Patrice Greanville
The Novorussia phenomenon. 
While the abject American media, in cahoots with the rest of the capitalist press, continue with their lies and decadent evasions, exciting events are actually taking place in the world.
WE OFFER A COMPLETE TRANSCRIPTION (See our Appendix 1)  OUR THANKS TO THE VINEYARD OF THE SAKER, a wonderful site devoted to in-depth, truthful coverage of events in Ukraine. 

[T]he American imperial obsession to destroy Russia as a competing world power has inadvertently detonated a democratic revival in parts of the conflict zones, such as Eastern Ukraine, where the people of the Donetsk’s People’s Republic (DPR)* are seeking a new form of independent rule without oligarchs of any stripe. Few events are as dramatic and important these days as the struggle in the heroic Donbas region where a new society full of promise is being born.

Humanity owes a great debt to these brave people. They are showing the way out from the current global cesspool of political apathy, endless wars,  obscene inequality, widespread poverty, and ecological devastation into which an American-led capitalism has plunged just about everyone in this planet. We should salute the people of Eastern Ukraine for resisting so nobly the onslaught of the Kiev/NATO war machine. It is a most inspiring feat. 

Press Conference – Formation of a state – 24 Aug 2014

* The Wiki provides—rather coldly— the following definition:
The Donetsk People’s Republic (DPR or DNR) (Russian: Донецкая народная республика,Donétskaya naródnaya respúblika, Ukrainian: Донецька народна республіка, Donets’ka narodna respublika) is a self-proclaimed state in eastern Ukraine. It is part of the self-proclaimed Federal State of Novorossiya. 

DO READ THE WHOLE TRANSCRIPT WITH VERY HELPFUL READER COMMENTS ON THE NEXT PAGE

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[Alexander V. Zakharchenko, Chairman of The Council of Ministers of The Donetsk National Republic] As you all know, a week ago we announced our plan to attack. We started it yesterday.

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Until yesterday we have been preparing for the attack, examining trophy equipment, arming the crews, and testing communication between different military formations.

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I can now proudly announce that we formed 2 tank battalions, 2 full artillery brigades, 2 Grad divisons, 

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1 mechanized infantry battalion, 3 infantry brigades and a special purpose assault airborne brigade.

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All these units have now received Army numbers.

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The communication system have been regularized and 2 field hospitals and 1 maintenance brigade have been formed.

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We have begun testing all these units in battle. Yesterday we began an attack on Amvrosiyivka enemy group.

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According to our data, in the course of the offensive, the enemy lost about 45 units of military equipment, we captured 14 units of military equipment,
and about 1,200 people were killed and wounded.

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There are two cauldrons at the moment, in Amvrosiivka and Starobeshevskaia.

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We started to advance at 4 a.m. on Elenovka, where the fighting is still going on.

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2/3 of Elenovka is under our control. We hope to clean up these areas before the night. However, the offensive will not end at that.

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We will continue until we free all populated areas in the Donetsk National Republic.

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The army is ready and we have the support of the people. There will be more and more prisoners.

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Now regarding the Parade. I deliberately put the trophy
equipment on display on Lenin Square.

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Everything that will come to us from Kiev, will end up in the same condition sooner or later.

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The more will come, the easier it’ll be for us to restore our economy.

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As you may know, metallurgy is one of our main industries.

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I would like to thank the Minister of Defense for the close cooperation, understanding of the challenges facing the government, for his unlimited capacity to work and for his personal courage.

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[Vladimir Kononov, Defense Minister of DNR]
Dear journalists, TV audience, I would like to appeal to you.

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The Ukrainian aggressive occupation army came on our soil. They brought a nationalistic ideology that has no respect for human life.

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Their only interest is in our territory and resources.

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They launch their vile attacks on residential civilian complexes with grandmothers, women, and children.

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Just yesterday they fired on a residential quarter and
killed a 9-year-old girl. There was no militia there.

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They use sneaky tactics of mobile mortar groups that come to a place, shoot at it for 10-20 minutes, and quickly leave.

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We already have all data on the movements of these mortar groups. They will be neutralized soon.

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Now regarding the armed forces.

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This is a uniform force with the principle of undivided authority that
prevents disobedience and disorder, contrary to those who call the DNR army Makhnovist, etc.

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It's a lie disseminated by the Kiev’s junta as well as by those who have unleashed tanks, Grads, and artillery against its people.

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You can now ask your questions.

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Does the militia fire on the houses?

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Let me correct you right away. We were the militia 10 days ago. Today, we are the armed forces of the Donetsk National Republic.

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The DNR’s armed forces by no means try to strike on
residential neighborhoods and houses.

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We don't and never will practice this. This is our homeland, our soil, and our Motherland.

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This is a war on our territory that we want to preserve. We're not animals. We are not fighting in Kiev, we are fighting at home.

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Channel 1, Moscow. How would you characterize the Ukrainian armed forces’ response to your offensive? Were they aware of it? Are they in confusion,
resisting or rolling back?

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Most likely they knew about our counter-attack as we did not make a secret of this. They didn’t know the time and place of the attack.

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There are regular army officers who, unfortunately, at some point graduated from the Soviet military schools and the Academy.

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They were preparing for different options, and have guessed some of them. The fighting was heavy because the regular units fight well.

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The regular army really fights, gets defeated, but never gives up.

