Russian Invasion Of Ukraine (Formerly: Democratic Malaise Draws Ukraine Eastwards)

[American Patriot]

Obama says Putin's claims on Ukraine aren't 'fooling anybody'

• 
• Comments
  0
  

• Email

  Share 0

  
  
  

President Obama walks out of a classroom at Powell Elementary School in Washington, D.C. The president was at the school to discuss education priorities in his latest spending blueprint, but when asked about the events unfolding in Crimea, Obama criticized Putin's actions. (Pablo Martinez Monsivais / Associated Press / March 4, 2014)

• Some 'local' forces in Crimea look a lot like Russian military
• Video: Unrest in the Ukraine
• Photos: Crisis in Ukraine
• Putin: Russia has right to use 'all means' in Ukraine
• Ukrainian soldiers in Crimea reject Russian demands of allegiance
• Obama administration unveils $1-billion loan package for Ukraine
• See more stories »

By Christi Parsons March 4, 2014, 10:36 a.m.

WASHINGTON -- President Obama on Monday publicly mocked Russian President Vladimir Putin’s justification for sending troops into Ukraine, contending that Putin’s claim that Russia is protecting Russians isn’t "fooling anybody."
Russia may have legitimate interests in what happens in a neighboring state, Obama said, but “that does not give it the right to use force as a means of exerting influence inside of that state.”
“We have said that if in fact there is any evidence out there that Russian speakers or Russian natives or Russian nationals are in any way being threatened, there are ways of dealing with that through international mechanisms,” Obama said.
The fact that television viewers are seeing images of Russian soldiers out of their barracks in Crimea is a sign that Russia is actually “seeking, through force, to exert influence on a neighboring country,” Obama said.
The remarks came as Obama was touring an elementary school in Washington, D.C., an event timed to coincide with the public release of his budget proposal to Congress. A small group of teachers and students at Powell Elementary School gathered in a classroom to hear the president speak about the education priorities in the spending blueprint.
But when a reporter asked about the events unfolding in Crimea, Obama paused at the lectern to criticize Putin's actions. Simultaneously, Secretary of State John F. Kerry was delivering a similar message before television cameras in Kiev.
The world has seen no evidence that Russians are being threatened in Crimea, Obama said.
“I know President Putin seems to have a different set of lawyers making a different set of interpretations,” Obama said, “but I don't think that's fooling anybody.”

[American Patriot]

Obama Takes Tough Stand Against Russia – On A Kid’s Alphabet Carpet

Tweet Email 1 Smaller Font Text Larger Text | Print


By Erin Dooley

Mar 4, 2014 2:21pm
(Saul Loeb/AFP/Getty Images)

U is for Ukraine! President Barack Obama spoke at Powell Elementary School in Washington, D.C., today and had some harsh words for Russian President Vladimir Putin.
But the backdrop was anything but serious.
After a classroom tour, Obama stood on a multicolored alphabet carpet and said that “the course of history is for people to want to be free to make their own decisions about their own futures. … We stand on the side of history that more and more people around the world believe in,” he said.
The president also spoke about his fiscal year 2015 budget, noting that he felt “this was an appropriate setting to talk about the budget” because the plan was designed with the Pre-K students’ generation in mind.

[American Patriot]

BTW there were shots fired


Ukraine soldiers engage in test of wills with Russian troops

• 63
• Share to Facebook
• Share on Twitter
• Share on LinkedIn
• Add to PersonalPost
• Share via Email
• Print Article
• More

Col. Yuliy Mamchuk, center, commander of the Ukrainian military garrison at the Belbek airbase, and a colleague with the regimental flag confront troops under Russian command Tuesday. (Sean Gallup/Getty Images)
Written by William Booth
Updated: Tuesday, March 4, 9:34 AM
E-mail the writer
BELBEK, Ukraine — A tense and dangerous test of wills took place Tuesday on a rainy hilltop at a dilapidated Cold War-era airfield here, as Ukrainian soldiers confronted Russian troops and demanded to be allowed to return to their base.
Just a few hours after the 5 a.m. deadline reportedly issued by Russia’s Black Sea Fleet for Ukrainian troops in Crimea to switch their allegiance from the new government in Kiev to the pro-Russian leadership in Crimea, the first shots of the conflict were fired into the air here by a pro-Russia militiaman.
Russia denied imposing any such ultimatum.
No one was injured in the continuing impasse, but there were tense moments as the two sides faced off, and Ukrainian troops were forced to choose between their oath to Ukraine and their feelings of affinity with Russia.


Video shows the dramatic moments of a tense standoff between Ukrainian soldiers and Russian forces who took control of an airbase in Crimea.
At the Belbek air base, the Ukrainians chose duty.

At the harbor in nearby Sevastopol, a trio of Ukrainian navy vessels spent the night before the ultimatum deadline trapped at a dock as Russian minesweepers and Russian navy tugboats passed back and forth across their bows, blocking their exit.
On Tuesday morning, the Russian rescue and salvage ship Epron cut close to the docks and blasted its klaxon.
Officers of the Ukraine command ship U510 Slavutych said that during the middle of the night, five Russian navy ships from the Black Sea Fleet harassed them, shining search lights at the vessels. The Ukrainian sailors mounted water hoses and mattresses, saying they would repel boarders. They vowed not to surrender their ship.
In addition to the blockade in Sevastopol harbor, Russian navy ships closed off the narrow Kerch Strait, which separates Ukraine’s Crimea Peninsula and Russia, Pavel Shishurin, deputy head of the Ukraine’s border guards, told Reuters news agency.
At the Belbek air base, as Russian snipers assumed flanking positions and aimed their rifles, a column of Ukrainian soldiers marched forward and tried to return to their jobs at the airfield Monday.
The Ukrainians had arrived unarmed.
The Russians were bristling with weapons.
Pro-Russia militiamen and a Russian soldier at Belbek airport Tuesday. (Ivan Sekretarev/AP)
Col. Yuliy Mamchuk, commander of Ukraine’s Sevastopol Aviation Unit, said the Russian troops appeared Thursday and took up positions surrounding the base. On Monday, as the purported deadline to surrender approached, the Russians entered the airfield and forced the Ukrainians out at gunpoint.
“The men felt very bad. They thought they had abandoned their post. We swore an oath to serve,” Mamchuk said.
The Ukrainians were also confused about Russia’s intentions, as the two militaries, especially here on the Crimean Peninsula, had worked closely in the past.



On Monay night, there were rousing, patriotic speeches in the Ukrainian barracks. “We decided we would return to work. Any man who did not want to come, he would not be branded a traitor or a coward,” Mamchuk said. “Every man came.”
The 200 Ukrainians marched back up the hill to tell the Russians they wanted to return to their jobs, to service the airplanes and guard the airfield and warehouse, which was filled with valuable aviation equipment and weaponry.
Their wives accompanied them, but when they saw the snipers, the troops sent the women back.
Mamchuk negotiated with a Russian officer who would identify himself only by the first name “Roman.” The Russians said they needed approval from their superiors to allow the Ukrainians to return to the base.
After no one came, Mamchuk was approached by a member of a civilian self-defense militia from Sevastopol. Mamchuk explained the situation again, though now he was negotiating not with a Russian officer but a Crimean bar owner from nearby Balaklava in mismatched fatigues and black sneakers, who only an hour earlier had been arguing with journalists at the front gate to the base.
He gave his name as Yuriy. Beside him stood another militiaman, his face covered by a black mask.
“I realize this looks like a comedy,” Yuriy said, but it was serious business. He said the people were afraid the Ukrainian airmen would put their planes in the sky and bomb Sevastopol.
Asked about Russian forces behind him, the soldiers still without markings or insignia, Yuriy said he didn’t know anything about them.
The Ukrainian colonel could make no progress. “They’re stalling,” he said. “They’re playing games.”
Ukrainian servicemen march away from the Belbek airport Tuesday. (Vasily Fedosenko/Reuters)
He sent his men back down the hill to their barracks. Asked what would happen next, Mamchuk said: “I am feeling negative. There shouldn't be this kind of escalation with the Russian troops.”
He said the Ukrainians had already sent their children out of Crimea, back to the Ukrainian mainland, after the servicemen and their families started receiving threatening phone calls and text messages.
Asked about the wives, Mamchuk said: “They’re stubborn. They won’t leave us.”
























