Russian 4th Guards 'Kantemir' Tank Div T-80U's fitted with deep wading kit (Donbas rivers?) https://translate.google.ie/translat...yya&edit-text= … pic.twitter.com/pjIooSRDoV
Stowed OPVT wading snorkel (separate system to Brod-M) takes 40min to prepare for underwater driving. pic.twitter.com/Tc4e9DkEhU
Brod-M system (air intake, valves, pumps) allows tank to overcome 1.8m water depth obstacle without preparation. pic.twitter.com/ucGfb7x3Vq
Development of "Kadamovskiy" Russian army base and training area, Rostov region 17 Sep 2014 to (27) July 2015 pic.twitter.com/MBFXtagmSU
Development of "Kadamovskiy" Russian army base and training area, Rostov region 4 May 2013 to 5 Sep 2014 pic.twitter.com/qKfcutcNsG
Russian military technique on the border to Latvia https://twitter.com/tvrain/status/626063574314696704 …
Kadamovskiy" Russian army base and training area, Rostov region: Google Maps screenshots 27 Jul 2015 pic.twitter.com/FUQo99HcNE
We are doing this job in order for our Ukraine not to become Russian" - Ukrainian anti-aircraft gunners. VIDEO http://en.censor.net.ua/video_news/3...rcraft_gunners …
The great @5urpher has found a match for a Russian tank in #Ukraine from this video! pic.twitter.com/rqp15UsPw2
A match for the first T-72B in the video.
http://codename-it.livejournal.com/687756.html pic.twitter.com/6GFsL8zO29
Frame from @el_roosevelt's Instagram video for comparison. pic.twitter.com/aB9X2fQlIv
Truck which took MH17 Buk to border (4267 AH 50) moved other units which went to Ukraine -> https://twitter.com/el_roosevelt/sta...75359411351553 … pic.twitter.com/5u98gPge34
New on The Hoplite: More evidence of relatively modern 9K135 Kornet ATGW system in #Ukraine http://www.armamentresearch.com/furt...nd-in-ukraine/ … pic.twitter.com/CzAqnToMlt
Russia's private military firms operate in legal grey area http://www.france24.com/en/20150728-...-ukraine-syria … pic.twitter.com/f5rTgpF3HF
Last edited by OUTLAW 09; 07-28-2015 at 05:45 PM.
More Russian lies --------
As #RussiaLies warned, this was another #fake of #Russia's #propaganda. For more info, visit https://www.facebook.com/RussiaLies pic.twitter.com/zIf3XJ9fWS
GRU officer Alexandrov today, who "high-ranking Russian sources" lied had been swapped "after cruel torture by SBU" https://youtu.be/Ra-tK5AM1uQ
Today (up to 18:30) militants shelled Ukrainian positions 47 times. Using heavy artillery, tanks and mortars - ATOhttps://m.facebook.com/story.php?sto...93&__tn__=%2As …
The ceasefire in Ukraine is anything but. We went there to investigate. Our first dispatch: http://bit.ly/1IGGbGY pic.twitter.com/cV5SMwqjOq
18:26 #Lysychansk @lisichanskiy I am concerned with artillery activity, it rumbles for the 2nd day in a row
19:16 #Donetsk @BylByleva_ One can hear volleys from the southwest
19:08 #Donetsk Kalininsky ds @DoneckiiPatriot Something has [once] boomed very strongly
19:33 #Donetsk @CatBoobon Outgoing are now audible in the center.Distant dull sounds,low intensity.Heavy by sound.Not thunder
Volleys from the southwest of Donetsk http://liveuamap.com/en/2015/28-july...est-of-donetsk …
Militants actively shell Fasad strong point near Shchastia: "It’s tough there! They spray hard," http://en.censor.net.ua/n345608
Basurin of DNR claimed that Dokuchaevsk was shelled. Get ready, anything is possible now! https://twitter.com/shuttle1907/stat...76535909412864 …Originally Posted by OUTLAW 09
19:55 #Maryinka @hyeva_maryinka [vk] Intensity decreased a bit
Mariinka, Horlivka: war action now
20:25 #Avdeevka @JuZolyshkaLia Booms, small arms
20:29 @JuZolyshkaLia What's launched from the checkpoint?
