Putin and Patriarch Kirill (Jan 23 2015)

Finally the world is beginning to realise that Ukraine is at war with Russia.

Doug Schoen

"Moscow won’t admit it, but Russia is at war with Ukraine.

It’s hard to draw any other conclusion from reports that Russian regular forces have moved into eastern Ukraine and are attacking Ukrainian military units amid a flare-up of violence this past week." (Doug Schoen : Forbes : 1/22/2015) (my emphasis)

 Doug Schoen further comments that,

"Russia can continue to feign ignorance, but this constitutes the most dangerous, deeply irresponsible escalation of violence and tensions in Ukraine since a little-observed ceasefire was signed in September. With his economy in shambles and increasingly politically isolated from West, Putin seems determined to bring Ukraine down with him." (ibid Forbes) (my emphasis)

As he says,

"We have a moral obligation, not to mention considerable political interests at stake, in ensuring that this does not happen and that Ukraine is allowed to chart a course of successful, peaceful, and prosperous development as an intact and independent country." (ibid Forbes) (my emphasis)

Donetsk airport has now fallen into rebel hands on the back of,

"...the arrival of thousands of professional Russian troops to reinforce the rebels. Mr Poroshenko said on Wednesday that 2,000 troops and 200 tanks crossed the border in recent days. He claimed a total of 9,000 Russian troops are [now] occupying Ukrainian territory in the Donbass." (Roland Oliphant, Moscow : The Telegraph: 22 Jan 2015)

As reported by Roman Goncharenko,

"Due to its location it is considered the "key" to the Donetsk metropolis, the heart of the Donbass coalfield. The airport is located a mere 10 kilometers (about 6 miles) from the city center, and it was recently refurbished for $870 million (753 million euros)........

Thanks to its new runway, it could accommodate virtually all types of aircraft. Due to its proximity to the separatist stronghold, the airport is of strategic importance to both sides." (Deutsche Welle [DW] : 20.01.2015) (my emphasis)

"If we give up Donetsk, the enemy will advance to Kyiv or Lviv," Ukrainian President Petro Poroshenko said recently. " (ibid Deutsche Welle [DW])

The fall of Donetsk airport over the past 24 hours has to be viewed against,

"[t]he self-proclaimed Luhansk People’s Republic [telling] Russian network Life News that it had formed its own air force, Kyiv Post reported, adding that if the claim is accurate, Ukraine could confront Russia-made combat aircraft targeting its airspace." (Kukil Bora : International Business Times : January 20 2015) (my emphasis)

Could this boast about forming an air force, that emanated from "the self-proclaimed Luhansk People’s Republic", be the underlying reason why the battle for Donetsk airport has been so fierce? 

Will its new runway, which can easily be repaired, serve to accomodate Russian combat aircraft that will be flown by Russian pilots? 

All of these recent developments have put paid to any proposed "Normandy-style" meeting of Poroshenko, Merkel, Hollande, and Putin, that was to be scheduled to take place in the very near future. 

Yet again has Putin been let off the hook of having to be confronted by Poroshenko, Merkel, and Hollande by marionette Lavrov and the escalation of  his war with Ukraine.

Is Putin setting himself up for a full-scale invasion of Ukraine?

It can be no co-incidence that suddenly,

"Patriarch Kirill, head of the Russian Orthodox Church, crossed Russia's shifting line between Church and politics in his first-ever address to the State Duma on Thursday, calling on lawmakers to ensure that traditional moral values are safeguarded in the country's legislation."? (Gabrielle Tétrault-Farber: Moscow Times : Jan. 22 2015)

"Kirill also called for the revival of the Cossacks, a quasi-militant group found predominantly in Russia and Ukraine, for the return of the "solidarity" of the Soviet era to modern Russia and for increased funding for Orthodox religious schools" (ibid  Gabrielle Tétrault-Farber) (my emphasis)

This is nothing more nor less than a call to 'war' by Patriarch Kirill, the former "Tobacco Metropolitan " and KGB agent, whose alleged KGB agent’s codename was "Mikhailov".  [Not for nothing was he called the "Tobacco Metropolitan" during the 1990's.] Kirill’s personal wealth was estimated to be $1.5 billion by sociologist Nikolai Mitrokhin in 2004, and at $4 billion by The Moscow News in 2006 (Wikipedia)

Is Patriarch Kirill now reinforcing Putin to begin an all-out invasion of Ukraine? Will the pulpits in Russia now be stirring up powerful Russian nationalist sentiments upon which Putin can ride his all-out invasion of Ukraine? 

Putin and Patriarch Kirill

(to be continued)