Standoff in Crimea
Back to beginning
Embed:


PHOTOS: Armed soldiers move into Crimea, Ukraine







Col. Yuli Mamchor, left, commander of the Ukrainian military garrison at the Belbek airbase, leads his unarmed troops to retake the Belbek airfield from soldiers under Russian command in Crimea in Lubimovka, Ukraine.
Sean Gallup /Getty Images

[American Patriot]

http://news.yahoo.com/canada-suspend...203012827.html

Canada suspends military exercises with Russia

35 minutes ago

.View photo

Canada's parliament raised the Ukrainian yellow and blue flag on March 4, 2014 in Ottawa, Ontario to show solidarity with Ukraine (AFP Photo/Michel Comte)

Related Stories

• Canada warns Russia, says G8 membership at risk AFP
• Canada pulls ambassador from Moscow over Ukraine Associated Press
• Russia's Putin orders troops in military exercise back to base Reuters
• Ukraine: Pro-Russia gunmen seize offices in Crimea Associated Press
• Kerry: Russia pledges to respect Ukraine's borders Associated Press

Ottawa (AFP) - Canada's Prime Minister Stephen Harper on Tuesday ordered the suspension of joint military exercises with Russia, over Moscow's troop intervention in Ukraine's Crimea region.
"I have this morning directed that, effective immediately, all planned bilateral activities between the Canadian Armed Forces and the military of the Russian Federation be suspended," Harper said in a statement.
This includes an annual drill that last year saw Russia, Canada and the United States scramble fighter jets to intercept a hijacked commercial airliner.
A Russian Tupolev, an A-50 Beriev and Sukhoi fighter jets, as well as US AWACS and Canadian CF-18 Hornets were used in the simulation.
Meanwhile in the House of Commons, Harper renewed criticisms of Russia for its intervention in Ukraine, drawing parallels with Nazi Germany.
"What has occurred, as we know, has been the decision of a major power to effectively invade and occupy a neighboring country based on some kind of extraterritorial claim of jurisdiction over ethnic minorities," Harper said.
"We have not seen this kind of behavior since the Second World War. This is clearly unacceptable, and it is our view the world community as it reflects upon these actions will isolate Russia as a consequence."
Ukraine's flag was also flown outside Canada's parliament in a show of solidarity, one day after Canadian lawmakers voted unanimously to "strongly condemn" Russia's actions.
Three percent of Canadians, or 1.2 million people, trace their roots to Ukraine.

[American Patriot]

Ukraine: Is This How the War on Terror Ends?

Rivalry among great powers long characterized international affairs. Now it's back—in a big way.
Peter Beinart Mar 4 2014, 3:34 PM ET

Tweet


More


A carnival float with a papier-mache caricature of Russian President Vladimir Putin makes its way through the German city of Duesseldorf. (Reuters/Ina Fassbender)

Maybe this is how the “war on terror” ends.
Since entering his second term, President Obama has signaled his desire to close out a foreign-policy era that he believes has drained America’s economic resources and undermined its democratic ideals. But it hasn’t been easy. Partly, Obama remains wedded to some of the war on terror’s legally dubious tools—especially drone strikes and mass surveillance. And just as importantly, Obama hasn’t had anything to replace the war on terror with. It’s hard to end one foreign-policy era without defining a new one. The post-Cold War age, for instance, dragged on and on until 9/11 suddenly rearranged Americans’ mental map of the world.
Now Russia may have solved Obama’s problem. Vladimir Putin’s military intervention in Ukraine doesn’t represent as sharp a historical break as 9/11 did, but it does offer the clearest glimpse yet of what the post-war on terror era may look like. To quote Secretary of State John Kerry, what comes after the war on terror is the “19th century.”

Vladimir Putin’s military intervention in Ukraine offers the clearest glimpse yet of what the post-war on terror era may look like.

Explaining what that means requires some history. For a century after the end of the Napoleonic Wars in 1815, five great powers—Britain, Russia, France, Austria, and Prussia (later Germany)—jockeyed for influence in Europe. Then World War I smashed three of them: Russia, Germany, and Austria-Hungary. And then World War II smashed Germany again, while bankrupting Britain and France. Suddenly, the world found itself dominated by two superpowers, the U.S. and U.S.S.R. Each was more ideologically driven and more capable of projecting power across the entire globe than the great powers that had preceded the world wars.
So it went for almost half a century, until the Soviet empire collapsed. Immediately, some international-relations scholars predicted a return to old-fashioned great-power rivalry. In 1990, the University of Chicago’s John Mearsheimer published an essay entitled “Back to the Future,” in which he predicted a new “multipolar” competition resembling the one that held sway in the 19th century. This competition, Mearsheimer predicted, would be less ideological than the Cold War, but more unstable, and might plunge Europe into war.

It didn’t happen. To the contrary, NATO—having won the Cold War—expanded, and no adversary rose to challenge it. This absence of great-power strife enabled the massive exchange of money, people, culture, and ideas dubbed “globalization.” Even after 9/11, the era of relative great-power harmony endured as the world’s strongest countries largely cooperated against terrorism. “We have an historic opportunity to break the destructive pattern of great power rivalry that has bedeviled the world since [the] rise of the nation state in the 17th century,” declared Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice in 2002. “Today, the world’s great centers of power are united by common interests, common dangers, and—increasingly—common values.”
Although Americans didn’t think much about it at the time, this absence of great-power tension enabled much of what the United States did in the war on terror. Had the Soviet Union not withdrawn its troops from Afghanistan and orphaned its former client, Iraq, the U.S. could never have invaded and occupied those countries. Had China seriously challenged American power in the Pacific, the U.S. would never have enjoyed the luxury of focusing its attention and resources so overwhelmingly on the greater Middle East. Terror networks like al-Qaeda and small “rogue” states like Iraq dominated American consciousness because big powers like Russia and China stood largely offstage.
That’s what’s now changed. The risk of jihadi terror remains; Iran is still seeking the capacity to build a nuclear bomb. But these threats appear comparatively smaller when Russia occupies Ukraine or, as happened last November, China erects an air-defense zone over most of the East China Sea. Just look at how Putin’s actions have pushed Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu’s Iran-focused visit to Washington this week off the front page.

Terror networks and small “rogue” states dominated American consciousness because big powers like Russia and China stood largely offstage.

When there’s serious tension between America and other major powers, that tension becomes the dominant reality in U.S. foreign policy. And it’s likely that tension will endure. Vladimir Putin has now twice invaded his neighbors in an effort to halt, if not reverse, the West’s encroachment into the former U.S.S.R. Yet the more bullying he becomes, the more desperately many in Ukraine, Georgia, Moldova, and perhaps other ex-Soviet republics will seek economic and military bonds with Europe and the U.S. Large chunks of the former Soviet Union now constitute a gray zone where competition between Russia and the West can breed diplomatic feuds, economic sanctions, and even proxy war.
Similarly, as China continues to rise economically, it will keep asserting control over islands, airspace, and sea lanes claimed by its smaller neighbors. And that will cause those smaller neighbors to turn to the U.S. for help, which will strain the U.S.-China relationship diplomatically, or worse. China is geopolitically ascendant and Russia is not, but both are led by intensely nationalistic regimes willing to risk conflict with the West to define a sphere of influence over their neighbors. Given the political pressure on Barack Obama—and probably any future American president—to avoid the appearance of the U.S. being in global retreat, that’s a recipe for discord. And it is this great-power tension that will increasingly define a new, post-war on terror era in America’s relations with the world.
It won’t be another Cold War. The Cold War was a contest between two superpowers (although things got more complicated after the Sino-Soviet split); this new era of great-power tension features at least three. The Cold War was intensely ideological, with the U.S. and U.S.S.R. each promoting their political and economic systems as models for the world. Today, neither Russia nor China is espousing a revolutionary creed.
There are obvious differences between the 21st and 19th centuries, too. Democracy, nationalism, economic interdependence, and human rights are stronger forces in today’s world. That makes naked aggression harder; it makes quiet diplomacy harder, too.
But this new era will be more like the 19th century than either the bipolar, ideological Cold War, the relatively placid post-Cold War era of the globalized 1990s, or the post-9/11 war on terror, in which U.S. policymakers focused overwhelmingly on terror networks and small, rogue states.
The best thing one can say about Obama’s foreign policy is that by moving to end the financially draining wars in Iraq and Afghanistan and, so far, avoiding a new one in Iran, he has left the U.S. better positioned for this new era than it was when he took office. Which is good, since this new era is likely to be more dangerous, both for America and the world, than the last.