20:42 #Krasnohorivka @hyeva_maryinka Some booms in Maryinka dir'n tow/evening, later skirmishes were heard fr/
20:46 #Donetsk Schetinina @DoneckiiPatriot Distant single volleys are audible
20:45 #Krasnohorivka @666_mancer [vk] The battle is on
20:51 #Krasnohorivka @666_mancer [vk] Abt 7pm a battle starts in Stalin's road area closer to Borysivka - AGL, mortar, SA,MG fires are heard
21:01 #Avdeevka @JuZolyshkaLia It calmed down
20:59 #Maryinka @hyeva_maryinka [vk] The shooting in #Novomaryinka has ended off
20:50 #Maryinka @hyeva_maryinka [vk] It ceased, maybe they went to get ready for watching football
Nothing mentioned out of DC, Paris and Berlin yet on these constant shellings, ground attacks and destruction of Ukrainian critical infrastructure by Russian heavy weapons which are in full and clear violation of Minsk 2 but again they seem to have forgotten exactly what Minsk 2.
Last edited by OUTLAW 09; 07-28-2015 at 06:22 PM.
http://windowoneurasia2.blogspot.de/...crimea-is.html
Tuesday, July 28, 2015
None of Eight Myths in Putin’s ‘Crimea is Ours’ Ideology Stands Up to Close Examination, Popov Says
Paul Goble
Staunton, July 28 – “’Krimnashizm’” – as the ideologem “Crimea is Ours” is spelled in Russian – consists of a complex of eight myths that are intended to justify Vladimir Putin’s policies in Ukraine and mobilize support for it, Arkady Popov writes in a 4500-word heavily footnoted article in today’s “Yezhednevny zhurnal.” (ej.ru/?a=note&id=28231).
The eight myths which form the core of “’Krimnashizm,’” in his telling are:
· Myth Number One: Crimea was Given to Ukraine
· Myth Number Two: Russia has a historic right to Crimea
· Myth Number Three: The Crimean people have freely voted to rejoin Russia
· Myth Number Four: Taking Crimea from Ukraine was a matter of “extreme necessity.”
· Myth Number Five: Ukraine is an artificial state.
· Myth Number Six: The Euro-Maidan was fascist.
· Myth Number Seven: Russia has risen from its knees.
· Myth Number Eight: Incorporating Crimea is cost-free.
In today’s edition, the Russian historian and commentator examines the first of these myths, that “Crimea was given to Ukraine and shows that none of the claims Putin and his propagandists have offered in defense of their seizure and occupation of the Ukrainian peninsula stands up to close examination (ej.ru/?a=note&id=28231).
The myth that Nikita Khrushchev took Crimea away from the RSFSR and gave it to Ukraine is “the very first brick in the edifice of ‘Krimnashizm.” Many Russian writers had complained about Khrushchev’s action and Boris Yeltsin’s failure to criticize it, but it is perhaps instructive that Putin did not join that “chorus” until 2014, just before he invaded.
“The first feeling” one has in reading statements about Khrushchev supposedly “giving” Crimea to Ukraine is “perplexity,” Popov says. Khrushchev had only been first secretary of the CPSU Central Committee for four months, hardly time enough for him to have enough power to act on his own on something like this.
Moreover, the “Krimnashizm” ideologists act as if Crimea were the only example of part of one republic being transferred to another. In fact, it happened quite frequently – for a listing, see this author’s, “Can Republic Borders Be Changed?” RFE/RL Report on the USSR, 28 September 1990) --and in Soviet times never with any consultation with the peoples involved.
