Putin's looming offensive against Mariupol

In July, 2014, just after the downing of flight MH17 by Putin's proxies and Russian soldiers in eastern Ukraine, killing all 298 people on board, Matt Chorley reported that,
 
"Vladimir Putin has been branded a ‘thug’ and a ‘liar’ by one of Britain’s top diplomats as the European Union turned the screw on Russia's banks, arms traders and energy firms.

Sir Peter Westmacott, (left) the UK ambassador to the US, said Moscow’s aggression in Ukraine was starting to look like ‘the wrong call’ and the West’s firm response to the downing of Malaysian Airlines plane was starting to have an impact." (Mail Online : 29 July 2014) (my emphasis)

And then earlier this month Putin himself admits that he is, indeed, a liar. His invasion and annexing of Ukrainian Crimea was planned months ahead before it actually happened, thus giving the lie to his constant mantra that he invaded Ukrainian Crimea to 'protect' Russian speaking Crimeans.

Putin, however, is not the only one who is 'economical with the truth'. OSCE monitors are, as I write, being denied access to border crossings controlled by Putin's Generals, his proxy rebels, and his soldiers in eastern Ukraine. As reported by BBC News,

"Kiev accuses Moscow of continuing to supply rebels with weapons and says that control of the border is crucial for success of the truce" ( BBC News : 29 March 2015) (my emphasis)

What is more disconcerting is that in his first foreign policy speech in a month, Putin stated that,

" ...... “the West” is encroaching on Russia and fomenting internal unrest, in his first foreign policy speech in a month.
He told a meeting of his internal intelligence service, the FSB, on Thursday (26 March), that “they are using their entire arsenal of means for the so-called deterrence of Russia: from attempts at political isolation and economic pressure, to large-scale information war and special services operations”. (Andrew Rettman : EU Observer : Brussels, 27. March, 2015) (my emphasis)

That this speech was given to his internal intelligence service, the FSB,  should give us pause for concern.

Andrew Rettman further reports that,

“Moscow is preparing the world for another offensive. The objectives are straightforward - to justify the offensive and to blame Ukraine for violating Minsk 2”, Roman Sohn, a Ukrainian activist, told EUobserver." (my emphasis)

The former US ambassador to Ukraine, Steven Pifer, (left) noted in an op-ed in Ukrainian media last week that: “Mariupol would be an important step to make a frozen separatist-occupied Donbas [in east Ukraine] economically viable”.(my emphasis)

The people of Mariupol are preparing themselves for the looming invasion of Putin's forces against this city.

As reported by the OSCE, the Minsk2 'ceasefire' is been broken by both the Ukrainian army and Putin's rebels and Russian soldiers.

"On 27 March, the SMM observed from an observation point in the vicinity of Berdianske (government-controlled, 18km east of Mariupol) escalating fighting in Shyrokyne (“Donetsk People’s Republic” (“DPR”)-controlled, 20km east of Mariupol, 102 km south of Donetsk) counting over 225 mortar shells from 14:40hrs to 17:15hrs. The shelling had started only a few hours following an SMM visit to the “DPR” “command” in Shyrokyne.

From its position the SMM estimated that the shells were fired from a position of the Ukrainian Armed Forces located in Berdianske. The SMM assessed that the majority of these outgoing shells impacted on the southern part of the Shyrokyne village, controlled by “DPR”. About 20 mortar shells were observed to have been fired back from the area controlled by “DPR”.

Is it any wonder that the citizens of Mariupol are now on tenterhooks?

As noted by Andrew Rettman,

"Russian leader Vladimir Putin has said “the West” is encroaching on Russia and fomenting internal unrest, in his first foreign policy speech in a month.
...............................
“The situation … will not change for the better if we succumb and yield at every step. It will only change for the better if we become stronger”, he added." (my emphasis)

Putin needs a war to deflect the gaze of the Russian people away from the accelerating economic deprivations that they are suffering from because of the falling price of oil, the depreciated rouble, and Western sanctions.

The EU leaders will be meeting on the 27th April to discuss further aid to Ukraine. Will Putin dare to invade Mariupol before then?

(to be continued)

Putin protecting 'corruption' in Russia

Whilst on Tuesday the Russian Parliament debated reinstating Putin's right to send troops into Ukraine, (Anna Mostovych : Euromaidan Press : 2015/03/24) and the stealth manouvering of Putin's proxies and Russian soldiers during this 'ceasefire' continues in eastern Ukraine, attention has been focussed on the Ukrainian economy and the aid that it will require to prevent a disastrous collapse.

