Roots and consequences of Ukraine's violence

[Prospero]

The first casualty of war is truth....

Russia Today.... the TV show

http://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/arti...d-Kremlin.html

[buttslinger]

A thousand years from now if kids in school know any individual from this era it will be Adolf Hitler. And they'll read about domination, bombing, execution, justified murder.

Give Russia Crimea and we'll take Syria. Like a game of RISK!

[Prospero]

You want to take on all the difficulties of Syria? Jeez

[buttslinger]

You want to take on all the difficulties of Syria? Jeez

Our CIA needs something to do.

[Dino Velvet]

Crimeans overwhelmingly vote for secession

OK, if Crimea would be part of Russia(hypothetically) would not the Russians lose Russian voters/influence in Ukraine making it tilt more toward the West? What if things could take care of themselves? Does Putin want Ukraine willing to put the effort through or does he just want confrontation with the West to make him look like a strongman in front of his people? How easy are pipelines to sabotage too?

[envivision]

What does the South and Ukraine have in common? They both dislike Obama.

[envivision]

State TV says Russia could turn US to 'radioactive ash'

Moscow (AFP) - A leading anchor on Russian state television on Sunday described Russia as the only country capable of turning the United States into "radioactive ash", in an incendiary comment at the height of tensions over the Crimea referendum.

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"Russia is the only country in the world realistically capable of turning the United States into radioactive ash," anchor Dmitry Kiselyov said on his weekly news show on state-controlled Rossiya 1 television.

Kiselyov made the comment to support his argument that the United States and President Barack Obama were living in fear of Russia led by President Vladimir Putin amid the Ukraine crisis.

His programme was broadcast as the first exit polls were being published showing an overwhelming majority of Crimeans voting to leave Ukraine and join Russia.

He stood in his studio in front of a gigantic image of a mushroom cloud produced after a nuclear attack, with the words "into radioactive ash".

"Americans themselves consider Putin to be a stronger leader than Obama," he added, pointing to opinion polls which then popped up on the screen.

"Why is Obama phoning Putin all the time and talking to him for hours on end?" he asked.

Kiselyov has earned a reputation as one of Russia's most provocative television news hosts, in particularly with his often blatantly homophobic remarks.

But he is also hugely influential with his weekly news show broadcast at Sunday evening prime time.

Putin last year appointed Kiselyov head of the new Russia Today news agency that is to replace the soon to be liquidated RIA Novosti news agency with the aim of better promoting Russia's official position.

Kiselyov also made great play of Russia's so-called "dead hand" capability to fire nuclear-capable intercontinental missiles automatically in the case of attack.

The system, also known as Perimeter, was in use during the Cold War but its use in post-Soviet Russia is not officially confirmed.

But Kiselyov appeared to claim it remained active, giving Russia the chance to strike back even if its main command positions were taken out in a strike by the West.

"Even if people in all our command posts after an enemy atomic attack cannot be contacted, the system will automatically fire our missiles from mines and submarines in the right direction," he added.

The channel's graphic showed the line of a Russian missile heading towards the Pacific coast and the United States.

Pro-opposition news site slon.ru did not mince its words in describing the implications of Kiselyov's comments.

"This evening... Dmitry Kiselyov threatened the United States with a nuclear strike if the conflict over Crimea deepens," it said.

Russia and the United States are reducing their Cold War missile and nuclear warhead arsenals under the terms of the New Strategic Arms Reduction Treaty that entered into force in 2011.

Well, no need. Obama ALREADY DID

[Dino Velvet]

I've seen this one before.


"We will hit you Americans with nuclear strike if conflict over Crimea deepens.
Kremlin demands streets of Moscow will be paved in gold."

[Stavros]

OK, if Crimea would be part of Russia(hypothetically) would not the Russians lose Russian voters/influence in Ukraine making it tilt more toward the West? What if things could take care of themselves? Does Putin want Ukraine willing to put the effort through or does he just want confrontation with the West to make him look like a strongman in front of his people? How easy are pipelines to sabotage too?

I might be wrong but I think the bone of contention is that Russia has violated the 1994 Budapest Agreement in the Crimea. It may well be true that the Russian majority in Crimea want to be part of Russia as they once were, and had Khrushchev not given it away in 1954 it might never have been an issue. It seems odd though that having 'won' their independence in a referendum, they also say they want to be part of Russia, as contradictory as the claim by some Scots that they want independence from the rest of the UK, and then apply to join the EU.