According to Popov, there are three variants of the myth about Khrushchev giving away Crimea: the alcoholic one, the holiday one, and the political one. None is accurate. Khrushchev wasn’t drinking when the decision was made. It didn’t occur at a time linked to any particular holiday. And transferring Crimea to Ukraine might have been expected to cost him more support among Russian CPSU officials than any gains he would make among the less numerous Ukrainian ones.
Politics was involved in the decision, but not the kind the “Krymnashists” describe. After the death of Stalin and the removal of Beria, Moscow faced the problem of expanding agricultural production. Crimea was a disaster area but had the climate and soils to be a productive place.
Khrushchev and Georgy Malenkov visited Crimea in 1953 and concluded that it could be developed if it got water from Ukraine. Without that, its agricultural production would not go up and consequently linking the area to Ukraine instead of the RSFSR made sense, given the policy priorities of the leadership in Moscow.
What should have happened, of course, Popov writes, was the return of the peninsula to the Crimean Tatars “but apparently the time for such radical decisions had not yet come: from the moment of the death of Stalin had passed less than a year,” and Khrushchev’s rehabilitation of the punished peoples lay in the future.
As far as Khrushchev’s “’voluntarism’” on Crimea is concerned, there is no basis for such claims, the historian says. “In January 1954, Khrushchev was still not so strong that he could decide such questions on his own.” And it is clear that he spoke with other members of the leadership and they collectively agreed.
When claims to the contrary fall away, present-day “Krymnashists” argue that Khrushchev didn’t follow constitutional procedures, when in fact he did as much as any other Soviet leader, or that there wasn’t a proper quorum when in fact the record shows otherwise, Popov points out.
And when those are pointed out, the “Krymnashists” try to make a special case out of Sevastopol. But there too, there is no evidence for their contentions that that city was special in a territorial sense. The only reason this false argument is raised, he suggests, is that in 1993, Khasbulatov’s Supreme Soviet declared that Sevastopol had “federal status.”
“This absurd degree was disavowed by the president of the Russian Federation and the Ministry of Foreign Affairs of the Russian Federation, and the UN Security Council at a special session declared that this decree did not have legal force,” Popov writes. At that time, Russia’s permanent representative did not cast a veto.
Those who raise questions about the transfer of Crimea from the RSFSR to Ukraine clearly forget that there are a lot of other places where similar questions could be raised: Tuva, Vyborg, Sakhalin, Kaliningrad, Karelia, and so on. Thus, making these kinds of arguments about Crimea is potentially very dangerous.
Many of the “Krymnashists” also attack Boris Yeltsin for not demanding “the return” of Crimea in 1991 when the USSR fell apart. But they forget two things: the peaceful dismantling of the Soviet Union was predicated on the absolute acceptance of the union republic borders as fixed and that Ukraine, including Crimea, has just voted to leave the USSR.
To have challenged those borders would have opened “a Pandora’s box” for Russia and all the others, Popov says.
“All myths,” the historian concludes, “offer a false picture of the world,” but artistic ones do not claim they are real. “Political myths are something else: their inventors and distributors angrily insist that in them is given the only reliable conception of reality” and that they must be respected regardless. And that makes them dangerous, even for those who employ them.
Understand this and one will understand a massive amount of the Russian propaganda of the last year and an equal amount of Putin's mindset.
Last edited by OUTLAW 09; 07-28-2015 at 06:06 PM.
AND this is a not so subtle Russian threat………….
Russian Colonel-General Viktor Yesin: “Topol is able to reliably overcome the US missile defense as part of a massive nuclear strike"
U.S. Navy Creates New Ballistic Missile & Air Defense Task Force for Europe
https://shar.es/1s9ats pic.twitter.com/lgMmaIp3ws
Russian proxies repair MLRS 9K57 Uragan in #Luhansk, #conflictzone in E #Ukraine | EMPR Video http://empr.media/video/conflict-zon...ast-of-ukraine … pic.twitter.com/9yp5toySoD
Appears there is a serious disconnect after the Obama, Nuland, Kerry unilateral appeasement moves and the US Ambassador to the Ukraine---they demanded the Ukraine make political concessions and never demanded equal reciprocate moves by Russia.-
http://www.janes.com/article/53256/u...at-risk-of-fur...
