LIVE: Kiev mass riots

[mandrill]

OK,

Having difficulty digesting this latest news:

http://euromaidanpr.wordpress.com/2014/02/21/russian-insignia-found-on-police-officers-uniform/

Rumours had swirled about Russians having boots on the ground in the capital of Ukraine - now this!

Sad, real sad - that they (Russians) were involved in the shooting of Ukrainian people.

Doubtful.

First, there are more than enough Ukrainian thugs available to shoot demonstrators. They don't need to import Russian thugs.

Second, if they did, they would sure as fuck not wear Russian military / police insignia.

OTOH, there are now rumours in Russia and Ukraine that Russian airborne is on its way into Kiyev. My Russian FB buddies are now gleefully repeating them, after days of ranting about fascist agitators. Hopefully, these rumours are just silly BS.

 

[afterhours]

Doubtful.

First, there are more than enough Ukrainian thugs available to shoot demonstrators. They don't need to import Russian thugs.

Second, if they did, they would sure as fuck not wear Russian military / police insignia.

OTOH, there are now rumours in Russia and Ukraine that Russian airborne is on its way into Kiyev. My Russian FB buddies are now gleefully repeating them, after days of ranting about fascist agitators. Hopefully, these rumours are just silly BS.

No Russian airborne is on its way anywhere. Ukraine is not Georgia, it has 5 nuclear stations and it had been guaranteed protection when it surrendered its nukes. Putin is smart enough to not mess with that shit.

As Stalin liked to say, "Victors are not Judged". So Putin will happily work with the victors.

Your FB buddies however cannot be helped. New generations will have to come before these brainwashed Russian degenerates understand that not everybody wants to be their little brother.

 

[afterhours]

http://www.reuters.com/article/2014/02/23/ukraine-crisis-merkel-idUSL6N0LS0MK20140223

Feb 23 (Reuters) - German Chancellor Angela Merkel and Russian President Vladimir Putin agreed in a phone call on Sunday that Ukraine's "territorial integrity" must be safeguarded and that the country urgently needed a functional government.

"They underscored their joint interest in a stable Ukraine - both in economic and political terms," Merkel's spokesman Steffen Seibert said in a statement, adding they had agreed to stay in close contact.

 

[Aardvark154]

Russians have a certain warm spot in their hearts for the birthplace of Russian history and culture (that is not shared back the other direction I must stress). That is one of the things which makes this all so hard from the Russian perspective - all those intervening centuries are as nothing, where as for Ukrainians particularly for Ukrainian speakers those intervening centuries make a very great deal of difference!


В женской линии потомок Рюрика и Владимира Святого Я благодарю вас.

 

[Aardvark154]

German Chancellor Angela Merkel and Russian President Vladimir Putin agreed in a phone call on Sunday that Ukraine's "territorial integrity" must be safeguarded

This is the viewpoint, as best I know, of all Western states including Canada and the United States. That doesn't mean Ukrainians feel that way or that it necessarily is the best path forward.

 

[afterhours]

Russians have a certain warm spot in their hearts for the birthplace of Russian history and culture (that is not shared back the other direction I must stress).

History aside, and as far as generalizations go, a lot of Russians (just like a lot of Americans) have a certain thickness in their heads when it comes to how great their country is and how others are small and insignificant.

 

[mandrill]

No Russian airborne is on its way anywhere. Ukraine is not Georgia, it has 5 nuclear stations and it had been guaranteed protection when it surrendered its nukes. Putin is smart enough to not mess with that shit.

As Stalin liked to say, "Victors are not Judged". So Putin will happily work with the victors.

Your FB buddies however cannot be helped. New generations will have to come before these brainwashed Russian degenerates understand that not everybody wants to be their little brother.

Sort of reminds me of my cousin's Southern boyfriend, when she worked in Virginia for a while. He asked me over beers why Canadians fought back in 1812 and told me that the Americans were just there to bring us freedom.

"Sort of like in Vietnam?" I asked.

"Exactly the same thing." he said. All irony was lost.

 

[afterhours]

Russians have a certain warm spot in their hearts for the birthplace of Russian history and culture (that is not shared back the other direction I must stress). That is one of the things which makes this all so hard from the Russian perspective - all those intervening centuries are as nothing, where as for Ukrainians particularly for Ukrainian speakers those intervening centuries make a very great deal of difference!


В женской линии потомок Рюрика и Владимира Святого Я благодарю вас.

Funny you should mention Rurik who according to many was a foreigner asked by Slavs to come and govern. "...The tribes started fighting each other and decided to invite the Varangians, led by Rurik, to reestablish order". https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Rurik

It'd be nice if it happened now in Ukraine...

 

[james1961]

The whole country needs a top to bottom purge of anyone who is involved with politics, organized crime or shady business. The remaining 10% inhabitants who survive the purge can then get on with making a real democracy.

This is exactly the problem, 5 years down the road, it'll be dega-vu.
Not one government has NOT governed corruptly in Ukraine. That is just the way it is done, the good news is they don't hide it.

 

[Aardvark154]

Apparently, (according to a number of sites), NOT the birthplace of Russian (Finno-Mongolian???) history and culture...

Unlikely and certainly not the standard perspective.

 

[Polaris]

This is exactly the problem, 5 years down the road, it'll be dega-vu.
Not one government has NOT governed corruptly in Ukraine. That is just the way it is done, the good news is they don't hide it.

http://pando.com/2014/02/24/everything-you-know-about-ukraine-is-wrong/

 

[mandrill]

I've been talking to Russian FB friends. They perceive the whole issue as fascist Ukrainian nationalists engineering a coup in order to oppress and kill Russian-speaking Eastern Ukrainians.

 

[eznutz]

On The Roads Into The Crimea, The Quiet Russian Mobilization Continues