Putin's avalanche of lies threatening to overwhelm him....

On the 24 April, 2015,  David Blair and Tom Parfitt (left) reported from Moscow that,

"Russia is carrying out a new military build-up in eastern Ukraine, massing troops on the border and deploying advanced air defences inside its neighbour, according to the US State Department." (The Telegraph : 23 Apr 2015)

And on the 30 June, 2015, Dan Lamothe informed us that,

"A Ukrainian group that backs the government in Kiev on Tuesday (30 June, 2015) published video captured by drone aircraft and said it shows a Russian military encampment in eastern Ukraine, bolstering claims that Moscow has expanded its military actions there." (Washington Post : 30 June, 2015) (my emphasis) (cf: also MailOnline)

Following close on the heels of the release of this video, that has now gone viral internationally, the Pentagon published on Wednesday (July 1, 2015) its updated 'US National Military Strategy' in which it states that,

"Russia had contributed to global security in areas such as fighting the narcotics trade and terrorism but had "repeatedly demonstrated that it does not respect the sovereignty of its neighbors and it is willing to use force to achieve its goals".

"Russia's military actions are undermining regional security directly and through proxy forces," it added, naming Russia among "revisionist-minded" states." (Maria Tsvetkova : Reuters : Thu Jul 2, 2015) (my emphasis)

Putin's Kremlin mouthpiece, Dmitry Peskov (left), immediately responded by saying that,

"The use of such language in this document points, shall we say, to what is probably a confrontational attitude devoid of any objectivity towards our country."

"Of course this will hardly contribute to attempts to steer bilateral relations in the direction of normalization," he added, calling for more cooperation between Russia and the United States on global matters" (ibid Maria Tsvetkova) (my emphasis)

And if the release of the US Military Strategy caused Putin to have a hissy fit, then the release of the document 'Russian Aggression Against Ukraine' by the Security Service of Ukraine must have caused him to go into an apopletic rage since it identifies the Russian Generals active in eastern Ukraine.

As reported by Ben Hoyle,

"Five Russian generals and a Russian colonel have been identified as playing core leadership roles with separatist rebels in east Ukraine, according to an intelligence dossier presented to the Obama administration." (The Times : July 4 2015) 
(from left to right: Generals Valerii Solodchuk, Oleg Tsekov, Aleksei Zavizion, Roman Shadrin, and Sergey Kuzovlev)
 

Disconcertingly, the latest news from the OSCE monitoring mission (3 July, 2015) in Ukraine is that there seems to be an escalation in the breaking down of the Minsk2 'ceasefire'. (cf: also OSCE 'Summary table of ceasefire violations')

The question that now needs to be asked is whether Putin is now focussing on an all out invasion of Mariupol from eastern Ukraine, primarily to undermine not only the tiny shoots of recovery in the Ukrainain economy but to undermine also, as reported by Alessandra Prentice, that,

"The head of the European Bank for Reconstruction and Development (EBRD) said it plans to invest up to around $1 billion in Ukraine this year, including in the gas sector, provided real reforms are implemented." (Reuters :  Fri Jul 3, 2015) (my emphasis)

 

Added to which, as reported by Daryna Krasnolutska, Elena Mazneva, and Alexander Weber,

"Ukraine halted purchases of Russian natural gas after its bigger neighbour took away most of a price discount and declined to sign a three-way accord with the European Union through the winter heating season.

Ukraine’s gas company NAK Naftogaz Ukrainy won’t buy gas from Russia as of Wednesday and will continue purchases from the EU, Energy Minister Volodymyr Demchyshyn (left) said." (Bloomberg Business : July 1, 2015) (my emphasis) (Cf: also Putin's propaganda mouthpiece, RT, and blog entry Wednesday, 1 July 2015)

As the reforms within the Ukrainian economy, and the Ukrainian legal apparatus in particular, begins to take hold, other than an imminent invasion of Mariupol by Putin's Russian soldiers and his proxy rebel forces, Putin will simply not be able sustain the avalanche of lies and deceptions that he not only has heaped upon the Russian people, but also upon the world.

Per Kristian Hong (right) rightly speculates whether,

"For an economy that weathered the 2008-2009 crisis on the back of sustained consumerism, the implications are potentially significant. 

But with a real, material loss in consumer confidence, how long will the Russian people be willing to tolerate a drop in the living standards they have grown accustomed to over the past 15 years? 

Will President Putin’s popularity continue to withstand a sustained, multi-year, protracted fall in economic prosperity? No one can know for sure and we can only conjecture on possible scenarios around what the social and political ramifications might be." (LinkedIn : Jun 1, 2015) (my emphasis)

As a possible and ominous indicator of the war-footing that Putin is rather subtly introducing to the Russian people as he prepares for an invasion of Mariupol, the Moscow Times reported that,

"Russia's Central Bank has proposed using private pension funds to build 200 vegetable storage warehouses in order to battle high inflation and boost domestic agriculture, news agency TASS reported Wednesday, citing a top bank official." (Moscow Times : Jun. 10 2015) (my emphasis)

We can but wait and see.

(to be continued)