Moscow and the rebels it backs in eastern Ukraine are poised to seize territory "at their choosing" anywhere along the line of contact between themselves and Kiev's forces, warns Geoffrey Pyatt, the US ambassador to Ukraine. The US ambassador to Ukraine warns that pro-Russian forces stand ready to take more territory from Kiev's control when they choose.
Tensions also remain high in Ukraine's eastern port city of Mariupol whose residents "are very worried they could be a target," said his EU counterpart, Jan Tombinski. The two diplomats spoke to reporters during a joint tele-briefing on 28 July.
"I long ago swore off making any predictions, but we shouldn't focus only on Mariupol [as a potential target]," said Pyatt.
"Violations have occurred all along the contact line".
Does this make any sense to any SWJ reader—Obama, Kerry and Nuland apply unilateral pressure on the Ukraine for the 30km buffer AND at the same time the 100mm weapons withdrawal knowing full well the Russians have not implemented a single point in Minsk 2 AND then this today----
White House sits on plan to send long-range counter-battery radar to Ukraine as pressure mounts for buffer zone http://goo.gl/oYS54t
AND for the last four weeks and especially the last week the Ukrainian military positions have been under extensive and massive shellings and ground attacks AND a lot of the time have not even returned fire in they attempt to prove to the west they are attempting to hold to Minsk 2.
AND THE SHELINGS AND GROUND ATTACKS JUST KEEP ON COMING AND THE WESTERN RESPONSE—ABSOLUTELY NOTHING-------
Active combat taking place in eastern Ukraine at multiple places tonight #Pisky #Horlivka #Mariinka #Avdeevka #Donetsk #Stanitsya_Luhanska
22:46 #Luhansk @LUGANSK_TODAY 10pm on the dot #Stanytsia_Luhanska shelling started,#OSCE members surely drank milk&are to bed
22:30 #Horlivka @062_Region After a short lull the battle started over. Heavy incoming in #Holma and #Zaytseve
Horlivka added, heavy combat reported
Mariinka, Avdeevka, Stanitsa Luhanska - combat of varying intensity
22:22 #Makeevka @VasyaMakeevskiy Single gunshots in #Spartak-#Yakovlivka direction
@100007182042214 They pound w/heavy [arty], it's audible in Luhansk
22:18 @LUGANSKA_JUNTA Quiet already
22:15 #Luhansk @100007182042214 It looks like the 4th hellish night starts in #Stanytsia_Luhanska.
22:21 #Luhansk @100007182042214 I hear volleys at Haevoho blc
@LUGANSKA_JUNTA Heard in the center shooting fr/Verhunka dir'n,no heavy
22:23 #Horlivka @adochek [Rumble] from the north
23:10 #Luhansk south @esorrrose I can gear again some very distant volleys, East[ern blocks] again?
Kremlin banned captured commando’s mother from seeing her son in Kyiv, - Security Service
http://en.censor.net.ua/n345625 prin @censor_net
Eastern front has gone quiet--maybe they are resupplying and having a round of vodka.
Again massive shelling and ground attacks all along the eastern front and continues into the morning—including some serious ground attacks that were repelled by the UA and volunteer BNs.
AND where is Obama, Kerry, Nuland, Hollande and Merkel—MIA as leaders
Ukraine Marines in #Shyrokyne
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=huIJWXNnYxk …
80 attacks on #Ukraine positions in the 24 hours. Around 100 #Russia|ns attacked #Shchastya but were repelled – ATO
Today as of 6AM enemy shelling recorded at #Stepne, #Novozvanivka, #Troitske, #Mykolaivka, #Popasna.
