Interesting to see what happens in London today.

The US attempts to rally its 'friends' - the same ones Nuland referred to as: "F**k the EU"

Hard to see a face saving way out for the Russians.

I think the Ukrainians should repudiate the military use of facilities in Crimea treaty with Russia due to the invasion. That should stir it up nicely


Quote Originally Posted by Firn View Post
1) In Italy the type of accent gives you good understanding where a guy comes from. This is of course more granular in you neighbourhood even if it is no longer as distinctive as in the past.* I don't know how precise this is in Russian, but it sounds very likely that it is possible to tell if somebody comes from longer across the border.

2) A (very) large amount of Russian provocateurs among the violent fits past patters with Russian passport holders coming as violent 'tourists' or for specatacular actoins and the overall 'KGB' approach of Putins circle.

3) In this case it looks like a planned violent counter-demostration, attacking a largely unprepared crowd. It is difficult to know to which extent this attack did 'just' get out of control.


All in all it is of course of great importance for the stability of the Urkaine to stop the large amount of violent provocateurs from entering the country. I guess that they arm themselves mostly with the help of seperatists, partly payed, forces within the country. It looks like that Putin wants to do it's own little maidans. His problem is of course once again that the protesters in Kyiv were overwhelmingly Ukrainian citiziens which came freely due to their own will. Poor Putin himself has to pay and bus in a large share of the 'Ukrainian' protestors from Russia.

*An somewhat fitting example in a violent context was the deep shock felt, still plain after fifty years, when a survivor of a German-led massacre in Italy heard one of the masked men insulting his victims in the accent of the neighbourhood.