[American Patriot]

Print Email Putin speaks tough on Ukraine By VLADIMIR ISACHENKOV Associated Press Posted: 03/04/2014 02:40:57 PM CST Click photo to enlarge In this frame grab provided by the Russian Television... ((AP Photo/Russian Television via APTN)) 1 2 3 » MOSCOW—In some ways, the venue Vladimir Putin chose and the emotional lecture he gave the world about Russia's actions in Ukraine said it all. In an hour-long chat with a handful of Kremlin pool reporters at his presidential residence, Putin sat in an easy chair and spoke with the bravado of an ex-KGB agent suspicious of Western plots. Wagging his finger at the reporters, the defiant leader dismissed the threat of U.S. and European Union sanctions, alleged that "rampaging neo-Nazis" dominate Ukraine's capital, and said the Russian and Ukrainian soldiers locked in a standoff in Crimea are actually "brothers in arms." A look at Putin's appearance and what it says about the crisis and him. STANDING TOUGH Putin has long been famous for his cool public demeanor at public appearances that often are carefully stage managed. But during Tuesday's news conference—which was televised live across Russia—he made it clear that he takes the Ukraine crisis personally. He accepted questions from the reporters about the threat of war in Ukraine, the Russian military takeover of the country's Crimea Peninsula, and the looming Western sanctions. But he batted them away with his usual mix of disdainful sarcasm and political arguments in a rapid-fire delivery. When someone's cellphone rang in the middle of live broadcast, something that reportedly makes him mad, Putin paused then continued his speech. Putin's performance seemed to reflect his genuine anger about what he sees as the West's hypocrisy and its heavy-handed involvement in Ukrainian affairs. His remarks also showed what many observers have spotted: his deep involvement and strong personal feelings about the Ukrainian crisis, which he blames on the West. He also seems to see Ukraine as a defining moment of his 14-year rule and a key turning point for the post-Cold War Europe. ——— PUTIN'S RATIONALE Putin acknowledged that the Ukrainians who rallied against their president, Viktor Yanukovych, were driven by anger against corruption and nepotism in his government. But Putin said the nation's new government is merely "replacing some cheats with others." He denounced the ouster of Yanukovych as an "unconstitutional coup and armed seizure of power." Putin claimed that the radical nationalists wearing swastika-like bands had come to control Kiev, and alleged that the snipers who shot and killed more than 80 people during the protesters were provocateurs, not government soldiers. "Armed, masked militants are roaming around Kiev," he said. A child plays near a Russian soldier, right, while Ukrainian soldiers look on from behind gates as the Russian soldier guards the gate of an Ukrainian infantry base in Perevalne, Ukraine, Tuesday, March 4, 2014. Russian President Vladimir Putin said Moscow reserves the right to use all means to protect Russians in Ukraine as U.S. Secretary of State John Kerry was on his way to Kiev. Tensions remained high in the strategic Ukrainian peninsula of Crimea with troops loyal to Moscow firing warning shots to ward off protesting Ukrainian soldiers. ((AP Photo/Darko Vojinovic)) Asked if Russia would recognize the outcome of Ukraine's election set for May, he said, "We will not if such terror continues." He insisted that Yanukovych, who fled to Russia, remains the only legitimate leader of Ukraine. But he also spoke about Yanukovych with disdain, saying he has failed in his presidential duties. U.S.-TRAINED RADICALS Putin accused the West of staging the massive protests in the Ukrainian capital in order to reduce Russia's clout there. He claimed that radical demonstrators involved in violent clashes with police in Kiev were trained by Western instructors. "I have a feeling that they sit somewhere in a lab in America over a big puddle and conduct experiments, as if with rats, without understanding the consequences of what they are doing," he said. He said the ouster of Yanukovych hours after he had signed a deal to surrender much of his power and hold early elections has plunged Ukraine into chaos and put it on the verge of breakup. "READY TO USE ALL MEANS" Putin said that "we reserve the right to use all means we have" to protect Russian speakers in eastern Ukraine from violent Ukrainian nationalists. But he added that he hopes there will be no need for sending Russian troops there. "We don't want to enslave anyone or dictate anything," he said. "But we won't be able to stay aside, if we see them being hunted down, destroyed and harassed." He made it clear that Russia doesn't see the Ukrainian military as a serious adversary, saying that Russian and the Ukrainian soldiers are "brothers in arms" who will stand "on one side of the barricades. A Ukrainian soldier with a childm 2nd left, watches Russian soldier guard the gate of an infantry base in Perevalne, Ukraine, Tuesday, March 4, 2014. Russian President Vladimir Putin said Moscow reserves the right to use all means to protect Russians in Ukraine as U.S. Secretary of State John Kerry was on his way to Kiev. Tensions remained high in the strategic Ukrainian peninsula of Crimea with troops loyal to Moscow firing warning shots to ward off protesting Ukrainian soldiers. ((AP Photo/Darko Vojinovic)) " He said that weeklong war games in western Russian that involved 150,000 troops, hundreds of tanks and dozens of combat jets, had been planned earlier and weren't linked to the developments in Ukraine, adding that he ordered them back to their bases. STANDOFF IN CRIMEA Putin says that Russian forces in Ukraine's strategic region of Crimea, which hosts a major Russian naval base, have beefed up security to fend off threats from Ukrainian nationalists. He denied that the troops, who have overtaken Ukrainian military bases across Crimea, were Russian and described them as local "self-defense forces." Putin said that Moscow has no intention to annex Crimea. At the same time, he strongly supported a local referendum on Crimea's status, saying that people there have the right to determine their fate. TURNING TABLE ON THE WEST Putin rejected Western accusations of Russian aggression against Ukraine, saying the U.S. should know better, given what it has done. "We have to remind them about the U.S. action in Iraq, Afghanistan and Libya, where they acted without any sanction of the United Nations Security Council, or wilfully interpreted its resolution as in the case of Libya," he said. "Our partners, particularly in the United States, always clearly formulate their geopolitical and state interests and aggressively pursue them. They try to pull the rest of the world under them and start hitting those who put up resistance, eventually finishing them off, as a rule." He did not mention that the Soviet Union invaded Afghanistan in December 1979, starting a war that lasted for nearly a decade and precipitated the collapse of the Soviet Union. THINK TWICE ABOUT SANCTIONS Putin has shrugged off Western threats to impose political and economic sanctions against Russia over its actions in Ukraine, saying that they will backfire against the West. "In the modern world, where everything is linked and everyone depends on others in one way or another, we can incur damage to one another, but it would be mutual damage," he said. Asked about the possibility that members of the Group of Eight will not show up at its summit scheduled in Sochi in June, he said: "If they don't want to come, it's OK."

[American Patriot]

Ukrainians soldiers caught in the middle in Crimea

By By Raul Gallego March 04, 2014

---

BELBEK, Ukraine (AP) — For Ukrainian soldiers in Crimea, it's a bewildering time.
Surrounded by the Russian forces who took over much of their military air base in Crimea, some 300 Ukrainian troops made a peaceful attempt Tuesday to retake their airfield at Belbek.
They were driven back by a dozen or so Russian soldiers who fired warning shots into the air and said they would shoot if the Ukrainians did not turn back. To emphasize the point, sharpshooters took up positions to their left.
Video: Crimea Protests a Different Voice in Ukraine Unrest
The marchers retreated.
"In normal life, we would not point guns at each other and would not shoot at each other," said Capt. Severin Vetvitsky, a 31-year-old Ukrainian air force engineer patrolling a different section of the Belbek base.
Russia's seizure of power in Crimea, a strategic Ukrainian peninsula in the Black Sea, has not gone as smoothly as Moscow may have expected. Ukrainian soldiers at Belbek and some other bases across Crimea have refused to hand over their weapons or switch allegiances, resulting in strange standoffs between armed men surprised to find themselves on opposing sides.
Video: Crimea Protests a Different Voice in Ukraine Unrest
The turmoil in Crimea came after months of street demonstrations in Kiev, Ukraine's capital, drove out the Moscow-supported president and brought in a new government eager to turn away from Russia in favor of closer ties with the 28-nation European Union.
At the Belbek base, all that geopolitics turned local. The air base is near Sevastopol, where Russia has leased a port for its Black Sea Fleet since the 1991 breakup of the Soviet Union.
Vetvitsky was one of the officers on patrol Tuesday at the section of the Belbek compound still held by Ukrainians. He and his compatriots had gone three days with little sleep, not much information about what was going on in the outside world and no clear orders from their commanders.
Story: In Crimea's Capital, Gratitude for a Russian Takeover
To signal their defiance, they hung a Ukrainian flag on the main gate of their compound, mostly barracks and offices. To gather information, they talked with relatives through the fence, staying alert for possible Russian troop movements.
"We are worried. But we will not give up our base," said Capt. Nikolai Syomko, a 36-year-old air force radio electrician, holding an AK-47 and patrolling the back of the compound.
Syomko, who has spent 16 years in the Ukrainian air force, said troops at the base felt as if they were being held hostage, caught between Russia and Ukraine. He said their relatives are extremely worried, especially his mother.
Story: How Russia Is Pushing Ukraine Into the West's Arms
"But at the same time she told me 'You took an oath and you need to keep it until the end,'" he said.
Vetvitsky, part of the same guard unit, was watching the rear of their compound. Joking around, he smiled at a TV news camera. In broken English, he waved his fist in the air saying: "Ukraine forever!"
But that bravado was a mask. Vetvitsky said the members of his unit feel virtually alone.
Story: Putin’s Gamble: Crimea Land Grab Will Be Met With Western Inaction
"The orders are not clear," he said. "They (his commanders) don't know what they are supposed to do. But they still make demands of us, for us not to give up, and so on.
"But we are not surrendering. We are officers," he added.
In Moscow, Russian President Vladimir Putin on Tuesday denied that the soldiers who have taken over Ukrainian military bases were Russian, saying they were self-defense forces loyal to Crimea's pro-Russian regional government.
The soldiers, however, had sophisticated weapons and used vehicles with Russian license plates.
Putin said Ukraine's 22,000-strong force in Crimea has dissolved, while the regional government claimed Tuesday that 5,500 Ukrainian soldiers had switched their allegiance from Kiev to them.
There was no way to immediately verify either claim.