At 20.20 near #Avdiivka about 30 'militants' tried to capture the stronghold of our troops, repelled.
Ruscist group w about 100 fighters attacked Ukr positions at #Shchastya yday, after 3 hours battle attack repelled https://www.facebook.com/ato.news/ph...type=1&theater …
Donetsk 7:02AM
Kalininskyi ds - volleys started https://twitter.com/DoneckiiPatriot/...43947329888256 …
#Donetsk 7:02AM
Distant periodic volleys https://twitter.com/BylByleva_/statu...42502811602944 …
Lysychansk
The night was noisy https://twitter.com/lisichanskiy/sta...50575554985984 …
I have often in the last several weeks posted comments concerning findings from the 400G hack of the Italian software company--"The Hacking Team".
Some might be offended that it does not fit this thread but and I hate to be repeating one's own self--BUT cyber warfare and the associated cyber crime are in fact part and parcel of all the new UW versions of non linear warfare--ie China, Iran, Russia and yes even the IS are into it as an element of their UW strategies.
The core issue with cyber warfare and cyber crime is that it is always after something happens that we hear about it not before and that is the current state of the IT security world, attacked, patch, repair, then attacked, patch and repair and it has been the IT world that is always one step behind the cyber warfare/cyber crime world.
The data dump of "the Hacking Team" is a major game changer as they had some amazingly good sophistication in their coding and attacks and attack methodologies that now allows us to fully understand the attack evolutions and their attack methods.
This now allows those of us in IT security world a chance to truly prevent and mitigate before and not after the fact which has been the case for the last several years.
It definitely would have helped the OPM.
QUOTE:
UNQUOTE:"Last week we discussed why the Hacking Team leak is a game-changing event for cyber security, providing a brief overview of the tools the team used and distributed to their clients and the rather sophisticated tactics they deployed in order to sustain long-term operations. This week, we’ll be focusing on their actual attack process, from the infection workflow to their RCS agent operation, and the different infection processes that they utilized."
QUOTE:
UNQUOTE:"With the public release of the Hacking Team’s secrets, our researchers took advantage of the ability to dig deeply into the minds behind their operational theater. For security researchers this information is a veritable gold mine, providing us with even more clues into the latest techniques and tactics hackers are using, and how easily they are able to maintain their attacks over time. Two of our security researchers recently sat down to examine the available data, and found some amazing details about Hacking Team's
activities, victims... and even the hackers that in turn brought them down.
This data dump is akin to the fall of the Soviet Union in a way. When the U.S.S.R. fell, global black markets were overflowing with Soviet weapons and, more importantly, knowledge of WMDs. This put more sophisticated weaponry and nuclear capabilities in the hands of the highest bidder, much like the Hacking Team leak has done. Except in this case the information is free, and none of the vendors whose products are exploitable, e.g.Adobe and Microsoft, were notified, amplifying the danger of the leak.
The widespread availability of this data is going to empower hacking teams across the globe, providing them with much more sophisticated techniques to launch their own attacks. These newer operations will have a completely different signature than Hacking Team’s efforts, but because of how detailed the information on their delivery server is, with perfectly readable code and extremely detailed comments, we can assess the behavior these attacks will follow and more accurately and quickly identify these operations in the
future."
Last edited by OUTLAW 09; 07-29-2015 at 07:51 AM.
Luhansk administration: Gas pipeline was damaged again in #Stanytsia_Luhanska @LUGANSK_TODAY https://www.facebook.com/odalug/posts/453304508185188 … pic.twitter.com/CBtEOidmR7
Stanytsia Luhanska was shelled most intensely between 9-10pm. Gas pipeline is damaged, repair works are underway http://loga.gov.ua/oda/press/news/20...ews_67074.html …
Luhansk rg, #Tkachuk: 4 firings/shellings recorded within 24hr by 7am, 5 WIA within Jul27 21:30 - 01:00 Jul28 http://ato.lisichansk.in.ua/na-lugan...lerijskix.html …
Can anyone identify this Russian drone model?????
