Belarus continues its cooperation with Ukraine, including in the economic sphere, and is ready to provide humanitarian support to the country, said Belorussian president. “We have been and currently are supplying Ukraine with as much energy as is necessary for Ukrainian people, as well as food and other necessities. In short, we are open to support the Ukrainian people in this difficult moment, including with humanitarian aid,” said Alexander Lukashenko.
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Russia is preparing an air and ground offensive against Ukraine, writes former first deputy chairman of the General Staff, Vice Admiral Ihor Kabanenko in a Facebook post.
“Exercises of Russian paratroopers, led by General Shamanov with the involvement of strategic aviation. The formation of air defense units and groups. Continuation of special operations on the territory of Ukraine. Strengthening of strike units in Crimea and the East.
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Video and photographic evidence of Russian military maneuvering was received today from various sources. No attempts were made by them to conceal their movement towards the Ukrainian side.
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By Mykola Avdeyev, FLOT2017, Information Resistance group
03.08.2014 10:52 am
Translated and edited by Voices of Ukraine
Source: http://flot2017.com/posts/new/vy_ecshe_za_sevastopol_otvetite_gospodin_putin
“Eurasian Union is a project for conservation of identity of the peoples populating the historic Eurasian space in the new century and the new world. Eurasian integration is a chance for the territory of the former Soviet Union to become an independent center of global development, rather than [remain] the periphery of Europe or Asia,” –Vladimir Putin, 2013.
Part One if wishes were horses…
So, this week has been swift, long, erratic and unexpected. But in the midst of this stream of events, some very interesting things started to become evident.
1. The main good news for March 7, 2014, for me, was a report that some person from Ukraine, a Mister Viktor Y. [Yanukovych], was hospitalized at one of the medical institutions in Moscow, in serious condition. The reason being, a suspected heart attack. His condition is rated as serious. Although Vladimir Putin has denied this information, saying that Viktor Y. “is alive and well,” I have already developed a habit of telling Volodya [diminutive from Vladimir], “I don’t believe you.” Despite denial, reports of Viktor Y.’s myocardial infarction may not have been exaggerated after all, for his role in the “Crimea” blockbuster has come to an end. Thus, nobody else needs him. Neither Putin, nor his own wife, nor the Ukrainians, nor the Russians. This raises one more question: how are Russian authorities planning to establish a dialogue with their Ukrainian counterparts, if the only legitimate body has started to gradually wither away? (We’ re expecting to answer this question in the second part of this analysis.)
2. Another piece of good news at the end of this week was that a bunch of separatists in Odesa and other eastern cities of Ukraine were herded back into their proverbial stable. That was made possible, among other things, by closing the border (an action that has been mentioned as necessary for a while), and by appointing new heads of oblast [regional] administrations.
3. I was overwhelmed with happiness when I realized that the “little green men” had no intention of fighting at this time. Moreover, according to reports from besieged Sevastopol, a few interesting points became obvious. First: the “little green men” were prepared to fight, but then “Banderites” from the Ukrainian Navy and the Border Guard did something unexpected – they switched to “Russian” mode and gave an asymmetrical response. They refused to beat their “illiterate and uneducated older brothers.” Second: the “little green men” were not ready for such a strange response, but continued to follow their pre-approved script. Third, and the most important point: no one had planned for such an unorthodox response of the Russian “Banderites,” which leads to a conclusion that’s quite unfortunate for Someone. Either the military intervention of Ukraine was planned by a fool who failed to study the situation in Crimea thoroughly; or the person who signed the respective document was purposefully slipped a “black mark.”
Even the fact that the “little green men” scuttled another one of their ships in [Lake] Donuzlav only points to one thing: the Russian army is once again back in 1941, when the lack of communication among the troops resulted in a situation best described by a big “F.” The situation is exactly the same now – the “little green men” had a script that said “drown two of your ships,” so they scuttled them. At the same time, a question arises: who will be getting those ships up and out? Although, I fear that whoever it is, it won’t be the Ukrainian Navy.
4. This point follows from the preceding one above. Russia’s pre-approved scenario assumes Russia is forcing the issue of a referendum, whether in a state of war or in post-war conditions. Hence the staggering speed at which the date of referendum on the status of Crimea keeps changing. Moreover, the flow of frank disinformation poured into the ears of Crimean population has already started to induce vomiting. And that is remarkable.