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Those who roll back are the battalions of Shakhtersk, Aydar etc. They are usually easy to attack because they retreat at the first shot and never engage in direct fire contact.

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They usually retreat and call on the regular units, and then they start to attack together.

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Again, the fighting is very heavy.,You can feel the enemy’s superiority in their quantity of equipment.

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To give you an idea of the intensity of the fighting: we cross about 40 km in the day.

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The Parade of prisoners of war we’ve seen this afternoon, isn’t it against all humanitarian conventions and motions of dignity?

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As a lawyer, I can say that we did nothing against international law.

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The prizoners were not undressed or starved.

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Show me a single international law, which prohibites parading prisoners. We have not done anything illegal.

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What was the purpose of this parade? Were you trying to send a message to Kiev?
Why did you make a decision to parade the prisoners of war?

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Kyiv said that they will march in parade in Donetsk on the 24th. So they did.

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Poroshenko didn’t lie: they were here together with their hardware.

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This week Lugansk received humanitarian aid from Russia.
Are you waiting for such help, and when do you think you can expect it to come?

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We expected it yesterday, even before Lugansk.

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Our city’s population is bigger than Lugansk, so it was logical to send it to us first.

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But situation in Lugansk is much harder, so it was sent there first.
I hope that we will receive our help soon.

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Are there any negotiations about the terms of delivery?

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Yes, the negotiations were conducted on the same day as Lugansk, but, unfortunately, we didn't get it.

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Will Lugansk share their received help with you?

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As practical business managers, we would like it. However, from the humanitarian position we understand that the situation is more difficult there. 

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We have to rely on our own resources for now. Hopefully, help will come soon.

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there are historical parallels with July 1944 and the March of the Nazis. Did it happen by accident or was it done on purpose?

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Honestly, we have recently seen one of the insignias of the 2nd separate brigade: 
the complete emblem of the Galicia SS Division, a 79 SS Galicia badge.

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When we saw the full symbol of this Division... Many Russian families suffered losses in the Second World War. One of the ancestors in my family fought against the Galicia SS Division.

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This is not just a parallel, this is generational: my great-grandfather,  and now I, and the same division…

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That’s why a desire was born to repeat 1944 so they would realize that it all already happened before, it has repeated itself with the same result.

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Every time you come to Russia with a sword, “from a sword you will perish”.

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Unfortunately, dear journalists, the West tries to invade us with a regularity of 30-50 years.

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That is, every 30-50 years the Western civilization tries
to impose on us their opinion and their way of life.

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The First World War, the Great Patriotic war, the Crimean war before that
and so on well into the depths of history.

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As a result, the West traditionally gets the fall of Berlin, Paris, etc.

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There is Maidan every year In Kiev – “Those who don’t jump are Moskals”.

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The West comes every 30-50 years to get what it deserves. Now in 2014, they are slightly delayed.

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What kind of aid do you now get from Russia?

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individuals and certain organizations send us food, clothes, and medicine.

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Ramzan Kadyrov has collected humanitarian aid worth of $70 million, which is now waiting in Rostov.

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It was not a state program, it’s from the Republic and the President of Chechnya.

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....experts in artillery from Samara?

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I will invite several officers of the French Navy, who want to fight with us.

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They are willing to give an interview. We have Europe fighting amongst us.

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The European ideals of equality, fraternity, and the French revolution, as in the Marseillaise, resonate with the patriots of France.

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It means, the nation is not dead, since it has such representatives who are willing to go to the far away place to fight for their ideals, which the Bastille was once taken for.

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Yes, there are volunteers: the French, the Russians. Is it a bad thing? It’s great.

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Are there regular Russian military units fighting on your side?

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If you think that Russia is sending its regular units here, then let me tell you something.

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If Russia was sending its regular troops, we wouldn't be talking about the battle of Elenovka here.

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We'd be talking about a battle of Kiev or a possible capture of Lvov.

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Now there is a war on our soil for our territory. We have an influx of volunteers from all over the world.

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Of course, the Russian help would be very desirable, but from a political point of view it is impossible and unrealistic.

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Thanks, by the way, to the European countries. You do not acknowledge this war just as you did not acknowledge the great Patriotic war, didn’t you?

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You support the anti-terrorist operation against terrorists and separatists.

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Have you not developed a Charter of free territory,
I believe, in Switzerland?

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A Territory has a right of self determination and
separation after a referendum.

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Germany lives by the same principles. There will be a referendum in Scotland soon.

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That is, you call your own principles democratic and
carry them out (almost) democratically.

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The example of Czechoslovakia was peaceful. Yugoslavia, unfortunately,
was torn into a thousand little pieces by you. 
Using military methods by the way.

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We have the same thing happening here.

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That is, if you stop pursuing a policy of double standards and will be able to understand that people live here.

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What is our fault? The fault of Donetsk, Donbass, our land?

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That we are asked to live independently? That we wanted to live the way we want?
To speak our language? To make friends with whom we want?

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We didn't want to go to Europe. We have different mentalities, religion. 

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But we have a different religion. We want to go East.

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We wanted to live the way we want, but we were not allowed to. We were called terrorists and separatists.

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Please note, we did not capture any regional administrations, nor did we scorch district departments. That’s what the Maidan did.