[American Patriot]

Putin denies Russian forces operating in Crimea

Russia's President Vladimir Putin (front C), accompanied by Russian Defence Minister Sergei Shoigu (front L), walks to watch military exercises upon his arrival at the Kirillovsky firing ground in the Leningrad region. (Reuters)


Tweet

Text size A A A

By Staff writer | Al Arabiya News
Tuesday, 4 March 2014
Russian leader Vladamir Putin said on Tuesday in his first news conference since Ukraine ousted president Viktor Yanukovish fled Kiev, that the armed groups which seized power in Crimea were "local forces of self-defense," and not Russian soldiers.
In his staments, he also reassured that Russia would not provoke separatist movements in the area.
Speaking of the future of Ukraine, Putin said that its people should be able to choose their future on a level playing field. He added, however, that Yanukovich is still Ukraine's legitimate president, even though he has no actual power. He also called the ousting of the Ukranian president an unconstitutional coup.
Infographic: Russia and Ukriane's military strength compared

(Design by Farwa Rizwan / Al Arabiya News)



While the Russian leader said the Ukrainian people wanted change, he said that "illegal change" cannot be encouraged.
Putin, who has attracted international criticism for his bloodless invasion of Ukraine, said that using force in the country is a choice of last resort but added firmly that Russia had the option to do so.
In his statements, he also reiterated that Russia will continue to provide financial aid to Ukraine's southern region of Crimea.

Return of the troops

Meanwhile, Putin ordered troops that took part in military exercises this week to return to base, Russian news agencies quoted the Kremlin spokesman as saying, according to Reuters news agency
The military exercises, which Moscow denied were linked to events in Ukraine, had been a success, Dmitry Peskov said on Tuesday.
The exercises took place across western Russia, an area which borders Ukraine.
The decision comes despite ousted leader Viktor Yanukovich’s letter to Putin requesting that he use the Russian military to restore law and order in Ukraine.
“Under the influence of Western countries, there are open acts of terror and violence,” Russian Ambassador Vitaly Churkin quoted the letter from Yanukovich to Putin in an emergency meeting of the U.N. Security Council.
“People are being persecuted for language and political reasons,” he quoted the letter as saying.
“So in this regard I would call on the President of Russia, Mr. Putin, asking him to use the armed forces of the Russian Federation to establish legitimacy, peace, law and order, stability and defending the people of Ukraine.”
Churkin held up a copy of the letter for council members to see.
No solution in sight

Meanwhile, German Foreign Minister Frank-Walter Steinmeier said no “solution is in sight” on the Ukraine crisis, after a “difficult” talk in Geneva with Russian counterpart Sergei Lavrov.

“I had a difficult, long and very serious talk but it wasn’t enough to say that a solution is in sight,” Steinmeier told reporters after the meeting with Lavrov late Monday, according to Agence France-Presse.

“I can’t run up a flag to say that we are on the way to finding a solution and that Ukraine and Russia are about to start talking.”


(With Reuters and AFP)

'The Fact Is, These Are Russian Forces,' Says Ukraine's Ambassador To U.S.

by


March 04, 2014 3:30 PM


Troops under Russian command scream orders to turn back before firing warning shots at the Belbek airbase in Crimea. The troops were reacting to a large group of unarmed Ukrainian troops who approached them.


Sean Gallup/Getty Images
Despite what Russia's President Vladimir Putin might say, the country's approach to Ukraine is a "gross violation of international law," says Ukraine's ambassador to the U.S., Olexander Motsyk.
"The whole world witnessed the act of aggression of Russia against Ukraine," Motsyk tells NPR's Melissa Block, in an All Things Considered interview about recent developments in his country.
, Putin claimed today that the armed forces that have taken over parts of Crimea are not Russian. They're "local self-defense forces," he said.
That's simply not true, Motsyk says, repeating himself for emphasis.
"The fact is, these are Russian forces," he says. "And they participate in toppling local government in Crimea."
The ambassador says he welcomed hearing Putin say that Russia is pulling its troops back from Ukraine's border — but he couldn't verify that a withdrawal is underway.
"We're happy that there is such a statement" from Putin, Motsyk says. "But we need not only words, but deeds."
A tense situation passed without violence earlier today, when armed men who had taken control of the Belbek airbase in Crimea fired warning shots as more than 100 Ukrainian troops approached them. The Ukrainians were unarmed, carrying a flag and singing. The situation ended without reported injuries.

YouTube

Ukraine isn't sure where exactly the troops came from, Motsyk says. But he cites a colleague's report Monday that there are 16,000 Russian troops in the Ukraine now.
"Russia simply violated international law and occupied Crimea," Motsyk says. "The choice of Ukraine was to integrate into European Union — and maybe not everybody is happy with that idea."
Melissa asks the ambassador about the current status of Ukraine's military, particularly its navy.
"There are Ukrainian vessels that have now been effectively turned into Russian vessels, have been forced to change their allegiance," she says. "What about those vessels – what happens to them?"
"As far as I know, all vessels are loyal to Ukraine," Motsyk says. "Yes, Russia has been trying to establish control over Ukrainian military facilities. But all the Ukrainian troops are loyal to Kiev."
A career diplomat, Motsyk has been Ukraine's ambassador to the U.S. since 2010, a span that includes serving the ousted President Viktor Yanukovych.
Motsyk has negotiated with Russia on border and citizenship issues in the past. He says that Ukraine will work with the U.S., Europe and Russia to ensure the country maintains control of Crimea.
"We live in 21^st century. So, everybody has to behave like in 21^st century, not in 19^th century," he says. "That's the main thing. And if you violate international law, you have to have responsibility for that."

[American Patriot]

So which is it?

Are they or aren't they?

[American Patriot]

Updated: 4:03 p.m. Tuesday, March 4, 2014 | Posted: 4:03 p.m. Tuesday, March 4, 2014

Putin cools tensions in Ukraine, Kerry in Kiev

• 0 0 0 New

Related

View Larger

President Vladimir Putin answers journalists' questions on current situation in Ukraine at the Novo-Ogaryovo presidential residence outside Moscow on Tuesday, March 4, 2014. Putin accused the West of encouraging an "unconstitutional coup" in Ukraine, Vladimir Putin said Tuesday that Moscow reserves the right to use all means to protect Russians there. (AP Photo/RIA Novosti, Alexei Nikolsky, Presidential Press Service)



Photos: The Ukrainian crisis and Russian military intervention

More News Headlines

• NY Latinos claim officers stole, racially profiled them
• 5 ways to make healthy eating more cost-effective
• Cat attacks man because of his cologne
• Lice from selfies? Yuck, but possible, expert says
• Nike and U.S. soccer unveil home World Cup uniforms

> More

View Larger

Russian navy ship minesweeper "Turbinist" is seen at harbor of Sevastopol, Ukraine, Monday, March 3, 2014. The Ukrainian Defense Ministry said that Russian forces that have overtaken Ukraine's strategic region of Crimea are demanding that the ship's crew surrender. (AP Photo/Andrew Lubimov)


View Larger

People work on board the Ukrainian navy corvette Ternopil, background, at harbor of in Sevastopol, Ukraine, Tuesday, March 4, 2014. Crimea still remained a potential flashpoint. Pro-Russian troops who had taken control of the Belbek air base in Crimea fired warning shots into the air Tuesday as around 300 Ukrainian soldiers, who previously manned the airfield, demanded their jobs back. The blankets and mattresses are placed over the side of the ship to hinder any attempted assault. (AP Photo/Andrew Lubimov)


View Larger

A Ukrainian national flag flies on the board of Ukrainian navy ship Slavutich, at harbor of in Sevastopol, Ukraine, Tuesday, March 4, 2014. Crimea still remained a potential flashpoint. Pro-Russian troops who had taken control of the Belbek air base in Crimea fired warning shots into the air Tuesday as around 300 Ukrainian soldiers, who previously manned the airfield, demanded their jobs back.(AP Photo/Andrew Lubimov)


