| > But now Russia is the aggressor itself... Another way to view it, is that the West is waging a proxy war against Russia. One might say that confrontation started with the West instigating a coup against democratically elected president of Ukraine and installing a pro-Western, pro-NATO regime. Another might say that it started when the West has methodically sabotaged all Russian actions to find peaceful solutions to the crisis in Eastern Ukraine and instead pushed for military options [1]. But these are technicalities. There are two steps left before the possible direct military confrontation between the West and Russia. One step is the West officially sending troops to Ukraine, and another is Russia officially sending troops to Ukraine. Most probably, neither of them would be taken, but the situation is already dangerous enough. Many say, that after we have left our military bases in Eastern Germany in exchange of the failed promise of NATO non-expansion, after many other actions of good will by USSR and then Russia, the West has been methodically showing us that it doesn't accept Russia as a peaceful partner. By sanctioning Russia, by turning the blind eye on atrocities carried out by Kiev government, the West is waging the war against Russians, not only against Putin. I do not know, how this crisis would end, but it is for sure going to set back our relations with the West for decades to come. And this is not all Putin's fault. > Some things, however, are never allowed, such as sending military forces to invade and annex the sovereign territory of another nation. Before the Russian actions in Crimea, there was a popular uprising against coup government. The main powerhouse of the uprising was the city of Sevastopol, which was home for Russian military bases for hundreds of years. The residents of the city have in 20+ years never been allowed to have democratic elections of the mayor, because all Ukrainian governments felt that they would elect pro-Russian mayor. Instead, for 20+ years, they got mayors appointed from Kiev, some anti-Russian. Crimea has de facto not been under the coup government control even before the Russian actions and was lost by Ukraine before it was gained by Russia, just after the coup government has started to pass one of it's first laws, the one that revoked the rights of the Russian-speaking regions to use Russian as second official language. Personally, I don't like how Russia used it's military in Crimea and think that people of Crimea should have been allowed to fight for the independence themselves, possibly with some help. This was important technical issue and Russia has most probably got it wrong. The situation is complicated by the fact that in reality there are different parts of Ukraine with completely different mindsets, preferences and interests. But it is the Western Ukraine that has invaded Eastern Ukraine (with the help of US), not the other way around. This is the core point. This is why the people of Eastern Ukraine have the moral high ground in their fight. This is why Russia is not an aggressor. P.S. The coup government has also been waging war against the population of Crimea [2], "it's own population". And it also doesn't allow for every citizen from Crimea to freely enter Ukraine, some of them are sent back home [3] [4]. [1] Great article by Stephen Cohen (professor emeritus at New York University and Princeton University), which more or less summarizes not only my personal POW, but POW of many Russians and Ukrainians as well:
http://www.thenation.com/article/180466/silence-american-haw... [2] http://en.itar-tass.com/world/729666 [3] http://www.zerohedge.com/news/2014-04-17/ukraine-bars-entry-... [4] http://korrespondent.net/ukraine/politics/3351043-ukrayna-ot... |
So, let's start debunking your li... er, myths.
> West instigating a coup against democratically elected president of Ukraine and installing a pro-Western, pro-NATO regime
You're ly... wrong. There was no 'west instigation' and government was elected by Ukrainian people, not by 'West'.
>West has methodically sabotaged all Russian actions to find peaceful solutions to the crisis in Eastern Ukraine
Tell me about these actions? Sending mercenaries and military equipment to Ukraine? Shelling Ukrainian forces across the border? Spreading lies about Ukraine on state TV?
What other 'peaceful solutions' did I forgot? Oh, violating WTO principles by initiating a little trade war with Ukraine? More peaceful, than sending tanks to Ukraine, I must agree with that.
> after we have left our military bases in Eastern Germany in exchange of the failed promise of NATO non-expansion
You're wrong. There was no such promise, and there was no 'exchange'.
> The main powerhouse of the uprising was the city of Sevastopol, which was home for Russian military bases for hundreds of years.
Do you understand how silly it sounds? Cuba was Spanish military base for hundred of years, do you think they mad enough to take it back on a such false premise?
>The residents of the city have in 20+ years never been allowed to have democratic elections of the mayor, because all Ukrainian governments felt that they would elect pro-Russian mayor. Instead, for 20+ years, they got mayors appointed from Kiev, some anti-Russian.
So, in your beloved Russia, governors was not elected for 10 years, so you will blame Putin?
> Crimea has de facto not been under the coup government control even before the Russian actions and was lost by Ukraine before it was gained by Russia.
You're wrong again. Using Latin will not bring more credibility to this statement.
> But it is the Western Ukraine that has invaded Eastern Ukraine (with the help of US), not the other way around.
This is so good fantasy, you can try to sell it as a movie script. I'm not even sure that I need to debunk this particular myth.
> This is the core point. This is why the people of Eastern Ukraine have the moral high ground in their fight. This is why Russia is not an aggressor.
So you're trying to tell us, that if false statements are propagated in the russian media, then you could hide the facts of Russian mercenaries fighting against Ukrainian forces, Russian tanks and APCs flow across border and FSB/KGB crooks in Ukraine in charge of terrorists?
Do you honestly believe this could be hidden just because it was not shown on kremlin TV?
> The coup government has also been waging war against the population of Crimea [2], "it's own population".
Really? This is considered a 'war' right now?
Ok, in this case Russia is waging war against Ukraine right now, by cutting it's gas supply.
> And it also doesn't allow for every citizen from Crimea to freely enter Ukraine, some of them are sent back home
Yes. It's called 'customs', are you aware what this means?