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Slogans: "No oligarchy”, “Equality and brotherhood", "Freedom of religion and language", "Freedom of choice".

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All these slogans are from the Maidan. We want the same thing. So why are we the bad guys?

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What did we do to deserve being bombed from planes?, shot at from tanks?and have phosphorous bombs dropped on us ?

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Explain to me what an anti-terrorist operation is?!

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There police forces and intelligence services are involved, and not regular military units, military vehicles and aircrafts.

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Dear journalists, please correct me if I am wrong.

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If we are terrorists, then the police and the security service of Ukraine must fight us.

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30, 25, 95, 72, and 76 - the entire Ukrainian army is present on our territory.

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Three conscriptions, the national guard, territorial battalions, private battalions Aidar, Azov, Shakhtersk, Donbass, Dnieper-1, Dnieper-2, Dnieper-3, battalion Kiev, and now Kryvbas.

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What have we done? What is our guilt? The fact that we have shale gas, for which you want to erase entire Slavyansk from the face of the earth?

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Or any other financial interests?

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We are all descendants of the glorious ancestors. We all have ancestors that we are proud of.Only between the two of us there are two Heroes of the Soviet Union.

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We are still able to hold weapons in our hands. We swallowed with our mothers’ milk a pride and desire to live in free and happy Donbass.

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We’ll tell anyone who comes to harm us on our soil: we will fight tooth and nail for our Motherland.

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Kiev and the West made a big mistake by awaking us.

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We are the hardworking people. While others were jumping on the Maidan for 300 grivnas, our people were down in the mine, mining coal,
melting metal and sowing crop.

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None of us had time to jump, we were busy working.

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When a person who just yesterday worked with a jackhammer or operated a harvester,
today got behind a steering wheel of a tank or Grad, or picked up a machine gun,
the line has been crossed and you cannot stop him.

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The one who left his job knows that he will fight to the end and to his last breath.

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You may pass it on to others: do not wake the beast. Just don’t.

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While there is still an opportunity, let mothers spare their sons.

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For some, perhaps this will be terrible news: there still lie several hundred soldiers of the armed forces of the Ukrainian army under Panovka,
Saur-Mohyla, who are unaccounted for.

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Families receive “missing in action” letters. They are actually dead. Kiev authorities do it on purpose.

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Hundreds and thousands dead in more than a dozen graves. I announce it officially.

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Let everybody know if you received a "missing in action" letter, then most likely, your husband, brother, or son got killed.

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[Vladimir Kononov]
I can you give an example from the battle of the 72nd and
25th batalions against us in Shakhtersk. I have all the documents
of the soldiers who burned near the wrecked machinery.

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We returned the bodies to the Ukrainian army. Two weeks later, we received information that they were “missing in action”.

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Why did they bother to pick up the bodies?

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It was reported that the Ukrainian army from the beginning of the conflict had 12,000 killed, 19,000 wounded and 5,000 missing.

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They are not missing, they were killed and buried under Karachun, in Krasnyy Liman…

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They were dumping bodies from a helicopter with stones tied to their feet into the Blue lakes near Slavyansk.

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Vladimir Petrovich, let's not excite our press with such gruesome details.

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Poroshenko said that all 120 people out of 1200 who participated in the Parade in Kiev, will go to the East.

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Now I want to say: I don't want to fight. It wasn’t my choice, but I'll fight till the end for my land, no matter who, when and how numerous they were.

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This is a battle of annihilation. Unfortunately, the Slavs are fighting among themselves and destroying their best people.

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We want to reach out to all the relatives and mothers: do not send your sons here.

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Leave us alone. Let us live free and in peace.

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We didn’t come to you in Kiev, Dnepropetrovsk, or Zaporozhye. We are not marauding your villages, raping your women, killing your elders and stealing their military decorations.

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Remember decorations for Stalingrad, the capture of Berlin, Gold Star medals, Orders of Glory, Orders of the Red Banner,
mixed up with women's earrings?...

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We don't do that. We want to live on our land the way we want. We don't need you. We are different.

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Ukraine of the East and the West is an artificially created conglomerate. However, we didn’t start this war.

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If someone has a political conscience, a will and a courage of a real man, I'm just suggesting to stop this operation.

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You don’t have to recognize our status, just leave us alone within our borders of Donetsk and Lugansk republics, 
and we will kiss each other goodbye.

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A question from the French newspaper Libération. When will a press conference with the French internationalists,
that you mentioned, take place?

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They will arrive tomorrow. Talk with Vladimir Petrovich tomorrow. Contact him through his press Secretary.

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Do you think the meeting with Poroshenko will bring any positive solutions?

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Let me clarify. No federalization can be possible today.

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There is time for everything. We asked for the federalization 3 months ago,
then we asked for a permission to hold a referendum.

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That time has passed, now we want to live independently.

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The Ukrainian authorities are using police methods to subdue us: they arrest us, cordon us off, and conduct anti-terrorist operations against us.

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By now so much blood has been spilled and so many people have died for freedom. How can we speak of federalization?

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What is federalization? This is a series of bureaucratic procedures that need to be done.

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But we want to live independently. We have very rich land.

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Talks about subsidies is a lie perpetrated by thieves to steal money. Each President understood this very well and always participated in it.

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We are a self-sufficient region with its agriculture,
developed industry, forests, fields, and seas.

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We have everything from a “Switzerland” to the sea.

