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Kiev Burning


maqroll

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Will it split? like Sudan?

Don't think so, most of the former thief/President's supporters appear to be old ex. Soviet types. Interesting that the US, Germany and now France have all come out basically warning off Russia from getting involved militarily, clearly the grown ups think there is a credible threat that they might think about it. 

 

What some in the west don't get is the extent to which Russia views Ukraine as a physical buffer state protecting the homeland against potential European aggression. A ludicrous thought when viewed from the west, but prudence built on tough experience from Moscow's perspective.

Edited by Awol
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Interesting to see what happens with Crimea.

 

US/EU would love to take that off the Russians.

That is one of the most critical points from the Russian point of view and any long term deal would likely see Russia retain a sovereign naval base in Crimea.

 

Radio 4 is reporting Russian language stations in Ukraine are pumping out a narrative that the protesters in Kiev are Nazis and 'the fascists are coming to kill you'. WW2 buffs will understand how emotive that is to the psyche of Russians - of which there are many in the east of the country.

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Interesting to see what happens with Crimea.

 

US/EU would love to take that off the Russians.

That is one of the most critical points from the Russian point of view and any long term deal would likely see Russia retain a sovereign naval base in Crimea.

 

Radio 4 is reporting Russian language stations in Ukraine are pumping out a narrative that the protesters in Kiev are Nazis and 'the fascists are coming to kill you'. WW2 buffs will understand how emotive that is to the psyche of Russians - of which there are many in the east of the country.

 

 

It is however true that nazis and antisemites are among those taking part, and perhaps a significant element.

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If Ukraine plays its hand well it could set itself up as an intermediary between Russia and the EU. By virtue its location and background it could successfully trade with both huge states and do very nicely out of it.

 

At the moment though it is being presented as a tug of war between the two and might be pulled apart further.

Edited by LondonLax
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Hm, strong words from Russia, as expected. Focus on danger posed to ethnic Russians, which is understandable as a great deal of Ukrainians speak Russian as a first language, and a good deal more consider themselves Russian. Choices seem a bit limited for Putin, though, as I think/hope he'll refrain from sending the tanks in.

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Kiev got utterly bummed in world war two.  

 

Not to mention the atrocities committed before the war and after the war.

 

In fact there aren't many populations that have suffered like the Ukrainians have over the last 100 years.

 

Yet Holodomor hardly gets a mention (even comes up as a spelling error in Firefox!)

 

 

My thoughts exactly.

 

I can't understand how a Ukrainian could have any affection for Russia.

 

Ethnic division seems likely to be the answer.

 

The history of Russia has been mostly about their struggle with their identity and whether they belong to the east or west.

 

Peter the Great took Russia a few steps to the west and they don't seem to have moved much since.

 

It seems that Russia still clings to the idea that they need buffer-states to protect them from Western imperialism, no doubt shared by the ethnic Russians in Ukraine.

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I think I read the new "leadership" has banned any foreign or ethnic languages in the country

 

Not quite. Russia was the official second language of Ukraine, and they put an end to that. Russian isn't banned, as such.

 

It just highlights the nationalism that has taken over protests about legitimate concerns for better government and made this movement about establishing a new Ukrainian Ukraine.

 

Such movements usually start with a few innocuous pieces of legislation and wind up with calls for 'ethnic purity'.

Edited by CarewsEyebrowDesigner
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I think I read the new "leadership" has banned any foreign or ethnic languages in the country

 

Not quite. Russia was the official second language of Ukraine, and they put an end to that. Russian isn't banned, as such.

 

It just highlights the nationalism that has taken over protests about legitimate concerns for better government and made this movement about establishing a new Ukrainian Ukraine.

 

Such movements usually start with a few innocuous pieces of legislation and wind up with calls for 'ethnic purity'.

 

Reading elsewhere that more Russian forces are already being deployed to the Crimea and talk of the region breaking away from Ukraine proper...

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