Posted on 11/27/2014 10:23:23 AM PST by Greetings_Puny_Humans
A former Russian insider says he was there when Putin began openly planning the present invasion of Ukraine back in 2003.
At a conference in Brussels this week, Andrey Illarionov, a Russian economist and former economic advisor to Vladimir Putin informed that the invasion of Ukraine has been in official planning since at least 2003.
[more at link] “Since 2003. I can say that certain questions relating to the future war with Ukraine were discussed in my presence. I didn’t think the talks would really lead to a real war,” he said.
In an anguished response to the Orange Revolution a year later which brought about an ostensibly pro-Western government, Russian officials then began discussing the potential for launching a military occupation of Crimea and it’s subsequent annexation. Illarionov also discussed leaked documents which detail the operation of Russia’s future war with Ukraine.
By 2009, he stated that plans to conjure and support separatism in Ukraine began to surface. It is now known that the terrorist organization known as the ‘Donetsk Republic’ began to reassert itself online in 2008 after then Russian-backed Viktor Yanukovych lost his position as Prime Minister. Created in 2005 also in the wake of the Orange Revolution, ‘Donetsk Republic’ members attended training camps in Russia funded by the Russian Presidential Administration, where instructors from the security services taught methods of espionage, sabotage and guerrilla tactics to attendees. Syncing with Illarionov’s statement, the group began organizing local terrorist training camps as early as 2009.
Putin’s July 2013 Speech Russian insider says Putin openly planned invasion of Ukraine since 2003 Putin and Yanukovych in Kyiv, July 2013 Illarionov did not mince words, making clear that this is a very much a “Russian-Ukrianian war” or rather, as he described: “Putin’s war against Ukraine.” A war he steadfastly describes as being long in the works that will continue to play out in the long term.
“So, they were preparing the war for a long time. The other matter is that it is a long war that has been continuing for more than 16 months. It was officially launched on July 27, 2013, by Putin’s speech in Kyiv on the occasion of the anniversary of the baptism of Kyivan Rus,” he said.
The speech cited by Illarionov was on the topic of Ukraine’s “civilizational choice” and “orthodox Slavic values.” In it, Putin bloviates on alleged “common spiritual values” which make Russians and Ukrainians a “single people,” calling for the preservation of ‘ancestral traditions.’ He also convincingly ignores centuries of persecution, telling listeners that subjugation (“union”) under Russia “changed the lives of Ukraine’s population and its elite for the better, as everyone knows.”
At another point, Putin speaks glowingly of Stalin’s reforms and investment in Ukraine during his first ‘Five Year Plan,’ a disastrous policy which resulted in the Moscow-orchestrated genocide of up to 7 million Ukrainians.
Current conflict zones’ historical hallmarks were focused on in the speech, specifically calling the Donbas “one of Russia’s main mining and metals industry regions,” and Odesa “one of the Russian Empire’s biggest seaports.” The next day Putin would attend Russian naval celebrations in the Ukrainian city of Sevastopol in Crimea.
Here is a link discussing the training camps where future "separatist" leaders in Russia received training for the Ukrainian invasion as far back as 2006:
http://anton-shekhovtsov.blogspot.se/2014/08/pro-russian-extremists-in-2006-and-2014.html
Every country should have plans for going to war with its neighbors.
He waited for an American pansy to be in office. Cest la vie.
And unlike the Schlieffen Plan, he’s sticking to it.
Once a commie, always a commie
well said
Obama was caught off guard.
When was the last time the Peace Prize winner ever had a clue?
Any one?
Yes, but our plans for invading Costa Rica are probably marginal.
The old Soviet Lt. Colonel (KGB not military) is now rebuilding the evil Empire.
“the greatest geopolitical catastrophe of the [20th] century” -Russian leader Vladimir Putin on the collapse of the Soviet Union...
“World democratic opinion has yet to realize the alarming implications of President Vladimir Putin’s State of the Union speech on April 25, 2005, in which he said that the collapse of the Soviet Union represented the ‘greatest geopolitical catastrophe of the century.’
Hover Digest
“Putin said Stalin deserves statues in his honor as much as the late British lord protector, a ‘cunning fellow’ who “played a very ambiguous role in Britain’s history.”
Had to dust off those Grenada plans in a hurry a few years ago.
Yes, but did we ever refer to Grenada as the “near abroad,” and pine for its loss from the Union?
No, that would be the Mexicans talking about Texas. Of course, they’re being somewhat more successful than Vlad, and their commando units that have crossed the border are certainly better armed.
Wait what?
Are you comparing Reagan's invasion of Granada with Putin's invasion of Ukraine.
We didn’t annex Grenada
Try reading back up the exchange and perhaps then you will understand the discussion.
I did. Answer the question.
If you couldn’t understand from that, I doubt I could explain it where you could.
Disclaimer: Opinions posted on Free Republic are those of the individual posters and do not necessarily represent the opinion of Free Republic or its management. All materials posted herein are protected by copyright law and the exemption for fair use of copyrighted works.