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Resort areas, agriculture, chemical and coal industry, rich minerals, gas deposits, etc.

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Despite close ties with the rest of Ukraine,
we can and must be able to feed ourselves.

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If they do not understand it in a good way,
then we will ask them in a hard way.

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I hope that the meeting between Poroshenko and President Vladimir Putin will lead to the taking of our position into account.

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About the law in relation to people who are in prison.

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Please specify what kind of law you are talking about.

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On what basis these people have been arrested?

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We have recently adopted a new criminal code and the creation of court-martials and tribunals. Is that what are you talking about?

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This is not a law, this is a provision that we have discussed in the Council of Ministers and then submitted to the Supreme Council.

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The Supreme Council gave us a go-ahead. Are you asking about people who were arrested prior to this or after?

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At the moment we have mostly detained soldiers who violated military discipline and the oath of allegiance.

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A court-martial will have to deal with it. Now regarding the rest.

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Since the adoption of this law, all detained civilians were transferred to the Ministry of Internal Affairs and
the Ministry of State Security for their hearings.

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Depending on the sentence, they will either be released, or subjected to administrative punishments in the form of
community service from 10 to 30 days.

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Donetsk Detention Center came over to our side, so civilized places will be used for detentions.

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For further clarifications you can enquire at the reception desk of the Deputy Prime Minister or to appeal to the Prosecutor General.

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A question about the death penalty.

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00:29:31,000 --> 00:29:39,000
I'll be honest, I think the death penalty is the highest form of protection of society.

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00:29:40,000 --> 00:29:44,000
You probably remember that my first decree was to fight banditry.

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Yes, this is a widespread phenomenon, because all sorts of criminal elements penetrate under the guise of a revolution.

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We must fight it now so we wouln’t have to hunt these paramilitary groups down later. That was the reason behind this decision.

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After the long discussions it has been decided to adopt the death penalty.

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You all know perfectly well that the abolition of the death penalty does not reduce crime.

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Statistics show that with the death penalty abolished crimes “for some reason” tend to go up.

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The society, ordinary people, and private entrepreneurs have to be able to live and work in the safety. 
We made a decision to guarantee their security.

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00:31:00,000 --> 00:31:08,000
For details, please familiarize yourself with the code. It is written in quite clear language.

Donetsk rebels march Junta prisoners in a mock parade designed to spoil Kiev’s jingoistic celebrations.

[A]s Ukraine marked its Independence Day on Sunday with a military march in Kiev, pro-Moscow rebels countered by parading captured Ukrainian troops through the streets in Donetsk’s central Lenin Square.

Translation:
Vladimir Kornilov

Of course, all of us can have different opinions on the yesterday’s prisoner parade in Donetsk. But it is a matter of fact that the front pages of today’s world press are mostly dedicated to the parade in Donetsk and not to the one in Kiev.

This is how the victories in information war are done. It was enough to show a few prisoners and march them where it was needed and the junta’s holiday was hopelessly spoiled.
SOURCE: http://cassad-eng.livejournal.com/71125.html

APPENDIX

Below, the way the event was reported by a major Western newspaper, The US-based Christian Science Monitor. The CSM stands out for its relatively even-handed way of covering this type of news. The New York Times is far more biased and insidious. —Eds

In Ukraine, competing parades as east-west divisions deepen

Pro-Moscow separatists paraded Ukrainian prisoners of war in Donetsk to the delight of cheering crowds today, as Kiev celebrated independence with a rare military parade in the capital.

By Sabra Ayres, Correspondent / August 24, 2014

The dozens of captive Ukrainian soldiers moved down the main drag of this eastern rebel stronghold with their hands tied behind their back and their heads sunk low. Parallel rows of armed men ordered them to parade past the jeering crowds lining each side of the wide street.

“Fascists!” “Murderers!” “Get on your knees!” the crowd called as the captives shuffled past. Some were dressed in camouflage, others simply in t-shirts and short pants, and wearing nothing but plastic sandals. From the sidelines, the crowd tossed trash and water bottles at them. The soldiers grimaced, but kept their eyes down.

The scene in central Donetsk was like something out of another time, specifically toward the end of WWII, when the Soviet Army marched 65,000 German POWs through the streets of Moscow and other cities of the USSR, including Kiev.

This time the humiliated prisoners of war aren’t part of an invading Nazi war machine, but members of Ukraine‘s national army. The self-declared Donetsk People’s Republic, which organized the display, described the men as accomplices in the Kiev “junta’s” war against Eastern Ukrainians seeking federation with Russia.

“Let the scum see what they have done to the Donbas people,” says Marharitta, a pensioner who along with about 1,000 others had come to see the procession. She declined to give her full name, in case the Kiev “fascists” were to come and arrest her. “You think their mothers will be proud of them now?”

The public humiliation of the Ukrainian POWs was meant to counter a very different kind of parade happening about 400 miles away in the Ukrainian capital today, where President Petro Poroshenko hosted an Independence Day event that included some 1,500 active service men and dozens of new tanks, missile launchers and other heavy artillery weapons.

It was the first time Ukraine had had a military parade in the capital since 2009. At the end of the parade, the military equipment and the soldiers were scheduled to be sent out east to the front lines of an ongoing conflict here that has cost more than 2,000 lives and threatens to tear the country apart.

