It should come as no surprise that Putin's trip to Ukrainian Crimea included not only the Russian Prime Minister Dmitry Medvedev but, more importantly, Sergey Kuzhugetovich Shoygu, Putin's Minister of Defense. (Pic: left to right: Medvedev, Putin, Shoygu and Putin)
Recall that in my last blog entry (18/8/2015) I wrote that,
"
AFP reports that, during his third visit to Ukrainian Crimea,
The 'public' reason for Putin's recent visit to Ukrainian Crimea does
not quite ring true." ....
The nagging question is, "Why did Shoygu, the Russian Minister of Defence, accompany Putin on his latest trip to Ukrainian Crimea?"
Perhaps we can glimpse an answer to this question by the recent warning given by NATO to Putin's Russian soldiers and rebel-proxies in eastern Ukraine.
As reported yesterday (19/8/2015) by AFP,
" NATO on Wednesday warned pro-Russian separatists against grabbing more land in eastern Ukraine and stressed Moscow has a "special responsibility" to help restore peace as fighting escalates.
It said the members of the 28-nation, US-led alliance expressed "their serious concern about the recent sharp escalation of violence" when they met in Brussels." (AFP : 19/08/2015) (my emphasis)
By stating that "Moscow has a "special responsibility" to help restore peace", NATO is, in effect, publicly acknowledging that Putin's Russian army is directly involved 'on the ground' in eastern Ukraine.
This "special responsibility" of Putin is perhaps best expressed by the fact that,
"Russia's newest tanks - Т-90А - have been spotted near Luhansk in east Ukraine, adding more evidence of that the Kremlin is behind the unremitting violence in Donbas. Russian officials deny involvement." (Ukraine Today : Aug. 15, 2015)
Furthermore, as reported by
"Ukrainian forces said Wednesday that separatists attacked their positions 82 times overnight, including using artillery banned under the shaky February truce brokered by European leaders.
"The situation is still most tense in the area of the militant-controlled city of Donetsk," (NBC News : Aug 19 2015) (my emphasis)
Was Russian Minister of Defense, Shoygu, examining the readiness of his Russian troops in Ukrainian Crimea, as Putin's Russian soldiers and proxies in eastern Ukraine accelerate their onslaught against Ukrainian forces in preparation for an impending attack on Mariupol?
Furthermore, is has now been reported by Tyler Durden that,
"Having waited for over a year for the Ukraine civil war/conflict to be relegated to back page status, if that, Putin has finally given the green light, and as Xinhua reports, leaders of the self-proclaimed "Donetsk People's Republic" are planning to hold a referendum on seceding from Ukraine and joining Russia, the Donetsk-based Ostrov news agency reported Wednesday.
The referendum is scheduled to take place some in early to mid November, or specifically two to four weeks after the Oct. 18 local elections, said the news agency.
The ballot papers for the referendum designed in the colors of the Russian flag have already been printed, it said.
And while neither the rebel leadership nor the Ukrainian authorities have commented on the report yet, the modus operandi is strikingly familiar to what happened in Crimea." (Zerohedge : 19/08/2015)
Putin already has thousands of his "little green men" (remember Ukrainian Crimea?) operating in eastern Ukraine. And, as Tyler Duren speculates, "the modus operandi is strikingly familiar to what happened in Crimea".
NATO may be giving warnings to pro-Russian separatists against grabbing more land in eastern Ukraine, but does this include a warning to Putin and his "little green men"?
Is NATO warning Putin?
And is Defense Minister Shoygu now preparing his Russian forces in Ukrainian Crimea to come to the "rescue" of Putin's proxies and Russian soldiers in eastern Ukraine when Poroshenko's army repels their advance towards Mariupol?
Perhaps indicative of Putin's current mindset is the fact that,
"Russian officials euthanized and then burned 50 ducklings being
smuggled into the country from Ukraine, Zvezda TV channel reported
Saturday.
