Putin readies to storm Ukraine (4 Feb 2015)

At the end of last month, Fareed Zakaria interviewed President Obama for CNN. The interview ranged over a wide number of topics, including US and Russian relations. In this part of the interview, President Obama says, " ... Yanukovych then fleeing .. after we had brokered a deal to transition power in Ukraine..." (CNN : January 31, 2015)

This remark, about an internationally brokered deal to resolve last year's Ukrainian crisis, was seized upon by that dyed-in-the-wool-Soviet foreign minister, Sergei Lavrov, as 'absolute proof' that,

"... Washington was involved in a "coup" against Ukraine's Moscow-backed president." (RFE/RL : February 2, 2015)

Subsequently, thanks to Putin's propaganda mouthpiece RT, Lavrov's 'deliberate' extraction of this one remark from this interview, without acknowledging that the deal mentioned by Obama referred to a deal arrived at by an international group, not by the US alone, has now landed on the internet.

Thus,  "after WE had brokered a deal .." has now become the US alone. 

This is a prime example of the weaponization of information by Putin. Russian maskirovka in action.

Obama interview about US-Russia relations (CNN)

The RT version

What Lavrov's 'spin' on Obama's interview seems to indicate is that Putin is building up his propaganda 'armaments' in readiness for the invasion of a huge number of Russian soldiers into eastern Ukraine, as the deadline nears for the Ukraine Freedom Support Act of 2014 to come into FULL effect on the 16th February 2015. This Act mandates Obama into making a decision on sending military hardware to Ukraine since the Act includes the following:

(i) Provisions for training, defense articles, anti-tank weapons, anti-armor weapons, crew weapons, ammunition, counter-artillery radar, fire control, range diner, tactical troop-operated surveillance drones, and other equipment pursuant to the provisions of the Arms Export Control Act – Total of $350,000,000 over three years

(ii) Legally mandates the President to submit a timeline how defensive aid will actually get to Ukraine (George Barros : Euromaidan Press : 17 Dec. 2014)

Supplementing his build-up of 'propaganda' to justify the impending flood of Russian soldiers into eastern Ukraine, Putin is now demanding that,

"Ukraine should repay the $3 billion loan because Russia needs that money to fight the economic crisis that's currently ravaging the nation". (Elena Holodny: Business Insider UK : Feb. 3, 2015)

And anticipating the impending mass invasion of Russian soldiers, under the guise of a 'mobilization' of forces in the rebel held areas of eastern Ukraine, 

Arseniy Yatseniuk : Ukraine Prime Minister

"The Ukrainian government ordered the termination of Points 1 and 5 of the list of documents permitting Russian citizens to enter and exit Ukraine, as well stay in Ukraine and travel around the country's territory. Starting from March 1, 2015 Russian citizens will not be able to use internal passports or birth certificates for Russian citizens under the age of 14 to enter Ukraine." (Russia Beyond the Headlines (RBtH) : February 3, 2015 Interfax) (my emphasis) 

And while bombs are raining from the rebel and Russian held areas in and around Debaltseve, Angela Merkel is still clinging to the outdated Minsk protocols of last year, like a drowning person desperately clinging to a straw, as the people of Debaltseve are removed out of harms way by the Ukrainian authorities. ( Aleksandar Vasovic : Yenakieve, Ukraine : Reuters: Mon Feb 2, 2015)

 "The outskirts of Yenakieve and Vuhlegirsk, both on the main highway to Debaltseve, were under heavy artillery fire as rebel multiple rocket launchers and artillery pummelled the positions of Ukrainian troops in the area." (ibid  Aleksandar Vasovic )

Debaltseve

(to be continued)