Sponsored Links




The Associated Press
MOSCOW —
Stepping back from the brink of war, Vladimir Putin talked tough but cooled tensions in the Ukraine crisis in his first comments since its president fled, saying Tuesday that Russia has no intention "to fight the Ukrainian people" but reserved the right to use force.
As the Russian president held court in his personal residence, U.S. Secretary of State John Kerry met with Kiev's fledgling government and Moscow agreed to sit down with NATO.
Although nerves remained on edge in Crimea, with Russian troops firing warning shots to ward off Ukrainian soldiers, global markets catapulted higher on tentative signals that the Kremlin was not seeking to escalate the conflict. Kerry brought moral support and a $1 billion aid package to a Ukraine fighting to fend off bankruptcy.
Lounging in an arm-chair before Russian tricolor flags, Putin delivered a characteristic performance filled with earthy language, macho swagger and sarcastic jibes, accusing the West of promoting an "unconstitutional coup" in Ukraine. At one point he compared the U.S. role to an experiment with "lab rats."
But the overall message appeared to be one of de-escalation. "It seems to me (Ukraine) is gradually stabilizing," Putin said. "We have no enemies in Ukraine. Ukraine is a friendly state."
He tempered those comments by warning that Russia was willing to use "all means at our disposal" to protect ethnic Russians in the country.
Significantly, Russia agreed to a NATO request to hold a special meeting to discuss Ukraine on Wednesday in Brussels, opening up a possible diplomatic channel in a conflict that still holds monumental hazards and uncertainties.
While the threat of military confrontation retreated somewhat Tuesday, both sides ramped up economic feuding in their struggle over Ukraine. Russia hit its nearly broke neighbor with a termination of discounts on natural gas, while the U.S. announced a $1 billion aid package in energy subsidies to Ukraine.
"We are going to do our best (to help you). We are going to try very hard," Kerry said upon arriving in Kiev. "We hope Russia will respect the election that you are going to have."
Ukraine's finance minister, who has said Ukraine needs $35 billion to get through this year and next, was meeting Tuesday with officials from the International Monetary Fund.
World stock markets, which slumped the previous day, clawed back a large chunk of their losses Tuesday on signs that Russia was backpedaling. Gold, the Japanese yen and U.S. treasuries — all seen as safe havens — returned some of their gains. Russia's RTS index, which fell 12 percent on Monday rose 6.2 percent Tuesday. In the U.S., the Dow Jones industrial average was up 1.2 percent.
"Confidence in equity markets has been restored as the standoff between Ukraine and Russia is no longer on red alert," said David Madden, market analyst at IG.
Russia took over the strategic peninsula of Crimea on Saturday, placing its troops around its ferry, military bases and border posts. Two Ukrainian warships remained anchored in the Crimean port of Sevastopol, blocked from leaving by Russian ships.
"Those unknown people without insignia who have seized administrative buildings and airports ... what we are seeing is a kind of velvet invasion," said Russian military analyst Alexander Golts.
The territory's enduring volatility was put in stark relief Tuesday morning: Russian troops, who had taken control of the Belbek air base, fired warning shots into the air as some 300 Ukrainian soldiers, who previously manned the airfield, demanded their jobs back.
As the Ukrainians marched unarmed toward the base, about a dozen Russian soldiers told them not to approach, then fired several shots into the air and said they would shoot the Ukrainians if they continued toward them.
The Ukrainian troops vowed to hold whatever ground they had left on the Belbek base.
"We are worried. But we will not give up our base," said Capt. Nikolai Syomko, an air force radio electrician holding an AK47. He said the soldiers felt they were being held hostage, caught between Russia and Ukraine. There were no other reports of significant armed confrontations Tuesday in Ukraine.
Amid the tensions, the Russian military on Tuesday successfully test-fired a Topol intercontinental ballistic missile. The missile, fired from a launch pad in southern Russia, hit a designated target on a range leased by Russia from Kazakhstan.
The new Ukrainian leadership in Kiev, which Putin does not recognize, has accused Moscow of a military invasion in Crimea, which the Russian leader denied.
Ukraine's prime minister expressed hope Tuesday that a negotiated solution could be found. Arseniy Yatsenyuk told a news conference that both governments were talking again, albeit slowly.
"We hope that Russia will understand its responsibility in destabilizing the security situation in Europe, that Russia will realize that Ukraine is an independent state and that Russian troops will leave the territory of Ukraine," he said.
In his hour-long meeting with reporters Tuesday, Putin said Russia had no intention of annexing Crimea, while insisting its residents have the right to determine the region's status in a referendum later this month. Crimean tensions, Putin said, "have been settled."
He said massive military maneuvers Russia has conducted involving 150,000 troops near Ukraine's border were previously planned and were unrelated to the current situation in Ukraine. Russia announced that Putin had ordered the troops back to their bases.
Putin hammered away at his message that the West was to blame for Ukraine's turmoil, saying its actions were driving Ukraine into anarchy. He warned that any sanctions the United States and European Union place on Russia for its actions will backfire.
Russia's Foreign Ministry derided American threats of punitive measures as a "failure to enforce its will and its vision of the right and wrong side of history" — a swipe at President Barack Obama's statement Monday that Russia was "on the wrong side of history."
The EU was to hold an emergency summit Thursday on whether to impose sanctions.
Moscow has insisted that the Russian military deployment in Crimea has remained within the limits set by a bilateral agreement concerning Russia's Black Sea Fleet military base there. At the United Nations, Russia's ambassador to the U.N., Vitaly Churkin, said Russia was entitled to deploy up to 25,000 troops in Crimea under that agreement.
The Russian president also asserted that Ukraine's 22,000-strong force in Crimea had dissolved and its arsenals had fallen under the control of the local government. He didn't explain if that meant the Ukrainian soldiers had just left their posts or if they had switched allegiance from Kiev to the local pro-Russian government.
Putin accused the West of using fugitive President Viktor Yanukovych's decision in November to ditch a pact with the EU in favor of closer ties with Russia to fan the protests that drove him from power and plunged Ukraine into turmoil.
"I have told them a thousand times 'Why are you splitting the country?'" he said.
While he said he still considers Yanukovych to be Ukraine's legitimate president, he acknowledged that the fallen leader has no political future — and said Russia gave him shelter only to save his life. Ukraine's new government wants to put Yanukovych on trial for the deaths of over 80 people during protests last month in Kiev.
Putin had withering words for Yanukovych, with whom he has never been close.
Asked if he harbors any sympathy for the fugitive president, Putin replied that he has "quite opposite feelings."

[American Patriot]

Russia Says Surrender In Crimea or face all-out Sssault: Reports

Staff · Mar 4th, 2014 · Comments
Follow Us
- Follow @ecanadanow
Russia says surrender Crimea or face all-out assault:

Russia says surrender Crimea or face all-out assault

Apparently, Alexander Vitko, high ranking military leader of Russia’s fleet centered on the Black Sea, issued a severe threat to Ukraine, stating that if they refuse to surrender by 5 am on Tuesday, Russia will invade and commence in full-attack mode.
However, other representatives of Russia’s defense system have strongly denied such reports, insisting such an ultimatum had never been issued.
“The ultimatum is to recognise the new Crimean authorities, lay down our weapons and leave, or be ready for an assault,” regional Ukrainian defence ministry spokesman Vladyslav Seleznyov told AFP in the Crimean capital Simferopol.
“It may be at 1:00 am, 2:00 am, 3:00 am (Tuesday). There are different times,” he said.
Despite the verity of such report, Russian troops have begun streaming into the land mass, Crimea, flooding its borders.
Because Russian troops successfully overtook important Crimean entrance and exit locations, immigration is now in their control.
Russia is behind other aggressive acts against Ukraine including flying aircrafts over Ukraine and blocking the Crimean harbor with their ships.
Meanwhile, the global response has been huge.
US President, Barack Obama, has strongly condemned Russia’s actions, insisting that Russia doesn’t want to be, “on the wrong side of history.” US Secretary of State arrived in Ukraine just hours ago.
David Cameron, British Prime Minister, on the other hand, has more simply urged Russia to be more transparent about its intended actions.
Additionally, Russia has experienced economic repercussions for its actions, with capital city, Moscow’s, stock system plummeting significantly, while lowering the value of its currency.
on The Web:
Russia says surrender Crimea or face all-out assault
http://news.sky.com/story/1220272/uk...reat-confusion
Russia says surrender Crimea or face all-out assault
http://malaysiandigest.com/frontpage...t-assault.html
Russia issues Crimea ultimatum: Ukraine
http://news.ninemsn.com.au/world/2014/03/04/04/31/russia-issues-crimea-ultimatum-ukraine

[American Patriot]

Russian propaganda and Ukrainian rumour fuel anger and hate in Crimea

The Russian media is serving up a crude portrayal of events as a patriotic fight against fascists in Kiev and spurring its own far-right into action

• Share
• Tweet this
• 
• Email

• Shaun Walker in Sevastopol
  
• The Guardian, Tuesday 4 March 2014 14.41 EST
• Jump to comments (128)