"The ducklings did not have any accompanying documents, so a decision was made to destroy them," Svetlana Zaporozhchenko, head of the Belgorod region's branch of Rosselkhoznadzor agricultural watchdog, told the channel." (Moscow Times: Aug. 16 2015) (my emphasis)
(to be continued)
Recall that in my last blog entry (18/8/2015) I wrote that,
"
AFP reports that, during his third visit to Ukrainian Crimea,
"Putin held a government meeting
in the Crimean city of Yalta to discuss the stuttering economic
development of the peninsula under Moscow's rule." (AFP : 17 Aug. 2015) (my emphasis)
The nagging question is, "Why did Shoygu, the Russian Minister of Defence, accompany Putin on his latest trip to Ukrainian Crimea?"
Perhaps we can glimpse an answer to this question by the recent warning given by NATO to Putin's Russian soldiers and rebel-proxies in eastern Ukraine.
As reported yesterday (19/8/2015) by AFP,
" NATO on Wednesday warned pro-Russian separatists against grabbing more land in eastern Ukraine and stressed Moscow has a "special responsibility" to help restore peace as fighting escalates.
It said the members of the 28-nation, US-led alliance expressed "their serious concern about the recent sharp escalation of violence" when they met in Brussels." (AFP : 19/08/2015) (my emphasis)
By stating that "Moscow has a "special responsibility" to help restore peace", NATO is, in effect, publicly acknowledging that Putin's Russian army is directly involved 'on the ground' in eastern Ukraine.
This "special responsibility" of Putin is perhaps best expressed by the fact that,"Russia's newest tanks - Т-90А - have been spotted near Luhansk in east Ukraine, adding more evidence of that the Kremlin is behind the unremitting violence in Donbas. Russian officials deny involvement." (Ukraine Today : Aug. 15, 2015)
Furthermore, as reported by
"Ukrainian forces said Wednesday that separatists attacked their positions 82 times overnight, including using artillery banned under the shaky February truce brokered by European leaders.
"The situation is still most tense in the area of the militant-controlled city of Donetsk," (NBC News : Aug 19 2015) (my emphasis)
Was Russian Minister of Defense, Shoygu, examining the readiness of his Russian troops in Ukrainian Crimea, as Putin's Russian soldiers and proxies in eastern Ukraine accelerate their onslaught against Ukrainian forces in preparation for an impending attack on Mariupol?Furthermore, is has now been reported by Tyler Durden that,
"Having waited for over a year for the Ukraine civil war/conflict to be relegated to back page status, if that, Putin has finally given the green light, and as Xinhua reports, leaders of the self-proclaimed "Donetsk People's Republic" are planning to hold a referendum on seceding from Ukraine and joining Russia, the Donetsk-based Ostrov news agency reported Wednesday.
The referendum is scheduled to take place some in early to mid November, or specifically two to four weeks after the Oct. 18 local elections, said the news agency.
The ballot papers for the referendum designed in the colors of the Russian flag have already been printed, it said.
And while neither the rebel leadership nor the Ukrainian authorities have commented on the report yet, the modus operandi is strikingly familiar to what happened in Crimea." (Zerohedge : 19/08/2015)
Putin already has thousands of his "little green men" (remember Ukrainian Crimea?) operating in eastern Ukraine. And, as Tyler Duren speculates, "the modus operandi is strikingly familiar to what happened in Crimea".
NATO may be giving warnings to pro-Russian separatists against grabbing more land in eastern Ukraine, but does this include a warning to Putin and his "little green men"?
Is NATO warning Putin?And is Defense Minister Shoygu now preparing his Russian forces in Ukrainian Crimea to come to the "rescue" of Putin's proxies and Russian soldiers in eastern Ukraine when Poroshenko's army repels their advance towards Mariupol?
Perhaps indicative of Putin's current mindset is the fact that,
"Russian officials euthanized and then burned 50 ducklings being
smuggled into the country from Ukraine, Zvezda TV channel reported
Saturday."The ducklings did not have any accompanying documents, so a decision was made to destroy them," Svetlana Zaporozhchenko, head of the Belgorod region's branch of Rosselkhoznadzor agricultural watchdog, told the channel." (Moscow Times: Aug. 16 2015) (my emphasis)
(to be continued)
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