Putin's latest nuclear threat.

In yesterday's blog entry (16 June, 2015) I wrote that,

"Having painted himself into a 'diplomatic' corner over his war with Ukraine, and with the Russian economy now in more than a mere parlous state due to falling oil prices and the effects of the ongoing sanctions that he has brought upon the head of the Russian people, Putin's 'maskirovka' strategies seem to be crumbling in his hands.

It is at this stage that he is at his most dangerous."

True to form,

"Russia has threatened to provide an "adequate response" to the prospect of increased US military presence in Eastern Europe and the Baltics, after the governments of both Poland and Lithuania confirmed that they are in talks with Washington about storing heavy US arms." (Damien Sharkov : Newsweek : 15/6/15) (my emphasis)

And this "adequate response" now turns out to be that,

"President Vladimir Putin has said Russia will put more than 40 new intercontinental ballistic missiles into service this year...

...Tensions are high over Russia's role in the conflict in eastern Ukraine." (BBC News : 16 June 2015) (my emphasis)

As the article goes on to explain,

"Speaking at an arms fair, Mr Putin said the weapons would be able to overcome even the most technically advanced anti-missile defence systems." (ibid BBC News) (my emphasis)

Nato Secretary-General Jens Stoltenberg (left) stated that, "This nuclear sabre-rattling of Russia is unjustified, it's destabilising and it's dangerous." (ibid BBC News) (my emphasis)

On March 9, 2015, Stratfor Global Intelligence published their scenario for Putin's military options to invade eastern Ukraine. 

And yesterday Nicole Gallina informed us that,

"Specialists from the group “Mirotvorets” acquired documents from the Russian General Staff that confirm Russia’s intentions to invade and occupy the Ukrainian territories east of the Dnipro river." (EuroMaidan Press : 17/06/2015) (my emphasis)

Advisor to the Ukrainian Interior Ministry Anton Herashchenko (left) subsequently wrote on his Facebook page on Tuesday that,

"In April 2015, the General Staff of the Russian Federation approved another working plan for the occupation of left-bank Ukraine. The meeting on the approval of this plan was held on April 8-9 in St. Petersburg, in the headquarters of the Western Military District," he said." (utr news : Tuesday, 16 June 2015) (my emphasis)

He further informed us that,

".... the General Staff of the Russian Federation is planning actions to discredit the Ukrainian military.
"In simple terms: they are planning to shoot a few dozen residents of the militant-occupied Ukrainian territory of the Donbas, to film this and to blame the Ukrainian side for this," he said." (UNIAN : 16.06.2015) (my emphasis)

If Putin's generals are willing to:

• shoot a few dozen people
• film this shooting
• and then blame the Ukrainians for perpetrating this heinous crime

is it any wonder that RT, Putin's own mouthpiece, now informs us that,

"A journalist for a Moscow opposition newspaper was detained, beaten, and accused of committing drug offenses in the self-proclaimed Donetsk People’s Republic (DPR)." (RT : June 17, 2015) (my emphasis)

This journalist, Pavel Kanygin (right), was,

" ... in Donetsk to cover an anti-war demonstration on Monday. The following day, he was stopped by a group of men, who he said introduced themselves as “DPR security officials.” They searched him, and after finding a Ukrainian journalist’s business card, accused him of working for pro-Kiev media." (ibid RT) (my emphasis)

Journalist Pavel Kanygin is lucky to have gotten off so lightly for wishing to inform the Russian people of the anti-war demonstration in Donetsk last Monday.  (cf: blog entry)

"The assassination of Anna Politkovskaya (born 1958), the Russian journalist, writer and human rights activist, took place on 7 October 2006. She was well known for her opposition to the Chechen conflict and criticism of Russian President Vladimir Putin" (Wikipedia) (my emphasis)

Yet, as I have stated, " Putin's 'maskirovka' strategies seem to be crumbling in his hands."

No amount of nuclear sabre-rattling on Putin's part will be able to conceal the fact that there are thousands of Russian soldiers in eastern Ukraine still trying to fan the flames of his "Novorossiya" imperial dreams, just as the dream of  Partiarch Kirill (right) of the Russian Orthodox Church, who wants to reign as leader of the Orthodox world, now has to contend with the fact that,

"... [o]ne of the main factors contributing to the collapse of that "Russian world" is the schism rapidly forming within the Russian Orthodox Church (ROS). It now seems inevitable that the Ukrainian Orthodox Church and its parishes will formally break with the ROS." (Vladimir Ryzhkov : The Moscow Times: Jun. 15 2015)

Let us not forget that throughout Russian history, the Russian Orthodox Church has always been a powerful pillar of support of the Czars, the Soviet Kremlin, and now of Putin himself.

Thanks to the investigation of journalist Simon Ostrovsky, yet again is the lie of Putin that there are no Russian soldiers in eastern Ukraine, exposed to the world. (https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=2zssIFN2mso)

(to be continued)