Russians march in central Moscow. Photograph: Sergei Karpukhin/Reuters

Anyone spending any amount of time in Crimea at the moment will hear the words "Nazi" and "fascist" a lot. The protests in Kiev, people across the region will insist, were a Nazi-inspired revolt, backed by the west, and that is why the Russian operation to "protect" Crimea from such Nazis was so necessary.
Certainly, there were unsavoury elements among the Kiev protests, and there are a number of people with unpleasant far-right views that hold positions in the new interim government. Many people in western Ukraine do hold complicated views about the wartime period, and many in Russia are understandably concerned by the veneration by small parts of the protest movement of controversial collaborationist leaders.
"You Brits don't understand about fascism but we fought against Nazi Germany," said a 62-year-old Simferopol resident, Viktor Varazin. "We know what fascism is and we will never let it take hold here. Thank God the Russians are here."
Russian state television has gone out of its way to manufacture an image of the protests as a uniquely sinister phenomenon; a far-right movement backed by the west with the ultimate goal of destabilising Russia.
Back in December, a Russian state television reporter doing a live report from Kiev was accosted by a protester on air and had an Oscar statuette thrust into his hands. "Pass this Oscar to your channel … for the lies and nonsense you are telling people about Maidan," he said.
Since then, the rhetoric has only intensified on Russian television. In the last week, there have been claims that gangs of "unknown armed people" have crossed from Ukraine into Russia, without offering any evidence. There have also been suggestions that hundreds of thousands of Ukrainian "refugees" have been forced to flee Ukraine for Russia, prompting a humanitarian crisis. (The pictures used by one Russian channel of border queues turned out to be routine queues at a Ukraine-Poland border.)
News programmes regularly refer to the Kiev protesters as "terrorists", "insurgents" or "fighters", and the rightwing and anti-Russian nature is emphasised. It is not just Russian media peddling the rumours. Opposition-minded channels in Ukraine have also been full of misinformation, although it is often a case of unverified rumours reported as fact. There was barely a day in January and February when Ukrainian media did not report planeloads of Russian special forces secretly landing in Kiev, or other nefarious but implausible manoeuvres by Viktor Yanukovych.
But perhaps the most disturbing thing about the Russian propaganda is that it is clear that many inside the Kremlin actually believe it. In December, a Russian government source assured the Guardian that the Kiev protests were the preserve of radical marginals, and that the rest of the city had no time at all for its goals.
On Tuesday, Putin conceded that he understood that there were some normal people on Independence Square who were tired of Ukrainian corruption, but there is nevertheless a sense in the Kremlin that the entire protest was a western-backed plot, as evidenced by Putin's claims that they were organised by "people sitting in America doing experiments, like on rats".
An insight into the thinking is given by Sergei Markov, a Kremlin-connected analyst and politician, who is in Crimea meeting with local officials. When asked for his view on the Kiev protests, he said: "The plan it seems to me to was very clear. Give Ukraine a Mikheil Saakashvili type leader. Start a big anti-Russian campaign, train the army to Nato standards, fill everyone with anti-Russian ideology, and then throw the Ukrainian army into Russia at a time when a coup is being organised. I haven't spoken to Putin about it personally, but I am certain he thinks the same."
On the ground in Crimea, what is particularly odd is that the most vociferous defenders of Russian bases against supposed fascists appear to hold far-right views themselves.
Outside the Belbek airbase, an aggressive self-defence group said they were there to defend the base against "Kiev fascists", but also railed against Europe, "full of repulsive gays and Muslims".
"What you foreigners don't get is that those people in Maidan, they are fascists," said Alexander, a Simferopol resident drinking at a bar in the city on Monday night. "I mean, I am all for the superiority of the white race, and all that stuff, but I don't like fascists."
Even among less radical locals, there is a strong conviction that the western press has lied about the conflict and tension. Journalists have been physically attacked on several occasions, and crowds will frequently berate western reporters for their biased coverage.
"We know you have your orders from your masters to destroy Russia, but try to explain the truth – we welcome the Russians here because we don't want to live among fascists," said one angry woman outside a surrounded Ukrainian marines base in Feodosia on Sunday.
For all that state television has been pushing the Nazi comparisons, there is rather less tolerance when the boot is on the other foot. Andrei Zubov, a professor at a top Moscow university linked to the diplomatic service, wrote a column in the respected Vedomosti newspaper on Saturday comparing Putin's potential annexation of Crimea with the Anschluss of Austria and Nazi Germany in 1938. On Tuesday, he said the university had fired him for the comparison.

[vector7]

zerohedge ‏@zerohedge · 1 min
RUSSIAN MISSLE LAUNCH WAS `ROUTINE,' WHITE HOUSE SAYS.


Boris Zilberman‏@rolltidebmz8 mins
Head of Russia's National Defense Magazine (fmr Col) says the ICBM should have gone to DC for the sanctions debate https://twitter.com/i_korotchenko/status/440924256377925632 …

[vector7]

American Russia Today news host who criticized Kremlin is now sent to Crimea to get a 'Better Understanding' of the situation on the ground

Russian state-funded TV presenter in anti-Kremlin tirade sent to Crimea to get a 'better understanding' of situation on the ground

By Josie Ensor
5:32PM GMT 04 Mar 2014



A TV presenter working for a Kremlin-funded channel who spoke out against Russia's military invasion in Ukraine live on air has been sent by the broadcaster to Crimea to "better her knowledge" of the situation.

In an off-message tirade, Abby Martin, a Washington-based American news anchor for Russia Today, shocked mostly pro-Russian viewers by announcing she "cannot stress enough" how strongly she felt about presence of its troops in Crimea, saying "Russia was wrong".

The host addressed the camera in unscripted remarks at the end of the station's Breaking the Set segment, saying: "Just because I work here, for RT, doesn't mean I don't have editorial independence and I can't stress enough how strongly I am against any military intervention in sovereign nations' affairs.

"I will not sit here and apologise or defend military aggression," she went on.

The English-language Russia Today is widely perceived as the voice of the Kremlin, with Reporters Without Borders describing it as a "step of the state to control information."

Related Articles

• Larry King joins Kremlin-funded TV channel
  29 May 2013
• Kerry meets Ukraine's new government
  04 Mar 2014
• Obama: Russia 'not fooling anybody' over Ukraine
  04 Mar 2014
• Russian troops fire warning shots
  04 Mar 2014
• Hague hails Ukraine restraint after Russia's 'deliberate provocation'
  04 Mar 2014

It is often anti-American in its coverage and has been accused of ignoring a number of human rights abuses in the country, as well as controversial issues such as the prison sentences given to punk bank Pussy Riot.

Her bold statement contrasted with the station's usual coverage of the Ukrainian crisis, which broadly reflects Moscow’s position.

In its reports it has described new Ukranian prime minister Arseny Yatseniuk as "self-imposed" and is sympathetic to the Russian-backed ousted president Viktor Yanukovych.

Miss Martin, who has previously labelled the US government's version of 9/11 as "propaganda", criticised the coverage of the escalating crisis from all sides of the media spectrum as "disappointing.. and rife with misinformation".

Later in the 75-second clip, however, she admitted gaps in her knowledge, saying; “I don’t know as much as I should about Ukraine’s history or the cultural dynamics of the region, but what I do know is that military intervention is never the answer."

RT management told Channel 4 that Miss Martin had been "misled by American mainstream media".

However, in Russia Today's official statement released on Tuesday afternoon it said: "Contrary to the popular opinion, RT doesn’t beat its journalists into submission, and they are free to express their own opinions, not just in private but on the air. This is the case with Abby’s commentary on the Ukraine.

"We respect her views, and the views of all our journalists, presenters and program hosts, and there will be absolutely no reprimands made against Ms. Martin.

"In her comment Ms. Martin also noted that she does not possess a deep knowledge of reality of the situation in Crimea. As such we’ll be sending her to Crimea to give her an opportunity to make up her own mind from the epicentre of the story."

Miss Martin however told the Telegraph: "I am not going to Crimea despite the statement RT has made."

[vector7]

Barry Pavel ‏@BarryPavel 9h
If Putin sends Russian forces in2 eastern Ukraine, the QDR & US Defense Strategy being released today r essentially dead on arrival.

Barry Pavel ‏@BarryPavel 9h
The pivot to Asia would have to be rethought, and we would, in all likelihood, be in a new security era.

#Breaking #China plans to raise defense budget by 12.2 pct to about 132 billion $US in 2014 https://twitter.com/XHNews/status/440999986575454208

China says military will respond to provocations

Published: March 4, 2014



Delegates from China's People's Liberation Army march from Tiananmen Square to the Great Hall of the People to attend sessions of National People's Congress and Chinese People's Political Consultative Conference in Beijing, China, on Tuesday, March 4, 2014.