The Kiev parade occurred on the Maidan – the very square where, last November, thousands of protestors gathered to protest then President Viktor Yanukovych’s back peddling on signing a European Union association agreement. Those demonstrations led to the pro-Moscow leader’s ouster, and, eventually, Russia’s annexation of the Crimea peninsula and the pro-Russia uprising in much of the east.

Mr. Poroshenko warned Ukrainians that despite 23 years of independence, the current conflict had shown that “in the foreseeable future there will always, unfortunately, be the threat of war.”

“We not only have to learn to live with that. We must always be prepared to defend our independence,” Poroshenko said.

Today, the center of Donetsk is the focal point in this embattled region as a western-leaning Kiev government struggles for the fourth violent month to overtake the pro-Russia separatists, whom have declared Donetsk and the neighboring Luhansk region independent from the rest of Ukraine.

The conflict has displaced more than 300,000 fleeing in the east, according to the latest figures from the United Nations. The civilian death toll continues to rise, and the humanitarian crisis is deepening in Luhansk, where the city’s remaining 200,000 residents have not had water or electricity for more than 20 days.
The Geneva Convention prohibits publicly humiliating POWs. But Sunday’s event is not the first time either side of this conflict has been accused of violations. Human Rights Watch has accused both sides of war crimes, including the use of heavy artillery in civilian areas.

The Ukrainian army has now all but surrounded the city of Donetsk, and explosions from heavy artillery shelling can be heard in the city center. On Sunday morning, mortar rounds crashed into the Kalinina Hospital and its morgue, just a quarter of a mile from the city center. No one was killed, but doctors and nursessaid they scrambled to get as many patients as possible to safety.

In the damp and musky basement of the oncology ward, Olga Romanenko, 66, was sitting alone on a chair; waiting out the hours until the shelling was over. The breast cancer survivor was too weak to climb the dilapidated stairs to the makeshift bomb shelter.

“When in the history of this world have Ukrainians ever killed each other?” she says. “We just want them to stop shooting. I want my a normal life back.”

As another rapid succession of artillery fire set off in the distance, Mrs. Romanenko placed her head in the palm of her hand and began to cry. “There is no reason for this. There is no reason for this fighting,” she said.

The corporate media, as usual, are only amplifying Washington’s lies.

A Russian convoy of trucks return from the Luhanks region after delivering humanitarian aid. (Photo: EPA)

Kill Putin!

The Guns of August
Americans do not mind a war. They gained in every war: they had sustainable losses, they preserved their industrial base and they profited by their victories.

by ISRAEL SHAMIR, Counterpunch

(AP)

Moscow.

[O]n the Pushkin square in central Moscow, McDonald’s, this symbol of Pax Americana, has been shut down this week. It was opened 23 years ago, as the USSR collapsed, and the unipolar world of One Superpower came into being. Soviet people queued for hours to get in and try this divine foreign food. They were so innocent, so inexperienced, the Russians of yesteryear! For 23 long years, the US has ruled the world alone, while McDonald’s served its burgers. Meanwhile Russia has changed. McDonald’s is no longer an attraction for world-weary Muscovites. Across the Pushkin square, there is now another fashionable eatery, Café Pouchkine, serving the best Russian haute cuisine. In a tit-for-tat, the cheeky Russians had established a new Café Pouchkine in Paris, on Boulevard St Germain, teaching the French the joys of Russian cooking.

The Americans did not accept the challenge lightly. Kill Putin, called American pundits. They proposed to strike against Russian forces from the NATO bases in the Baltics. Pentagon extolled [the] advantages of the first nuclear strike. The Russians gloomily prepared for the worst. In a quiet dacha summer-house to the west of Moscow, my Russian scientist friends discussed Andrey Sakharov’s plan codenamed The Wave to wash away the entire Eastern seaboard of the US by means of a giant tsunami (yes, it is the same Sakharov). They lauded the Perimeter, the Doomsday weapon system Russia inherited from the USSR ensuring total destruction of the US even if Russia were erased.  New and secret weapon systems were mentioned. August 2014 increasingly reminded humanity the August of 1914 or August 1939, the countdown to a Great War. At that time, the conciliatory tone of President Putin’s Crimea speech signalled that the danger of general conflagration abated somewhat. Russia stepped back from abyss.

Ostensibly this is a duel of nerves between Russia and the US; though many states, great and small, from China to Bolivia, are interested in dismantling US hegemony, Russia is the only one with political will, military clout and economical stamina to mess with the bully.

In order to preserve its place of the ultimate consumer at the top of food chain, the US wants to cut Russia down to size; publicly humiliate Putin and remove him; to assert its superiority; to harm European economies and strengthen their submis

(McDonald’s.ru)

sion to Washington; to stop loose talk of its decline, to eliminate opposition; to turn the treatment of Russia into a case study for all possible challengers.

Russia’s aims are not so grand: the country wants to live peacefully its own way and to be respected. This desire has been summed up by its opponents as “challenging the architecture of the post-cold-war order”, and it is probably true, for “the order” denies every country its right to peace and independence.

Americans do not mind a war. They gained in every war: they had sustainable losses, they preserved their industrial base and they profited by their victories. Their world wars and their recent wars: Afghanistan, Iraq, Syria were profitable. A war between Russia and Europe with some American support has attractive sides, for them.

