Is Putin throwing Maria Butina OR Donald Trump under the bus.

In August of 2014, the massacre of Ukrainian soldiers retreating from the city of Illovaisk, after being surrounded by Putin's Russian soldiers, took place.

This massacre committed by Putin's soldiers and his proxies in Illovaisk occurred AFTER Putin himself agreed that those encircled Ukrainian soldiers would be allowed to SAFELY retreat from Illovaisk. (cf: Wikipedia, Lucian Kim: Newsweek(Reuters): 4 November, 2014 , BBC : 20 August, 2014)

 

Fast forward to 2018 and we have Putin preparing another Illovaisk massacre.

As reported by UNIAN,

"Military columnist and expert with the Information Resistance OSINT community, Yuriy Karin, has said Russia, to destabilize the situation in Ukraine, may set up another "Ilovaisk pocket."" (UNIAN : Wednesday 12 December, 2018) (my emphasis)

What is more disturbing, as reported by UNIAN,

"Moscow's persistence in claiming that Ukraine is plotting a chemical attack in the occupied Donbas raises serious concerns, says Ukrainian MP Dmytro Tymchuk, who is also a coordinator of the Information Resistance OSINT group.
...
On November 26, a statement was made by Russian ambassador to the OSCE, A. Lukashevich (right), that the Ukrainian Armed Forces "are preparing a provocation with the use of chemical weapons in Donbas."
...
On December 5, at a briefing of the Russian Foreign Ministry, Zakharova (left) told the same thing, adding: “Such actions can lead to civilian casualties and contradict not only the Minsk Agreements, but also international agreements on the prohibition and restriction of weapons of mass destruction...”
(UNIAN : 10 December, 2018) (my emphasis)

Let us not forget the Moscow apartment bombings in 1999 that killed 293 innocent Russian civilians, and injured more than 1,000, and that pointed directly to Putin as the perpetrator of this massacre upon his own people. (cf. CBC : 8 January 2015, Wikipedia, David Satter ; National Review (17 Aug., 2017), Scott Anderson : GQ (March 30, 2017) )

Like Trump, who is now trapped in the evidence-vice of the Mueller investigation into his collusion with Putin during the 2016 US presidential elections, Putin realizes his mis-calculation in attacking Ukraine's ships at the mouth of the Sea of Azov.

No more is this evidenced than by the fact that,

"Today (11 Dec., 2018), the House of Representatives passed H. Res. 1162, which renews calls for Russia to end hostilities that violate Ukraine’s sovereignty, reaffirms the House’s commitment to Ukraine’s independence and security, and urges the president to hold Russia accountable for its aggressive behavior. Passage of the resolution comes in the wake of Russia’s seizure last month of Ukrainian ships and crew in the Azov Sea." (US Foreign Affairs Committee : 11 Dec., 2018) (my emphasis)

 As Paul Gregory (left) also notes,

"Germany has been a lonely supporter of NS2, a pipeline being built by Russia’s gas monopoly, Gazprom, and German/Austrian utility giants
under the Baltic Sea to deliver Russian natural gas directly to Germany.
.....
The election of Annegret Kramp-Karrenbauer
(AKK) (right) to succeed Merkel as head of the Christian Democrats (CDU) has provided an
impetus to reconsider the NS2 project, which the influential German newspaper, Die Zeit, calls a “foreign policy disaster for Germany.”
.....
Putin himself, not Germany, reopened the NS2 debate with his blocking the Sea of Azov, seizing Ukrainian naval vessels and charging Ukrainian navy men with criminal acts.
.....
With such rogue behavior, it is increasingly difficult for Germany’s Putin Versteher to argue that NS2 is simply a normal commercial deal. It should be increasingly clear that Gazprom is not a commercial business but an arm of Russian geopolitical policy. (The Hill : 12 Dec., 2018) (my emphasis)

And now we also have Pete Madden, Katherine Faulders, and Matthew Mosk reporting that,

"Maria Butina (left), a 30-year-old Russian gun rights activist who stands accused developing a covert influence operation in the United States, has agreed to plead guilty to conspiracy and cooperate with federal, state and local authorities in any ongoing investigations.
.....
Based on the description, the “Russian Official” appears to be Alexander Torshin, deputy governor of the Russian Central Bank and a close ally of Russian President Vladimir Putin. Under his direction, the agreement said, she “sought to establish unofficial lines of communication with Americans having power and influence over U.S. politics.” (ABC News: 10 Dec., 2018) (my emphasis)

ABC News 10 Dec., 2018

Putin's response to this development, was to feign complete ignorance of Butina, even though Alexander Torshin, Putin's deputy governor of his Central Bank, was her handler.

MSNBC (Dec 12, 2018)

Which rather raises the interesting question,

"In light of the international response to his recent rogue behaviour at the mouth of the Sea of Azov (seizing Ukrainian naval vessels and charging Ukrainian navy men with criminal acts), and given that Nord Stream2 may be "reconsidered" by Merkel's CDU successor, is Putin now throwing Maria Butina OR Donald Trump under the bus?

(to be continued)