Ng Han Guan/AP

BEIJING — China's military is prepared to respond to all threats to the country's sovereignty, a government spokeswoman said Tuesday, ahead of the expected announcement of another big bump in defense spending.

Legislative spokeswoman Fu Ying said China supports resolving disputes through negotiations and its 2.3 million-member People's Liberation Army — the world's largest — is for defensive purposes only.

However, Fu warned other nations not to test China's resolve.

"But if some countries wish to provoke or wish to damage ... regional peace and the regional order, then we must make a response, and an effective response at that," Fu told a wide-ranging news conference on the eve of the legislature's annual session.

"The point of this response, is to, on the one hand, maintain China's territory and sovereignty, and on the other hand to maintain the regional order and peace," Fu said.

Other countries should take China's sovereignty claims seriously if they truly care about regional peace and security, she said, singling out the United States by name.

Her remarks came amid festering disputes between China and its neighbors over the control of islands and sea lanes in surrounding oceans. There has been a sharp escalation of tensions with Japan in the past 18 months over control of a string of tiny uninhabited islands in the East China Sea.

China is to announce its latest defense budget on Wednesday. Spending on the armed forces rose 10.7 percent last year to $114 billion, the most for any nation apart from the U.S.

[vector7]

Christian Business ‏@Christian_bss 28m
NATO may decide to work on contingency plans
in case of further aggression on the part of Moscow
- Former NATO Commander Adm.JAMES STAVRIDIS

NATOSourceþ@NATOSource·8m
.@zbig Brzezinski: US airborne units should be on "high readiness for some immediate airlift to Europe" #Ukraine http://www.atlanticcouncil.org/blogs...defend-ukraine …

US mercenaries deployed in Southern Ukraine http://www.voltairenet.org/article182499.html … #ukraine #us
Look at this:http://www.voltairenet.org/article182499.html

[American Patriot]

Russia Launches ICBM Despite Rising Tensions

Email 47 Smaller Font Text Larger Text | Print



By Luis Martinez
@LMartinezABC
Follow on Twitter

Mar 4, 2014 3:01pm
Russian Topol ICBM missiles pictured during a rehearsal for the nation's annual Victory Day parade, 50 km outside Moscow in Yushkovo, Russia, March 18, 2008. Dima Korotayev/AFP/Getty Images

Russia test fired an intercontinental ballistic missile today amid growing tensions between Moscow and Washington, but a U.S. official said the launch was planned in advance of the current crisis in Crimea.
The Russian Ministry of Defense announced the test of a RS-12 M ICBM that it said was designed “to test a promising start warheads of intercontinental ballistic missiles.”
A U.S. official confirmed the ICBM launch and said it was carried out through the protocols of the START Treaty. Per the treaty requirements the official said the United States was notified of Russia’s planned launch long before the current crisis in Crimea.
The official said that the missile was fired east over the Caspian Sea and landed in a remote part of Kazakhstan.
That matches the information provided by the Russian Defense Ministry that the missile “struck a condition target on the range in Sary-Shagan, Kazakhstan.”
The planned launch comes at a time when Russia has raised international tensions by moving military forces into the Crimean peninsula, ostensibly to protect that region’s ethnic Russian population. The Russian action has led to international condemnation and the United States is considering punitive actions against Russia that could take the form of economic sanctions.
On Monday the Pentagon announced that it was suspending military engagements with Russia in the wake of the Crimean crisis. That includes a hold on military exercises, bilateral meetings, port visits and planning conferences.
American officials said they were not concerned about the launch because it was a long-planned research and development launch. “We’re not concerned,” said a U.S. official.
The United States military also conducts ICBM tests to test its arsenal of 450 Minuteman III missile.
The U.S. routinely delays or cancels tests of weapons or exercises if they might be unnecessarily provocative or inflammatory. Last spring Defense Secretary Chuck Hagel delayed a long-planned Minuteman test launch during a time of heightened tensions with North Korea.
A defense official said at the time that Hagel had delayed the launch so it would not be misinterpreted and exacerbate the Korean crisis. The launch took place a month later after tensions had ebbed.

[American Patriot]

Russia test-fires Intercontinental Ballistic Missile

Published March 04, 2014FoxNews.com

Russia successfully test-fired an Intercontinental Ballistic Missile Tuesday, Fox News confirmed.
The Strategic Rocket Forces launched an RS-12M Topol missile from a region near the Caspian Sea, successfully hitting its target in Kazakhstan.
Defense officials told Fox News the test was "not unexpected" and that "START treaty notification occurred."
Russia is required under the START treaty to notify the U.S. of such tests.
Officials said they got notice of the test launch "days" in advance, in accordance with the treaty.
Earlier this year, the Russian military had announced plans to test around 70 types of rocket and missile weaponry, according to an RIA report.
The tests include about 300 launches of rockets, missiles and aerial drones, according to the report.
The military plans to conduct these tests in southern Russia at the Kapustin Yar range, an area known for tests of tactical ballistic missiles, air defense systems and multiple-launch rocket systems, RIA reported.

[Avvakum]

Putin crosses Obama's pink line

Exclusive: Michael Savage declares, 'The neocons don't care which side you're on'


Click here to view the original image of 640x359px.


Let me make sense of what’s happening in Ukraine for you as that country descends into armed chaos, threatening to oust the legitimately elected Ukrainian President Viktor Yanukovich and place the country in the hands of rebel forces spearheaded by Ukrainian neo-Nazis and Chechen Islamist radicals.

Assistant Secretary of State Victoria Nuland, along with Obama adviser and designated liar Susan Rice, are neo-conservatives, neocons for short. The neocons, first in the form of the Trilateral Commission and more recently as the Carlyle Group, thrive on military conflict. When the world is at war, the neocons and the defense contractors who work with them make enormous amounts of money.

The neocons don’t care which side you’re on, as long as they can work with you to create a political situation that they can grow into a war from which they will profit.

The Ukrainian “revolution” was fostered and encouraged by Nuland, Rice and U.S. Ambassador to Ukraine Geoffrey Pyatt. These three were instrumental in staging a destabilization campaign. Working with Ukrainian neo-Nazis, they fostered the Ukrainian uprising that has caused elected the Ukrainian president to flee from Kiev.

Arizona Sen. John McCain was also part of this duplicity. McCain went to Kiev in December last year and helped incite the mobs that would overthrow the legitimately elected president. If there were such a thing as a Nobel Anti-Peace Prize, McCain would win it hands down for his work in Egypt and Syria, topped off by what he’s done in Ukraine.

The U.S.-supported insurgents have taken over Kiev and now hold the Ukrainian people hostage as the U.S. stands down. Barack Obama mouthed the emptiest of words – there will be “costs” to Russia for military action against the insurgents – while the U.S. found that its hands were tied.

In the early stages of the rebellion, Ukrainian President Yanukovich met with the rebels staging the uprising, and the two parties agreed to stop the violence and make an orderly transition to a new government chosen in a new set of elections. Instead, the right-wing rebels ignored the agreement and took over Kiev by force, with their armed patrols maintaining control through violence.

The situation in Ukraine has been painted as a conflict between Vladimir Putin’s Russia, the so-called bad guys, and Ukrainian rebels, the so-called good guys who seek to oust Russia from a position of influence in Ukraine and install a new government that will be responsive to the Ukrainian people.

Don’t believe a word of it.

The Ukrainian nationalists are fascists. Washington’s original purpose for staging a coup in Ukraine was to move Ukraine away from Russia and bring Ukraine into the European Union. In other words, the neocons and the bought-and-paid-for “moderates” in the Obama administration wanted to wrest control of Ukraine from Putin’s hands and gain economic and energy control over the country. As Dr. Stephen F. Cohen has pointed out, Western nations, with the U.S. leading the way, have been provoking Putin for decades. We’ve expanded NATO to include former Soviet states – Ukraine looks like the next target – and we’ve attacked allies of Russia, including Libya and Iraq. The U.S. – along with other Western nations – through our incursions into the politics, economics and national security of Russia and several of its allies, has effectively caused the situation that is now unfolding in Ukraine. Cohen is right.

Putin is certainly not a good guy, but he is not the villain in this. The Jews have always been canaries in the coal mine of human rights in Russia, and Putin has been better to Russian Jews than any other Russian leader in the past century. With the elected government now driven out of Ukraine, the anti-Semitic U.S.-backed fascist thugs who have assumed control are vandalizing synagogues and threatening the lives of Jews in Crimea.

Putin has also been forced to deploy military assets to Crimea, an important region that Russia ceded to Ukraine in the 1950s, when the USSR was reaching the height of its power and Ukraine was one of its puppet states. The majority population in Crimea is Russian, and its warm-water Black Sea ports are critical to Russian military and trade interests. Russia cannot afford to let the Crimean region fall into the hands of the insurgents who are trying to take over Ukraine.