Russians want to avoid war. They had hard and bad experience in world wars: Russia collapsed in the course of the First world war, and suffered a lot in the Second one. In both cases, their development was retarded, a lot of human misery and economical disaster befell them. They did not enjoy their smaller wars: none gave them an advantage or profit of any kind.

Paradoxically, Russian desire to avoid war brings war closer to home. The US military and politicians do not mind to play chicken with Russia, as they are sure: Russians will chicken out. This false certainty makes them more daring and fearless with each round.

Russia is not alone. China usually supports its moves, India under Modi gets closer, Latin America builds its alliance with Russia, Iran looks for friendship in Moscow. Equally important, in every state there are people who are dissatisfied with the existing post-cold-war set-up of diminished sovereignty. They are not too far from power in France, where Marine Le Pen makes gains in elections. Americans who prefer to live their own way, just like the US did before the WWII, a normal country, not the world sheriff are potential Russian allies, as well.

The US is not alone. It has its faithful allies, England the devoted, Saudi Arabia the wealthy, Israel the cunning, – and a plethora of important politicians in all countries on the globe that were supported and promoted by various US agencies. There is probably no country without US agents near [the apex of] power: Karl Bildt of Sweden, Tony Blair of the UK… In Russia they occupy many positions around the pinnacle of power, as they were installed during the Dark Years of Yeltsin’s abject rule. Whoever wants his country to serve the Empire is an American ally.

This is not only the US vs Russia, but Machine vs Man, as well. In plotting its foreign policy, the US increasingly relies upon the computer-driven game theory using its formidable data resources, while Russians prefer manual human control. Modern super-computers and surveillance techniques give the US an edge over Russia’s decision-making. Increasingly, President Obama appears to be a perfect cyborg of right appearance who says the right things in the right time and right place, but whose actions bear no relation to the words. I wouldn’t be amazed if in a length of time we shall learn that Obama has been the first humanoid robot in the helm of power. And if he is human, he is truly wonderful actor at pretending he is a robot. Even his wife Michelle and girls seem to be well-chosen movie props rather than live partner and children.

Putin is undoubtedly human and manly. One may dislike him, and a lot of people do, but there is no doubt about his belonging to the human race. This makes the chicken game less predictable than the US leadership assumes. After Saddam Hussein and Qaddafi’s horrible executions, much can be said in favour of an all-out nuclear war in comparison with defeat and surrender. And the young Russian generation does not share their fathers’ fear of war, and they do not mind to try some of the better toys their country has. Satan, anyone?

Moreover, the game theory (partly declassified in the last decade) is not perfect yet in cross-cultural conflicts, where antagonists may play different games. For instance, you play chess, but your opponent is kickboxing. This seems to be the case here. The US plays chicken with Russia, while Russia skilfully evades the horns of a charging American bull.

The US considers itself the exceptional city on the hill, the God’s Chosen, predestined to rule the world now and forever. History is over. They want to lecture and impose their rules upon the world.  The Soviets had similar ideas of Communism being predestined to complete History (for much more valid reasons—Eds), so the Cold War between two predestined states was a natural thing. Nowadays Russians do not believe in predestination. Countries rise, and go down, and form alliances, and there is no End of History in sight (the “End of History” was actually an ideological prop, a code used by capitalist ideologues to signify the “end of all class struggle,” and the arrival of a permanent “capitalism now and forever” regime.—Eds). The unipolar world is a fluke, now reverting to its normal multipolar state. The best and most comfortable arrangement is each country lives the way it likes. Leben und leben lassen.

For a long while the US was itching to teach Russia a lesson. Russia was not in full rebellion: it sold its oil and gas for US greenbacks, it kept profits in US Treasury papers, it observed the sanctions on Iran, it did not interfere with the despoiling of Libya. Still it was not sufficiently obedient. Russia blocked the destruction of Syria; it toyed with de-dollarisation of oil trade; it was for Christ and against gay marriages; cunningly it tried to undermine “Western unity” by building pipelines and bridges and bribing Europeans. In short, Russia forgot its collapse of 1991.

The Ukraine was chosen by the US as a suitable place to ignite a war, or at least to put Russia a couple of notches down and to get rid of Putin who had become by far too independent.

Ukraine

The US is winning ground while Russia loses ground in the Ukraine. Putin stubbornly refuses to send his troops in; he strains to come to terms with the US and the West over the future of Ukraine. Russia has been humiliated while proposing humanitarian aid to the besieged cities of the Donbass: its loaded lorries were delayed at the border, waiting for the Kiev regime permission to move forward. Half a million Ukrainian refugees crossed the Russian border, a few thousand civilians, militia and army personnel were killed in the confrontation.

The war for Donbass has not been especially successful for the Russians. Though the military reports are exceedingly obscure and conflicting, it seems the rebels are losing the battle against the Ukrainian army, as they have no external support. While the US claimed that the conflict is caused by Russian intervention, Russia tried to stay out of this conflict. Russia did not interfere in Kiev, when all Western ambassadors and ministers encouraged the revolt against the legitimate president. When Donbass flared up, Russia did not support it.

Putin did not want to take Donbass, in the first place, he did not want to take the Ukraine, secondly, and he did not want to resurrect the USSR, thirdly. He was forced to take the Crimea, the home base of the Russian fleet, an old part of Russia, populated by Russians, willing to join Russia, as otherwise Crimea would become a NATO navy base, but he did not want to proceed anywhere else. It did not help him: Putin is blamed internationally for the conflict and internally, for non-involvement and the subsequent defeat.