As Dino points out, this suggests a reduced Russian vote in Ukraine now the Crimea has gone. One could argue that if the Tatar were the original inhabitants of Crimea, it is only Russian as part of the historic Russian Empire, but as Putin has lamented the break-up of the USSR I think it is now clear where he thinks the borders of Russia should be.

This raises questions of the Transnistria on the fringe of Moldova and Ukraine which is nominally part of Moldova and has a mixed population of Moldovans, Russians and Ukrainians, and which declared 'independence' in 1990 although nobody recognises it. After the war in 1992 the peace has been kept by Russians, Molodovans and 'Transnistrians'. Pro-Russian activists have followed the Crimean path and asked the Russian Parliament to draft a law taking 'TransNistria into Russia. Putin today said he is not in the expansion business if this flares up again it will be another sign that the transition out of the USSR is still unresolved for some small states.
http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/world-europe-26627236
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Transnistria#Demographics

The sanctions imposed by Britain on Russians are most peculiar, having singled out some Russians but not others -Nikolai Ryzhkov, for example, but not Roman Abramovich. Russians own a fair slice of expensive real estate in Mayfair, Kensington and Chelsea in London, and overall are estimated to have about £17bn in investments which is less than 10% of the total in the City (according to a City analyst on radio today).
The list of Russians affected by sanctions in this link beginning on page 13
http://eur-lex.europa.eu/LexUriServ/...78:FULL:EN:PDF


I don't think sanctions will do anything except make things worse, while Russia will, I think, harden its position on Syria. Russian exports of gas are mostly aimed at central and eastern Europe, they may raise prices on that. The pipelines are mostly underground so not immediately accessible to sabtoeurs. If an alternative supply to Russia was found, Russia would still have markets for its oil and gas in China.

[Dino Velvet]

I might be wrong but I think the bone of contention is that Russia has violated the 1994 Budapest Agreement in the Crimea. It may well be true that the Russian majority in Crimea want to be part of Russia as they once were, and had Khrushchev not given it away in 1954 it might never have been an issue. It seems odd though that having 'won' their independence in a referendum, they also say they want to be part of Russia, as contradictory as the claim by some Scots that they want independence from the rest of the UK, and then apply to join the EU.

As Dino points out, this suggests a reduced Russian vote in Ukraine now the Crimea has gone. One could argue that if the Tatar were the original inhabitants of Crimea, it is only Russian as part of the historic Russian Empire, but as Putin has lamented the break-up of the USSR I think it is now clear where he thinks the borders of Russia should be.

This raises questions of the Transnistria on the fringe of Moldova and Ukraine which is nominally part of Moldova and has a mixed population of Moldovans, Russians and Ukrainians, and which declared 'independence' in 1990 although nobody recognises it. After the war in 1992 the peace has been kept by Russians, Molodovans and 'Transnistrians'. Pro-Russian activists have followed the Crimean path and asked the Russian Parliament to draft a law taking 'TransNistria into Russia. Putin today said he is not in the expansion business if this flares up again it will be another sign that the transition out of the USSR is still unresolved for some small states.
http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/world-europe-26627236
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Transnistria#Demographics

The sanctions imposed by Britain on Russians are most peculiar, having singled out some Russians but not others -Nikolai Ryzhkov, for example, but not Roman Abramovich. Russians own a fair slice of expensive real estate in Mayfair, Kensington and Chelsea in London, and overall are estimated to have about £17bn in investments which is less than 10% of the total in the City (according to a City analyst on radio today).
The list of Russians affected by sanctions in this link beginning on page 13
http://eur-lex.europa.eu/LexUriServ/...78:FULL:EN:PDF


I don't think sanctions will do anything except make things worse, while Russia will, I think, harden its position on Syria. Russian exports of gas are mostly aimed at central and eastern Europe, they may raise prices on that. The pipelines are mostly underground so not immediately accessible to sabtoeurs. If an alternative supply to Russia was found, Russia would still have markets for its oil and gas in China.

Thanks Stavros. You addressed the concerns I had. Good info about the pipelines. Seems like our politicians here many times do things to try to look like they're busy in front of the public.