Recently, as reported by Oleg Varfolomeyev, Ukraine will be receiving a package of loans that will help to stabilise its economy.

This package includes:

" With the new loan from the IMF, a total assistance package for Ukraine is likely to reach $40 billion over four years, IMF head Christine Lagarde (left) said (Imf.org, February 12). The package is to include 2.1 billion euros ($2.4 billion) from the European Union; $2 billion in loan guarantees from the United States; several billion dollars a year from the World Bank, the European Bank for Reconstruction and Development, and the European Investment Bank; as well as hundreds of millions of dollars from the governments of Canada, Japan, Switzerland and possibly several other rich countries." (Jamestown Foundation : February 27, 2015) 

The IMF, US,  and the EU are demanding of the Ukrainian government that they implement stringent economic measures, including the call of Maidan that 'corruption' be rooted out from within the Ukrainian beaurocracy, government, and business.

Ukraine is beginning to tackle the difficult task of rooting out corruption, as illustrated by the public arrest on charges of  'high-level' corruption of,

"...the head of Ukraine's state emergencies service, Serhiy Bochkovsky, and his deputy Vasyl Stoyetsky." (BBC News : 25 March 2015)

Furthermore, the wings of Ukrainian oligarch Ihor Kolomoisky (right) has been cut. He is no longer governor of the Dnipropetrovsk region, and has been replaced by Valentyn Reznichenko (below left).

As reported by the BBC,

"Mr Kolomoisky was reportedly unhappy after parliament passed legislation aimed at weakening his influence." (ibid BBC News) (my emphasis)

Interior Minister Arsen Avakov (right) also stated that,

"... he was also dismissing all regional heads of the state emergencies service, as they were suspected of involvement in a corrupt scheme that had diverted money offshore." (ibid BBC News) (my emphasis)

 And whilst Ukraine is getting to grips with its rampant corruption problem,

"Russia's President Vladimir Putin has signed into law a bill slashing fines for giving and receiving bribes, in a reduction of corruption penalties that a Kremlin envoy dismissed as rarely being honored anyway." (Moscow Times : Mar. 10 2015)

Secondly,

"An initiative by anti-corruption campaigner Alexei Navalny (right) to battle graft among [Russian] government officials prompted strong objections from officials themselves Monday." (The Moscow Times : Feb. 09 2015) (my emphasis)

At a meeting, spearheaded by an intergovernmental working group of Russian government officials, Navalny's proposal that,

"[the Russian government] ratify the United Nations Convention Against Corruption, which would make "illegal enrichment" by government officials a criminal offense and leave officials who cannot account for the source of their wealth open to prosecution", (ibid The Moscow Times) (my emphasis)

was thrown out.

The reason for it being thrown out, as 'explained' by Mikhail Fedotov (left), head of the Kremlin's human rights council,

"The introduction of this legislation will put us on the path to a new 1937. Only it won't be about counterrevolutionary activities, but anti-corruption activities," (ibid The Moscow Times) (my emphasis)

Even more bizarrely,

"Deputy Interior Minister Igor Zubov (right) argued that all "color revolutions" — popular uprisings in ex-Soviet countries that the Kremlin has repeatedly claimed are funded and orchestrated by foreign governments — had begun with such fights against corruption, Vedomosti reported." (ibid The Moscow Times) (my emphasis)

Valentina Matviyenko rather says it all about Putin's protection of the rampant corruption in Russia.

"A senior Russian politician, Federation Council speaker Valentina Matviyenko (left), spoke scathingly about Ukraine's "war of the oligarchs" on Wednesday.
"This situation shows that Ukraine has no statehood and is not a sovereign state", she said. (ibid BBC News) (my emphasis)

Indirectly the EU is, in fact, targetting Russian corruption.

"The EU has visa bans and asset freezes in place targeting 150 individuals, including high-ranking Russians, and 37 entities such as banks, companies and rebel groups." (Lorne Cook, The Associated Press (in Military Times) : March 19, 2015) (my emphasis)

To this we can add the sanctions-list of targetted Russian individuals by the US.

As the Minsk2 'ceasefire' continues to be broken by Putin, it is expected that yet more 'corrupt' Russian officials will be targeted for sanctions by the US and the EU.

(to be continued)