The revolt in Novorossia (the Russian-speaking half of the Ukraine) was a popular response to the West-inspired coup in Kiev, as this coup had a strong nationalist anti-Russian flavour. People of Novorossia would not try to secede if their language and culture weren’t persecuted, and if their ties to neighbouring Russia weren’t endangered. But they would not be able to proceed far, unless their revolt attracted some rebels looking for a cause, first of all – the military genius and a great romantic figure, Colonel Igor Strelkov, a “Russian Lawrence”.

Igor Strelkov (left) read history in Moscow U, but he decided (like T.E. Lawrence) that it is more fun to make history. He fought in Transnistria, a small sliver of land between Moldova and Ukraine, defending local people from the onslaught of Moldavian nationalists. He volunteered to a Serb militia in Yugoslavia; he forced the indifferent Russian Army command to take him as an officer to the First Chechen war; he served in the Second Chechen war, and as a volunteer, he served in Syria and Dagestan. He writes beautifully, he is a superb tactician, able to lead soldiers by the strength of his charisma. His acquaintances describe him as a daredevil who does not care about money, comfort, family life or pleasures.

For Strelkov, the campaign in Novorossia had a taste of destiny. Like many Russians of his generation, he dreamed of resurrecting Russia as it was, whether the Soviet Union or pre-revolutionary Russian Empire (his preference). Like many Russians of his generation, he considered the Ukraine – a natural part of Russia, and an independent Ukrainian state – a misnomer. Despite his military rank, Strelkov was a free agent; he came to Novorossia without Putin’s blessing and he would come and stay against Putin’s will, too. We shall probably hear more about this remarkable man.

Strelkov was not alone: quite a few brave fighters from Ukraine and Russia came to join the rebels. Their initial success was a surprise for Putin’s administration. But the rebellion has failed to take over other provinces. In Odessa, the private army of Kolomoysky the ruthless oligarch burned some fifty unarmed rebel sympathisers alive in a grisly autodafe, and this cruel act scared the timid and jovial Odessites. In Kharkov, the governor made a deal with the Kiev regime and the uprising miscarried. It seems that Strelkov, though a military prodigy, was less than a wonderful demagogue. His dream of Great Russia did not make sense to the people of Novorossia. Yes, they spoke Russian, yes, they hated the Kiev and Lvov neo-nazi gangs, but they did not understand Strelkov’s Russian nationalism.

Without direct Russian involvement, a separatist movement in Novorossia was doomed to fail. There was a way to win: to conquer the whole of Ukraine, perhaps barring its far-west, and afterwards to make arrangements for federalisation or even for break-up. It could be done by using an inclusive ideology, acceptable for Donetsk, Odessa, Kiev, Poltava. Perhaps some neo-Soviet ideas could be employed; dissatisfaction with the oligarchs could be used. But Strelkov and other rebels with their firm rejection of Ukraine per se could not sweep the masses, and they did not even try to move towards Kiev or Kharkov.

Putin minimised Russia’s involvement in the Donbass war. He supported it much less than the United States supported the Texas revolution of 1835. His government tried to patch things up with the Kiev regime, but its ‘president’ steadfastly refused, under American orders. In Kiev, far-right radicals attacked the Russian embassy; and the regime’s armed forces began indiscriminate shelling and bombing of rebel cities. This was a great humiliation for Putin who promised to defend the Russians in failing Ukraine. His advisers, notably Sergey Glazyev, an expert on Ukraine, called to take a leaf from the Western book on Libya and impose a no-fly zone over Donbass. (In March 2011, as a rebellion flared up in Benghazi, the US and its allies imposed a no-fly zone over parts of Libya professing horror of Qaddafi’s ruthless shelling of the rebels. Russia and China abstained, and the French-British draft became the Security Council resolution authorising not only no-fly zone but “all necessary measures” to protect civilians from harm.) Kiev’s regime certainly killed more civilians than Qaddafi did; but Putin did not declare a no-fly zone, he did not use his firepower to suppress Kievan artillery shelling civilians.

Russia did very little for Donbass. Now, the Russians try to negotiate a conclusion to the Donbass war. The reports predict some autonomy for Donbass within Ukraine.

Many Russians are likely to be greatly disappointed. But some enterprises – worthy and unworthy – fail. Life is full of disappointments. I remember Ibo separatists of Biafra, who were eventually defeated by the central government. Separatists of Iranian Azerbaijan were defeated, though Josef Stalin supported them. The US failed to re-conquer Cuba. Argentines failed to liberate the Malvinas. This list is endless. Perhaps Russians have to wait for a better opportunity.

Did Putin chicken out?

Why did Putin give up on Novorossia? There is no doubt, Novorossia is extremely important for Russia. NATO troops and US missiles in Donetsk and Lugansk would endanger Russia. Its loss would threaten Russian defence industry as this part of Ukraine was fully integrated with Russia since the Tsar’s days. Was it fear of an all-out war? Did President Putin consider intervention in R2P mode a too dangerous step for his country?

The Western media machine is as powerful as nuclear weapons; when in full blast, it incapacitates leaders and countries.