Footage
#RussianArmy drone action in #Ukraine's #Donetsk oblast.https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Grk7mC3vS_I …
pic.twitter.com/B3mXMFk2Dy
Recent pics of ruins in #Ukraine-controlled Mironovsky settlement, not far from disputed #Debaltseve city @pharaon01 pic.twitter.com/9ujFCZnxig
In #Mariupol sector 1 militant attack was registered over 28 July: fired w/ automatic near Lebedynske, no losses http://www.0629.com.ua/news/906299
Last edited by OUTLAW 09; 07-29-2015 at 08:47 AM.
And Putin wants to built his massive blue water navy??? He still needs a healthy economy which right now is not the case.
One of Russian opposition leaders @v_milov says Russia's reserve dramatically shrinking,3 trillion rubles in 4 months http://gordonua.com/publications/Ros...ov--88696.html …
Russian banks look to Hong Kong to help Russian companies refinance $117B in external debt due in the coming year. http://www.bloomberg.com/news/articl...lobal-debt-due …
Russian “altered state of reali8ty” strikes again and again and again……….seems the Russian FM has forgotten western reactions are due directly to Russian actions not vice versa.
MFA Russia ✔ @mfa_russia
Russia & NATO can interact better if Alliance respect more Moscow's legitimate interests http://goo.gl/4a6Bd0 pic.twitter.com/oXwnTSavmI
AND all those international agreements and treaties Russia is violating does not gain much trust these days.
Reference the Russian shot down myths of MH17 go in a new direction………
I didn't think there could be more RU permutations on #MH17, but I give you THIS >> http://lifenews.ru/news/158220 (it was an inside job on board)
One more RUS #schizo version of #MH17 crash by @lifenews_ru 'experts' - "Terrorist attack aboard". https://twitter.com/lifenews_ru/stat...80469278130176 …
Gotta love the #MH17 Truthers leaping on the new bomb theory as if they're not been banging on about it being downed by an SU-25 for a year
Next it will the Ukrainian launched Nazi UFOs and or Magic Beans.............
Embarrassing when a President of a Central European country has to ask if the West especially the US has any strategy what so ever for the Russian aggression currently being seen in Central Europe.
@Poroshenko, the President of an invaded country asks the West: Are you with the barbarian or with the free world? http://www.wsj.com/articles/message-...ine-1438106297 …
Ukraine needs just 1,240 Javelin missiles to deter further Russian aggression, Poroshenko says http://en.censor.net.ua/n345651 via @censor_net
A MUST read article by the Russian Ambassador to the UK---while it attempts to explain the Russian positions on a number of items it as always “blames the West” –notice never a single comment on Russia provocations, the annexation in the face of international laws, treaties and norms and the Russian invasion of eastern Ukraine—not a single word.
While Russia blames everyone else they have an equally hard time in accepting their own role in the Ukraine or Crimea.
http://rusemb.org.uk/article/417
29.07.2015
Ambassador Yakovenko writes to David Smith and comments on Chatham House report on Russia
Dear Mr Smith,
I am sorry for delay in my response to your letter. I wholly share your concern over the state of the Russo-British relationship. In the first place, Russia's policy in the Ukraine crisis was always reactive. Our Western partners admit that when they accuse us of both improvisation and pursuing a 'grand strategy'. It was not us who started all this destabilising mess. Not many care to have a look at its origins. So, I'll try to set the record straight on some key points.
The EU "Eastern Partnership" was declared by our EU partners as an instrument to deal with issues of our "common neighborhood", i.e. the countries of the former Soviet Union between the EU and Russia. We never minded. More than that, we suggested that trilateral projects, involving EU, focus countries and Russia, be implemented to sew the entire area together in terms of trade, economy, energy and infrastructure. We have never got any response to that.
