6Zqzdc

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=GH3HGvZlhhk

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=CLw1WdS8F1c

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Dqp8ay87Tzc

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=L1v_lu6qcyk

 

[Richard]

http://english.pravda.ru/society/anomal/16-03-2014/127114-riot_gas-0/

speaking of propaganda...

Putin has been fighting the criminal Jewish oligarchs and slowly dismantling their corruption and hold on power;

Fighting criminal Jews AND neo-nazis? That's quite a task.

 

[vivisectvi]

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=AqHeZUS9_EY

@SimonOstrovsky: Turns out psycho lady from dispatch 14 is an actress appearing at pro-Russia protests across Ukraine VIA @Euromaidan pic.twitter.com/aSaOyXIhFG

 

[BurningPirateShipSex]

It's amazing the number of Russians that buy into all the propaganda. From seeing people on Twitter condemning the Western media for making stuff up about the conditions in Sochi during the Olympics to people beleiving that the Ukrainan government is run by a bunch of Neo-Nazis (huh?) that are mass killing ethnic Russians in the streets because the Russian news said so.

The comments about Neo-Nazis and Fascists aren't wrong, even if the rest is propagandistic bullshit:

The uncomfortable truth is that a sizeable portion of Kiev's current government -- and the protesters who brought it to power -- are, indeed, fascists. If Western governments hope to steer Ukraine clear from the most unsavory characters in Moscow and Kiev, they will need to wage a two-pronged diplomatic offensive: against Putin's propaganda and, at the same time, against Ukraine's resurgent far-right.

Ukraine is home to Svoboda, arguably Europe's most influential far-right movement today. (In the photo above, Svoboda activists seize a Ministry of Agriculture building during Kiev's Euromaidan protests in January.) Party leader Oleh Tyahnybok is on record complaining that his country is controlled by a "Muscovite-Jewish mafia," while his deputy derided the Ukrainian-born film star Mila Kunis as a "dirty Jewess." In Svoboda's eyes, gays are perverts and black people unfit to represent the nation at Eurovision, lest viewers come away thinking Ukraine is somewhere besides Uganda.

Svoboda began life in the mid-90s as the Social-National Party (a name deliberately redolent of the National Socialist Party, better known as Nazis), with its logo the fascist Wolfsangel. In 2004, the party gave itself an unobjectionable new name (Svoboda means "Freedom") and canned the Nazi imagery, and in the subsequent decade has seen its star swiftly rise.
Today, Svoboda holds a larger chunk of its nation's ministries (nearly a quarter, including the prized defense portfolio) than any other far-right party on the continent. Ukraine's deputy prime minister represents Svoboda (the smaller, even more extreme "Right Sector" coalition fills the deputy National Security Council chair), as does the prosecutor general and the deputy chair of parliament -- where the party is the fourth-largest. And Svoboda's fresh faces are scarcely different from the old: one of its freshmen members of parliament is the founder of the "Joseph Goebbels Political Research Centre" and has hailed the Holocaust as a "bright period" in human history.

http://www.foreignpolicy.com/articles/2014/03/18/yes_there_are_bad_guys_in_the_ukrainian_government

 

[cobainwasmurdered]

http://www.theguardian.com/world/2014/mar/19/ukrainian-mp-assaults-television-chief-pro-russian-miroshnichenko-panteleymonov Speaking of svoboda

There are certainly bad guys in the Ukrainian government but Russia has one of the biggest skinhead/neo-nazi movements in the world too so it's a bit hypocritical. I hope the extreme right-wing in Ukraine is reigned in but I'm not sure that they will be right now.

 

[KOAB]

Looks like Democracy in action to me.

 

[vivisectvi]

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=FoZwWzYBBkc

 

[cobainwasmurdered]

http://www.theguardian.com/world/2014/mar/24/ukraine-crimea-russia-military-bases-live?commentpage=1

Ukraine has pulled it's forces out of the Crimea after more of its bases were invaded.

http://www.theguardian.com/world/2014/mar/24/cameron-nato-baltics-states-defences-ukraine-crisis The UK and NATO are promising to send military missions to other Baltic states.

Russia has also been building up their forces near Eastern Ukraine so either there or Moldova's separatist Trans-Dniester could be Russia's next moves.

 

[Precious Roy]

Russia's next move

 

[909]

Well this kinda blows a hole into sizing down the military. Fuck Putin.

 

[KOAB]

All a part of their plan.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=5P1q3IDjBaI

THE SYMBOLISM AT 50 SECONDS DAS BOOT WAS WAITING FOR 4 AND A HALF YEARS

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=iYGsadcBiFA