Even the Russian news agency “RIA Novosti,” always known for its restraint in covering any events, is currently churning out outright misinformation (http://ria.ru/world/20140306/998396728.html [article claiming that retirement benefits in Ukraine would be cut by 50% in March]).
Against this background, the statement by the First Deputy Prime Minister of Crimea Rustam Temirgaliev looks particularly interesting. On March 6, 2014, he said that “70% or more of the Crimean population will vote for it to join Russia.”
We think it happened something like this. The little man who planned Operation Crimea simply pulled up the first search result on the Internet, opened the hyperlink, read the Russian article about the Crimean population, selected where it said “70%”, pressed CTRL+C, CTRL+V, and… voila. We have a magic number, from the article commissioned by the VVP [Vladimir Putin], written by a fool of a journalist, then copied by a fool of a soldier. Maybe he paused to think, “Is 70% the right number?” But then he remembered the words of the VVP himself- that 90% of Crimeans are Russians – and reassured himself, “Yes, that has to be correct.” So, my dear Crimeans, sleep easy on the night of March 16, and just go about your business – because “70% or more” Crimeans from Pskov, Ulyanovsk, Tolyatti, Novorossiysk, and other Russian cities will vote for you. After all, they are also Russian and therefore have the right to decide the fate of their Russian counterparts.
5. Since today is International Women’s Day, let’s dedicate this paragraph to Ms. Valentina Matvienko – the Speaker of the Federation Council. Despite her high station, Ms. Matvienko is not known for her consistency. Back on March 2, 2014, the SPEAKER OF THE FEDERATION COUNCIL OF THE RUSSIAN FEDERATION promised our “illegitimate” government that “any annexation of the territory of the neighboring country is out of the question.” Then, on March 7, 2014 the speaker does a literal 180, and announces that “Crimea will be a part of the Russian Federation as an equal subject of the Russian Federation, if the decision on Crimea’s accession will be made in the Republic [Autonomous Republic of Crimea] through the referendum, and if Russia agrees to accept it.” No offense to Ms. Matvienko, but U-turns on such serious matters are hardly permissible for the speaker of the Federation Council. Unfortunately, the answer to this question is already prepared, in the Second part of my story titled “How the Cossacks put the Tsar in a compromising position.”
This is the end of Part One. To wrap up, I’d like to remind some residents of Crimea that the number of the Black Sea Fleet contingent specified in the agreement between Russia and Ukraine does not provide for deployment of the units of the Russian GRU [Intelligence Directorate] or Air Forces on the territory of Ukraine. Moreover, the contract does not have any clauses saying that units of the Black Sea Fleet or any other masked gangs are authorized to blockade Ukrainian military units and starve our servicemen to death.
One more thing. If whoever is reading this is wearing a green uniform (or a suit by Yudashkin), tell Volodya [Putin] that I am RUSSIAN, but thanks to him I am now saying, “Glory to Ukraine!”
And happy holiday to our lovely women!
To be continued…
This text was originally posted to our Facebook page, Euro-Maidan As It Is, on December 14, 2014. Since many have commented on, or asked about, the common origins of Russians and Ukrainians, this text points to some of the similarities in the shared history and some of the divergences in development. So we re-post it here again; in light of current events it gains renewed relevance, and is now searchable on our Voices of Ukraine blog.
By Alexei Shiropaev
Translated by Isis Wisdom, Voices of Ukraine
Source: http://rufabula.com/articles/2013/12/06/long-way-to-euromaydan
The Ukrainian revolution, which has received the landmark name of “EuroMaidan” has ancient roots. Her motives are not reducible to purely economic factors. Of course, supporters of European integration want to attract a European standard of living, that’s normal. However, as I see it, a million people in the streets of Kiev are driven not so much by pragmatism as idealism: by the desire for freedom, for human and civil dignity, for a well-defined civilizational choice.
Ukraine has been coming to this choice for a very long time. Relatively speaking, this path began with Prince Danylo of Halych [Daniel of Galicia, Prince of Galicia, King of Rus’ from 1253], who took the royal crown from the Roman Pope, who wanted to establish an anti-Horde alliance with Europe. At the same time, Alexander, having received the beautiful nickname “Nevsky” [by winning the battle of Neva in 1240, at the age of 20, forcing the Swedes to turn back. Alexander Nevsky was the Prince of Novgorod, Grand Prince of Kiev and Grand Prince of Vladimir], he sought quite another alliance – with the Golden Horde. By the way, Nevsky was a true pragmatist: resting against the Tatars, he established his dictatorship, laying the foundations of the Russian political system that exists today. And Danylo of Halych was an idealist, who keenly felt a spiritual connection with Europe. Simply put, a true Knight.
