No-one knows if Putin is trying to grab land. At the moment, i’m assuming Putin wants to ensure his naval base, until after the Ukraine elections in May. Crimea may become independent at the end of it all, or stay with Ukraine who knows.
I will bet dollars to doughnuts that those Russian troops in Crimea are not going anywhere; and as of this morning despite Putin’s announcement that his war games are over, the latest reports are that the troops massed over the Ukrainian border are not leaving either. And Putin in his news conference left open the question of whether Russian troops will enter Ukraine to “save” the Russian-speakers in the south and east. It seems like he intends to partition Ukraine, which would be a land grab.
I think that this is the most likely answer. With the overthrow of the government in Kiev, the safety of one of Russia’s most important strategic assets - its only warm-water port - came into question.
I don’t think he’s a madman – far from it.
Well lets wait and see. Putin’s not zipped up the back, he’ll be playing games and has possibly no intention of going into Ukraine, but puts it out there as a veiled threat. Or he may enter the Ukraine - but I’ll believe that when I see it. I’d assume he’ll stay in Crimea until after the elections, to see what’s what.
There’s not much else we can do but wait and watch things unfold. But I feel sorry for those Ukrainian soldiers holed up in their bases surrounded by Russian forces. I hope they have enough food and water to last a long siege.
No one threatened Russian nationals and burned Church’s, the protestors were abused in the name of Freedom as usual and the same plot occurred as always, “tolerance kills fear”.
When did this happen, i.e., that he agreed to demands of the opposition, and who then gave the command to shoot unfortunate protestors? Who’s responsible for all the violence, was he not still President at that time? Could he not have demanded the Berkut to stop or to back off? I mean 100 dead and thousands more wounded.
Interesting how Putin back pedaled on his support for Yanukovich. (Edit: first he’s the only rightful president ousted by a coup, then he has "no political future.) If this were 50 years ago, the Gulag would have new company arriving.
Excellent post and I agree. I’ve been flicking between Sky, CNN, BBC, Aljazeera and sadly RT as well, among others.
I think they both have a very good legal argument as to who has authority or not. But you can’t suppress peaceful protest, its essential to democracy. So its more than who’s right legally. I imagine this scares Russia and many people their, as it does people here.
Troops stand guard in Balaklava on March 1. There are far too many photos out.
As noted, we can hear reports from several sources and they “proof text” by interviewing locals who support their agenda. I think both sides are guilty of this. Until those who say “those tanks are inside of Russia!” see a picture of a tank on a street in Ukraine with a sign or well known landmark, they just won’t believe it.
There was no link to the story. Were the soldiers being deployed to Balaklava or are they actually in Balaklava? One photo that was in the MSM, placed by CNN, has already been proven false that showed Russian tanks and soldiers carrying out military operations in Russia - 1000’s of miles from Ukraine.