NOTE: The EU did in fact respond to what Putin as called "a trading zone/political zone from Portugal to the Russian Far East--BUT Russia was demanding that it be under control and guidance by Russia-so the EU responded with a no and still does everyone time Putin states it and he does often these days as he wanted it tied to the EEAU.
Then we were told that a routine EU-Ukraine association agreement was in the works. Fine, we didn't mind that either. But in the autumn of 2013, it turned out that added to that agreement would be a Deep and Comprehensive FTA. In fact, in terms of consequences for our bilateral trade and economic ties it was nothing short of Ukraine becoming an EU member. In the past, when new members were admitted to the EU we held detailed bilateral and trilateral, including Brussels, talks on how to manage those consequences. But in the case of Ukraine this logic wasn't followed. We were told that it was none of our business, a purely bilateral matter for the EU and Ukraine. Only at the EU-Russia summit in January 2014, when the Ukraine crisis was already in full swing, our EU partners admitted that Russia had a legitimate economic interest in this matter, though we saw no willingness to follow it up. Later EU representatives admitted that, indeed, an FTA of the proposed scope with the EU wasn't compatible with Ukraine's membership in the CIS (Commonwealth of Independent States) FTA. Thus, it would have been honest and straightforward to offer Ukraine the EU membership, which would have ensured orderliness and due process, including clear-cut mutual obligations.
NOTE: Russia has attempted four times to inject an unusual number of economic complaints and changes into the EU Association Agreement in an attempt to control the dialogue and take major precedence in the discussions away from the Ukraine--the EU roundly dismissed all Russian complaints recently stating they have been thoroughly answered by the EU.
That is, among other things, why we deemed the entire Ukraine project as a political one with the EU acting as proxy for NATO. Shall I say that, as far as we know, no veritable talks (and it was a set of documents of roughly 2000 pages) were held between the Yanukovich Government and Brussels. It had never been subject to open and public debate both in Ukraine and the EU. Nobody discussed costs and impact. So, it looked like a piece of secret diplomacy akin to that which was responsible for Europe blundering into WWI. Why secret diplomacy in our time, when nothing could be kept secret? All the more so that we had agreed with the EU that projects of economic integration in various regions of Europe were compatible. Adherence to the WTO rules and norms would see to that.
This mode of operation by the EU further undermined trust between us, especially immediately after Libya, where the UN Security Council mandate was stretched to destroy the regime of Colonel Gaddafi (now all of us have to deal with the consequences). It is not that we, in Russia, are Darwinists. But any outside interference has to be thought and seen through, which, as a rule, requires of the meddling nation a total commitment at the levels, seen in the two world wars and the Cold War. Short of that commitment, a truly collective international effort, mandated by the UN, is the only viable option. We have always been speaking in favour of the latter. And in that regard the case of Ukraine is no different from those of Iraq, Afghanistan and the "Arab Spring".
Continued……………………………
There is no subjunctive mood in history. But the Ukraine crisis could have been easily avoided, had we joined effort to manage Ukraine's transformation from the very start. The problem is real. For example, Ukraine is the only former republic of the Soviet Union, which hasn't reached the pre-independence level of GDP. We have no designs on Ukraine's territory (it would be a drag on our own development) and will have no problem with a European Ukraine. All the more so that this is our ambition, too. But Europeanness means European values in practice, including human and minority rights. Why decentralization is good for Germany, Britain and Russia, but not for Ukraine, which experts say is a divided country. There is a choice to be made between war and reform, and to have both is a mission impossible. Subjecting its own citizens to economic and humanitarian blockade, wishing them chaos and destruction sound too bloody-minded for political traditions of this part of Europe. Russia insists on the rebel territories remaining part of Ukraine. Otherwise it won't be Ukraine at all. That requires implementation of all political provisions of the Minsk-2. Given the British experience in Northern Ireland, there is no other way forward, but return to politics of consensus and moderation.
Continued…………………………
Last edited by OUTLAW 09; 07-29-2015 at 10:26 AM.
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