Map of Halych territory ruled by King Danylo
Choosing Alexander Nevsky was our predestined, Russian history. On the basis of this choice was developed an entire historical philosophy, a philosophy of patriotism, the essence of which – is the “special way.” “Special Way” – this means not with Europe, not with the West, and not just outside of – but against them. Alexander Nevsky and the Horde’s “iron curtain” to us, the Muscovites, was in fact, never a choice and there was never a choice but to become Asians. Our only outlet and opportunity was Novgorod (which we later ourselves turned our heads on, since the passing school of Hordes already perceived him as an outsider). Actually, in Russian historiography there are two unpleasant, “seditious” moments: Novgorod and Ukraine. Novgorod to a lesser extent, because the memory of it is successfully erased from the people’s memory, pardon the pun. The great Novgorod Hanseatic efforts of the Russian state turned into an ordinary regional town. But Ukraine was more difficult. Ukraine was lucky – we could not reach what she had. She was then in the midst of the Great Duchy of Lithuania, in the bosom of the Commonwealth. That is, in Europe. And so not only retained her inherently RUS-sian features, but also acquired a lot that we, Muscovites, had never dreamed of. For example, such glorious European inventions as Magdeburg Rights, which imply primarily a system of municipal self-government. Few people know that in Kiev these lasted until 1835.
Few people know that the Ukrainian Kozaks were an organic social component of the Rzeczpospolita: Zaporizhzhya Sich received its horsetails and regalia (fasces) from King Stefan Batory, and in 1683 the Zaporizhian Kozaks in the army of King Jan Sobieski participated in the victorious defense of Vienna from the Turks, which had great importance for the future of Europe. What I mean is that Ukraine, unlike Muscovy, existed within the context of European history, taking part in it. Incidentally, Bohdan Khmelnytsky, who belonged to the nobility/gentry [szlachta], with a detachment of kozaks took part in the famous siege of Dunkirk, and perhaps was friends with the musketeers. He visited many other European countries. Roughly speaking, Ukraine, unlike Muscovy, was in a kind of “Schengen zone” of European cultural and historical space. A telling detail: the Kozaks not infrequently called themselves “Maltese gentlemen,” clearly implying that they, like the Maltese Knights, guard the borders of the European ecumene.
Incidentally, on Pereyaslavska Rada [Preyaslav Council], Kozaks behaved quite like nobility when they demanded from the Moscow king an OATH in compliance to Kozak liberties. Muscovites, with their Asiatic views towards power as such, of course never swore an oath. That is why the four regiments of the king never swore, in Kiev and some other cities the swearing-in was done by force. But after the end of the “Pereyaslavska Rada” relations between Ukraine and Moscow were uneasy – soon the turmoil provoked outrage in imperial authorities and their attempts to impose their own rules in Ukraine are well known to us…
Just imagine how Khmelnitsky – a brilliant graduate of a Jesuit College (among the Ukrainian Orthodox it was not considered shameful to study in such institutions), who drank Burgundy in France with the musketeers – perceived Moscow boyars, who were leading talks with him about the “reunification.” It was he, not Mazepa, who was the first to seek an alliance with the Swedes: “The Swedes – a truthful people, who keep their word” (as opposed to Muscovites). Mazepa’s act, produced by anxious concern over the independence of Ukraine, was due strictly to the historical context and logic of all previous events. It can only amaze and baffle us–Muscovites brought up on the concept of semi-official imperial history. We are generally dumbfounded at even the slightest manifestation of Ukrainian identity. “We are one people” – this is our utter conviction, as a matter of course, with everything from plumbers to political scientists. The opinion of Ukrainians themselves, in which no one is interested, if it still registers, responds as a rising wave of resentment, irritation and indignation. “Brotherly Love” was immediately replaced by a rapacious desire to enter Kiev in tanks or with petty plans to split Ukraine in two – into East and West. We are not averse to Moscow “brothers” and chopping off Crimea – with the pretext of protecting native Russian speakers. In general, Ukrainians are well aware of the price of our “brotherly” feelings. A typical example is Peter the Great, originally a friend of Mazepa’s and who probably drank with him. But as soon as the Hetman [Mazepa] became a conscious Ukrainian – the king immediately arranged for a demonstration massacre in Baturyn [a town in Chernihiv Oblast of northern Ukraine], taking advantage of its peaceful population.