In addition to deploying military assets in Crimea, Putin has contacted his allies in at least eight other strategically located countries to assure that Russia has access to those countries’ military facilities so Putin’s forces can extend their long-range naval and strategic bomber capabilities. In other words, the U.S. interference in Ukrainian politics has resulted in Putin expanding his military influence, while at the same time Barack Obama is bent on shrinking our own military to pre-World War II levels.

Once again, the incompetent, uninformed and uninvolved president of the U.S. has drawn a pink line in the sand. Obama doesn’t know whose side he’s on. He didn’t even bother to attend the meeting of his national security advisers on Friday afternoon as the Ukrainian conflict was escalating and Putin was deploying his military. The new game in Washington, D.C., is not “Where’s Waldo?” It’s “Where’s Barry?” They took the trouble to Photoshop Obama into pictures of national security meetings during the Benghazi crisis. In this case, they’re not even bothering to pretend he’s in charge.

Obama hasn’t got a clue about what the conflict in the Ukraine means. Nuland and Rice, two of the four horsewomen of the apocalypse who seem to make so many critical decisions of this administration, told him to blame Putin, so that is what he did.

Now the Russian and Ukrainian people are at grave risk from the Ukrainian nationalists and Chechen Islamic jihadists into whose hands the U.S. has worked to place the fate of that country, and Putin has called on his allies to assist him in expanding his military presence around the world.

The greatest hypocrisy here comes from those who call for open borders with Mexico and amnesty for 30 million illegal aliens who have violated our territorial integrity. It is our own politicians and advisers – Sens. Dick Durbin, Lindsey Graham and John McCain, along with national security renegades like Zbigniew Brzezinski and Madeleine Albright – who have made our borders meaningless. Our foreign enemies are less to be feared than the American subversives who are orchestrating the takeover of Ukraine by pro-Islamist Ukrainian neo-Nazis."


When I read an article like this, and read reports and see pictures of bastards who fought with the Jihadis in Chechnya now carrying the fight into the Ukraine, I feel better knowing that there are still some sane people here in the Western World.

[vector7]

Mobilizing for World War III

Commentary of 3 March 2014

"The jealous and intolerant eye of the Kremlin can distinguish, in the end, only vassals and enemies, and the neighbors of Russia, if they do not wish to be one, must reconcile themselves to being the other."
– George F. Kennan

I began this series of commentaries on 20 January with the title “Predicting World War III.” In that first piece, I related how a group of well-known Russian astrologers, shamans and parapsychologists had predicted the beginning of World War III for March 2014.

And here we are, at the outset of a serious crisis that might easily escalate to world war. A reader of this blog recently noted, “Either this thing has gotten away from Moscow, or Moscow has much bigger plans in store dead ahead."

Yes, things have gotten away from Russia, and bigger plans are in store. This is obvious from the Russian military invasion of Crimea. At this point, why should the Kremlin worry about an open display of violence against innocent people? The military balance has already shifted in Russia’s favor, with China preparing for war against Japan in the Far East. In truth our military readiness is not what it should be. (See End of American Military Dominance: Hagel announces steep U.S. defense cuts in aircraft, ships, troops, weapons.)

America has been fighting a war against terrorism for the last twelve years. We have been diverted and misdirected. Our military policy has shifted away from preparing against a major adversary and we are not ready. Furthermore, which European country is prepared to fight Russia? Only Ukraine is preparing to fight, and Ukraine is hopelessly outgunned.

The famous KGB defector, Anatoliy Golitsyn, warned of Moscow’s long range strategy in 1984 with the following paragraph: “The dialectic of this [Kremlin] offensive consists of a calculated shift from the old, discredited Soviet practice to a new, ‘liberalized’ model, with a social democratic façade, to realize the communist planners’ strategy for establishing a United Europe. At the beginning they introduced a variation of the 1968 Czechoslovakian ‘democratization.’ At a later phase they will shift to a variation of the Czechoslovakian takeover of 1948.” [p. 349, New Lies for Old]

It appears we are nearing the later phase. The strategists in Moscow know that the revolt in Ukraine must be put down, despite what the world thinks. They believe the balance of power has shifted, and they can act with impunity. Of course, they are afraid that a “great unraveling” of their strategy might occur if they do not press hard against Kiev. Aside from Russian propaganda, those who say the West is behind the Ukrainian freedom movement do not know the West, and they do not know Ukraine. Such a misunderstanding, worst of all, belittles the courage and political work of Ukrainian patriots. The best of them understand that there cannot be full freedom in Ukraine without freedom in Russia.

So the real fight is political. The real fight is for the heart of Russia. The criminals who rule Russia have survived by killing and murdering. They will lose power only when the Russian people fully awaken. Aleksandr Solzhenitsyn once said the path of murder is the path of the lie. And now we see the murderers at work, and we are going to be treated to a parade of lies. Watch and see if the Western media begins to identify the Ukrainian patriotic cause with anti-Semitism. Such is the rhetoric of a country that is preparing to smash Ukraine.

And yes, the danger of war is growing. According to Ukrainian officials, Russian troops have occupied Crimea. The Fox News headline reads: Ukraine accuses Russia of ‘military invasion’ as gunmen seize airports. Although Russian officials deny or make no comment when asked about this invasion, Ukrainian Interior Minister Arsen Avakov has publicly stated, “I can only describe this as a military invasion and occupation.” According to CNN, Ukraine mobilizes troops after Russia’s ‘declaration of war’ – with the following text: “Kiev mobilized troops and called up military reservists in a rapidly escalating crisis that has raised fears of a conflict.”

Meanwhile, Russian 20^th and 48^th armies are making preparations to invade Eastern Ukraine. At the same time, Secretary of State John Kerry is headed to Kiev, and claims that several foreign powers are considering economic sanctions against Russia. “All of them,” said Kerry, “every single one of them are prepared to go to the hilt in order to isolate Russia with respect to this invasion. They’re prepared to put sanctions in place, they’re prepared to isolate Russia economically.”

Let’s not be too hasty, however. One must consider the many cards Russia has yet to play: U.S. troops depend on Russia for their supply line in Afghanistan. Germany depends on Russian natural gas for winter heating. Sanctions may not be practical. And then, there is the China Front. In January the Russian Deputy Defense Minister Pavel Popov warned that a US-China-Japan Pacific War was “just weeks away.”

One cannot rule out a massive and coordinated offensive by Russia and China, or an escalation of grey terror with a nuclear attack on New York. Any number of moves may be indicated. It is hard to say exactly how this will be played.

I will end with a quote from KGB Major Golitsyn: “Before long, the communist strategists might be persuaded that the balance [of power] had swung irreversibly in their favor. In that event they might well decide on a Sino-Soviet ‘reconciliation.’ The scissors strategy would give way to the strategy of ‘one clenched fist.’ At that point the shift in the political and military balance would be plain for all to see.” [p. 346]

Barry Pavel ‏@BarryPavel 9h
If Putin sends Russian forces in2 eastern Ukraine, the QDR & US Defense Strategy being released today r essentially dead on arrival.

Barry Pavel ‏@BarryPavel 9h
The pivot to Asia would have to be rethought, and we would, in all likelihood, be in a new security era.

#Breaking #China plans to raise defense budget by 12.2 pct to about 132 billion $US in 2014 https://twitter.com/XHNews/status/440999986575454208

China says military will respond to provocations

Published: March 4, 2014



Delegates from China's People's Liberation Army march from Tiananmen Square to the Great Hall of the People to attend sessions of National People's Congress and Chinese People's Political Consultative Conference in Beijing, China, on Tuesday, March 4, 2014.

Ng Han Guan/AP

BEIJING — China's military is prepared to respond to all threats to the country's sovereignty, a government spokeswoman said Tuesday, ahead of the expected announcement of another big bump in defense spending.

Legislative spokeswoman Fu Ying said China supports resolving disputes through negotiations and its 2.3 million-member People's Liberation Army — the world's largest — is for defensive purposes only.

However, Fu warned other nations not to test China's resolve.

"But if some countries wish to provoke or wish to damage ... regional peace and the regional order, then we must make a response, and an effective response at that," Fu told a wide-ranging news conference on the eve of the legislature's annual session.

"The point of this response, is to, on the one hand, maintain China's territory and sovereignty, and on the other hand to maintain the regional order and peace," Fu said.

Other countries should take China's sovereignty claims seriously if they truly care about regional peace and security, she said, singling out the United States by name.

Her remarks came amid festering disputes between China and its neighbors over the control of islands and sea lanes in surrounding oceans. There has been a sharp escalation of tensions with Japan in the past 18 months over control of a string of tiny uninhabited islands in the East China Sea.

China is to announce its latest defense budget on Wednesday. Spending on the armed forces rose 10.7 percent last year to $114 billion, the most for any nation apart from the U.S.