In Putin’s view, Europe is more important than Ukraine. He is willing to sacrifice Donbass in the hope of gaining Berlin. For years, he courted old Europe. Even his Olympic games with its expensive show aimed at Europe: he wanted to tell the Europeans that Russia is part and parcel of Europe. Putin speaks German, he served in Germany as KGB operative in the last years of the USSR, and he has a soft spot for Germany.

The US propaganda machine called upon Europeans to defend Ukraine from the Russian bear, claiming the Russians will not stop in the Ukraine but continue to the Atlantic. This claim was quite successful; especially as it came after the very long anti-Russian media campaign (gays, orphans, toilets in Sochi etc.). Putin was afraid that by taking Ukraine he will alienate European public opinion. So he procrastinated, until the Malaysian liner disaster struck.

The liner

The Malaysian liner crash was a terrible disaster in many ways. Not so much per se: three hundred people are being killed each day in Gaza, Iraq, Donbass. Europeans and Americans forgot the Cuban air liner flight 455, or Iranian liner flight 655, or Libyan liner flight 114, as these liners were downed by “our side”. But this was a chance for the Western media machine to unleash its dreadful might. This machine is as powerful as nuclear weapons; when in full blast, it incapacitates leaders and countries. Thousands of TV channels, newspapers, radio programs, bloggers, internet sites, experts, ministers, presidents united in one single message, terrifying as vox Dei, though it’s not even a vox populi, just a device of the Masters of Discourse (mouthpieces for the “Masters of the Universe”—the finance capitalists‚), akin to big trumpets used by Romans to scare the barbarians.

All British newspapers ran photos of dead children with captions like “He was murdered by Putin”. Russians were overwhelmed by the furious blast of propaganda. People wept; some weak and emotional personalities admitted their guilt and lit candles in front of the Netherlands embassy in Moscow. Why Netherlands, if the liner was Malaysian? (Because Netherlands is a European “white” country, while Malays are not?) Why guilt, if nothing was known yet? Why did not we see pictures of slaughtered Gaza kids with caption “murdered by Netanyahu”, killed Iraqi kids “murdered by Blair”, murdered Afghani babies “murdered by Obama”? This is the incredible power of the Masters of Discourse: when they go full blast, people lose their minds and panic.

I welcomed every conspiratorial scheme in this case, as well as in 9/11 case. Not because I believe or even prefer this or other scheme. I see it as a useful device to release minds from the holding power of mass hysteria induced by the mass media. It is necessary to sow doubt in order to release minds and regain sanity.

A successful 9/11 conspiracy theory could have saved the lives of thousands of Muslims killed in Afghanistan, Iraq and elsewhere. Recently Israeli Jews were induced into mass hysteria as three young settlers disappeared. This mass hysteria resulted in the half a million refugees and two thousand dead of Gaza. An attempt to sow doubt regarding the official story (claiming they were stolen by Mossad etc.) was an attempt to save lives. Likewise, every way to sow doubt regarding the Malaysian plane was a way to save lives.

Now, one month later, we know that there was no evidence of Russian involvement in the tragedy. There are strong pieces of evidence suggesting Kiev and US involvement, the best of them is a negative one: if Kiev and Washington would have a proof of Russian and/or the rebels’ guilt we would hear of it day and night. If you are interested in a detailed analysis of the disaster, you can read this one, recommended by our friends. I must admit I am not interested in details, for the reasons similar to those of Noam Chomsky regarding 9/11. While every explanation that differs from one promoted by Masters of Discourse is good because it breaks their hold on minds, the importance of such an event is greatly overblown by media. Anyway, the air liner is out of the news and out of mind by now, and this means it was an accident or a failed provocation by Kiev or Washington, for otherwise we would hear about it.

However, in real time the air liner disaster made a huge impact on Russian minds. For a while, I feared Putin would retire or be retired or removed from power, and Russia would fall apart. The US wanted to get rid of Putin and place a more pliable figure on the Russian throne, preferably an oligarch like Poroshenko.

Their thinking was summed up by Herbert E. Meyer, a spook (“an ex- Special Assistant to the Director of Central Intelligence and Vice Chairman of the CIA’s National Intelligence Council”). He wrote:

“Since subtlety doesn’t work with Russians, the president and his European counterparts should also make absolutely clear that we have no interest whatever in how these people solve their Putin problem.  If [the oligarchs] can talk good old Vladimir into leaving the Kremlin with full military honors and a 21-gun salute — that would be fine with us.  If Putin is too stubborn to acknowledge that his career is over, and the only way to get him out of the Kremlin is feet-first, with a bullet hole in the back of his head — that would also be okay with us.”

Tension peaked at the most dramatic night between Sunday, July 20 and Monday, July 21, when Putin delivered a short message to the nation – at 01.40 am. For such an unusual time, it was quite a tame message. Putin said nothing of importance. Next day, he was supposed to make a major speech at his own security cabinet. Again, he said nothing of importance. In my view, President Putin wanted to show he is still alive and well and still in command. Apparently this was not obvious for some persons, in Russia or abroad, at that fateful night.

(To be continued)

Israel Shamir can be reached at adam@israelshamir.net 

 

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Inspiring: Russian sailors rescue a dog stranded on an iceberg

This happened some time ago, but it always amazes us, the small acts of kindness showing what decent humans can do.