For two centuries – the 18th and the 19th – the Russian Empire tried to suppress Ukrainian identity. During two purges to wipe the Zaporizhian Sich off the face of the earth, it abolished the Hetmancy. Ukraine was converted into a standard set of typical provinces, the colony of “Little Russia.” When Ukrainians tried to say something, they were gagged. Stolypin tried to russify it, to, as they say, generally eliminate the problem. Not a people – not a problem. But the people remained. And at the first convenient historic opportunity this people gave its opinion: in 1917-1918. After the collapse of the Russian Empire, Ukraine revived as a sovereign state – the Ukrainian People’s Republic. And again it did not like us – regardless of the color of the politico-military camps: and red and white. Against Ukraine, with striking imperial unanimity, fought one and the other. For it was only Pilsudski. Ultimately, Ukraine inherited red Imperials. They have forgotten nothing and have forgiven nothing. They fiercely hated the Ukrainian peasant–the “farmland owner-nationalist.” Hence the genocidal Holodomor [of 1932-3] – it was created fundamentally to slash the will of the Ukrainian people, to break them. Hence Stalin’s de-Ukrainization of the Kuban people – the presently Russian, patriotically-leavened Kuban almost can’t remember that their grandparents spoke Ukrainian (nor do they remember such powerful political creativity as the project of the Federation of Kuban, Don and Ukraine, which existed during the period of civil war). Hence also the Soviet mobilization policy of the “Great Patriotic War” against Ukraine, which became, in fact, a continuation of the genocidal terror: in 1943-44. Untrained, unarmed men in civilian clothes from the ages of 15 to 45 years, were driven into battle in masses, so that they would “wash away the guilt of the Motherland and Stalin.” In those years, a symbol of Ukrainian identity became UPA, which fought on two fronts against two totalitarian empires. Let me remind you, the rebel resistance continued in Ukraine until the mid ’50s. There were even rumors about the Kremlin’s plans for mass deportations of young people in western Ukrainian Donbass. How riot NKVD and MGB disguised as UPA committed atrocities in Ukrainian villages, creating “the right environment,” is now well known…
For the entire postwar period, until perestroika, the Ukrainian identity tried not to notice. More precisely, we put up with her as long as she did not go beyond a harmless – hopak/embroidery – purely ethnographic format designated by authority of the CPSU. But at the same time, Ukraine was very closely monitored and personally overseen by KGB Comrade Scherbitsky [First Secretary of Ukrainian Communist Party, the last Soviet leader of Ukraine], if you remember, who never found the Banderite caches. A weighed down, Soviet, Ukraine somewhat resembled Shcherbytsky’s predecessor – Pyotr Shelest, who all his life spoke in Russian, and before his death, in his delirium, he suddenly spoke again in his native Ukrainian. It burst through…
However, in the bigger historical picture, conversely, everything turned out great, thank God. When Ukraine spoke again in her own language – the language of sovereignty, she was at death’s door of, not her own, but the Soviet empire. Over her dead body was hoisted the yellow-blue flag, and then attention moved on to the complex process of overcoming the colonial past. The restoration of architectural, cultural and historical meaning began – it was actively engaged in by Viktor Yushchenko. The names Mazepa, Petlyura, Bandera returned. The names Shevchenko and Lesya Ukrainka sounded anew. And what is important for our discussion, the originating civilizational refrain sounded on different levels: “We–Europeans.” Yushchenko tried to bring Ukraine into NATO, but, alas, it has not been possible because of the intrigues of Moscow and the cowardice of some European politicians.
In this case one cannot speak without pathos, forgive me. To sum up, and to put it simply:
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One of the fountains on Maidan Nezalezhnosti (Independence Square) is decorated with statues of the legendary brothers Kyi, Shchek, Khoryv and their sister Lybid, who according to the Primary Chronicle were the founders of the medieval Kyiv city, now the capital of Ukraine. They chose Kyiv for the city foundation and decided to name it in honor of the elder brother, Kyi according to some legends.
Related references:
Kyivan Rus’
Kyivan Rus’
