Posted on 03/19/2014 1:50:35 PM PDT by No One Special
VORONEZH MALSHEVO AIR BASE, RUSSIA Beware the Ides of March, some say. Or “they.” At the tender age of thirty-one, I still have no ****ing idea what that idiom means. Is March an inherently ****ed up month? Did the creators of the Gregorian calendar know that in the year 2014 we would be facing Mardi Gras, St. Patrick’s Day, March Madness, and a small but rapidly spiraling out of control war with Russia all within the same month?
The other day, the body of a Crimean Tartar was found tortured to death, with all the hallmarks of it being a Russian Spetsnaz GRU operation. I saw the body. I took the photographs that were sent back to Kyiv and to Washington.
On Monday, Crimeans voted 97% to join Russia in a less than transparent exercise of democracy (I’m being very charitable with my words), most likely one of their last. Voters in Sevastopol voted 123% out of a possible 100% to join Russia. Even North Korea isn’t that boldly corrupt.
On Tuesday, Russia officially annexed Crimea via a decree from President Vladimir V. Putin, a region in the hearts and minds of Russians, who “lost” the territory to Ukraine in 1954. Nevermind that Crimea was originally Turkish land during the Ottoman Empire (and long before). A short time later, simultaneous explosions took down the military communications infrastructure of Russian armed forces in the Western and Southern Military Districts—a moderate amount of Semtex was used. Don’t ask.
Also on Tuesday, ten more Crimean Tartars were found tied up and tortured to death, once again the handiwork of the Spetsnaz GRU—I viewed the photographic evidence on a closed network. I will never get those images out of my mind.
Two hours later, Russian forces in Crimea stormed a base near Simferopol; snipers killed one Ukrainian soldier, and injured two others. The remaining soldiers at the base were arrested and taken to detention centers. Such an action is a blatant violation of the “truce” agreed to between Ukrainian and Russian armed forces in Crimea, as well as a grave violation of Article Two of the Fourth Geneva Convention, classifying it as a war crime. According to the Ukrainian Ministry of Defence, soldiers now have authorization to fire upon any threat, especially any threat from Russia. War crimes, a change to the rules of engagement, illegal annexation…this is quickly escalating out of control.
A poll released just hours ago show that 80% of eastern Ukrainian residents would vote for a union with Russia, just like the 97-123% of Crimeans that favored “protection” and annexation from Russian armed forces. A new battlefield is emerging between Kyiv and Luhansk, and it will be a bloodbath.
The United States and France stand ready to act for Ukraine with or without NATO and the European Union. Poland and the Baltic states (Estonia, Latvia, and Lithuania) are ready to assist, for they know first hand the brutality of living under Russian occupation and oppression. The government of the United Kingdom has so far been hesitant to act in fear of losing (illegal) Russian money invested in London real estate, multinational corporations, and in the British stock markets—it’s a point of view that needs to radically change, lest the rest of the world think the British are enabling (and financing) Russia to act so aggressively. (Because their inaction is enabling and financing the Russian war machine.) Even the Swiss are willing to suspend their infamous bank secrecy laws to assist in finding hidden Russian money to place sanctions and asset freezes on.
In light of these rapid developments, my new orders were to return to Russian territory and gather “atmospherics” for U.S. and NATO intelligence agencies for the second night in a row. (Translation: Sneak onto Russian military installations, gather intelligence, and set explosive surprises.) Instead, I caught a bullet in the arm, had another graze my neck, and ended up taking out an entire stick of elite VDV paratroopers. I didn’t want to retaliate with violence, but if I hadn’t, I’d be dead on the grounds of a Russian nuclear weapons base. Or worse.
I don’t have the sterile facilities or advanced medical training to perform proper surgery on my arm, so I cleaned the wound, bandaged it up as well as I could, and immediately began my return journey to Kharkiv, Ukraine, twenty-five kilometers across the border from Russia. All things considered—I’m not dead, I lost a great deal of blood, and I’ll have a scar—but I’m alive, mobile, and ready to continue my work here. You can’t keep a good French Canadian-American down, especially with so much at stake.
Not going to lie, it hurts. A lot. Even with some weak painkillers and a moderate glass of Mr. Walker’s amber restorative.
This is the VDV paratrooper medal from the Russian who shot me. He won’t need it anymore.
Russia got first Western blood, but I returned the favor seven times over. (Plus whatever was accomplished by disarming Spetsnaz and FSB units last week in Crimea.) Some say war is boring. To an extent, I agree. In my experience, in the dark arts of covert political warfare, war is long periods of boredom except for the few moments of absolute terror that words cannot begin to describe. I can still feel the adrenaline coursing through my veins in place of the pint of blood spilled on my arm, clothing, and the field expedient triage center I was able to borrow.
Welcome to Russia and the new Cold War. This is the front line and I’m the first casualty of this new conflict to blog about it. I’m lucky.
I’m taking the morning (Eastern European Time) off to rest a bit, then I’m back to my normal workload, non-functioning arm be damned. I was the one who signed up for my career, and I’ve been trained for eventualities such as these. This is my normal. This is probably why I’m still a bachelor. It’s part of the job, the part recruiters never tell you about. Dealing with nuclear weapons, definitely not—but they’re part of the equation now.
I can’t wait for my vacation time. California, New York City, Boston, Montréal, New Orleans—here I come. I hope.
Maybe NK isn't that corrupt but democrat strongholds in FL, OH, PA and MI are.
And Russian long before that. Who is this idiot?
Is this guy deluded?
LOL. He IS delusional.
You are seeing the first steps in Putin’s program to take Ukraine by spilling as much blood as necessary. This will not end well.
Lol...good question.
Brian-Michel LaRue is a French-Canadian/American journalist and political analyst, photographer, filmmaker, new media producer, visual artist, traveller, DJ, writer, and activist. I wasn't impressed until I saw he was a DJ, now I KNOW he's credible.
He also is a member of The League of Ukrainian Canadians, which is much like the League of Extraordinary Gentlemen, except cooler. (Here)
And he shaves his palm before taking photos of it.
Ping to #9
“Is this guy deluded?”
He certainly doesn’t know his Shakespeare or basics of Classical Roman history.
Since when did it become so fashionable to parade ignorance in this manner??
He spelled it right. Give him that ;-)
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