Posted on 03/23/2014 9:33:11 AM PDT by Jim Robinson
Kiev (AFP) - Ukraine's Western-backed leaders voiced fears on Sunday of an imminent Russian invasion of the eastern industrial heartland following the fall of their last airbase in Crimea to defiant Kremlin troops.
Saturday's takeover involving armoured personnel carriers and stun grenades provided the most spectacular show of force since the Kremlin sent troops into the heavily Russified peninsula three weeks ago before sealing its annexation Friday.
Alarm about a push outside Crimea by Moscow's overwhelming forces -- now conducting drills at Ukraine's eastern gate -- were fanned further Sunday by a call by its self-declared premier for Russians across the ex-Soviet country to rise up against Kiev's rule.
The interim leaders in Kiev fear that Russian President Vladimir Putin -- flushed with expansionist fervour -- is developing a sense of impunity after being hit by only limited EU and US sanctions for taking the Black Sea cape.
"The aim of Putin is not Crimea but all of Ukraine... His troops massed at the border are ready to attack at any moment," Ukraine's National Security and Defence Council chief Andriy Parubiy told a mass unity rally in Kiev.
(Excerpt) Read more at news.yahoo.com ...
Ukraine’s best bet is the mobilize and get ready to fight hard — and be very watchful for Spetznatz attacks internally.
Russia doesn’t need to attack anything. So far they’ve taken what they’ve wanted without the world doing anything (as expected) and more importantly, without the Ukraine itself having any response.
The best thing for the Ukes to do is arm EVERYONE except for the Russia-loving eastern side.
Since they’re on their own now, the Ukrainians need to lay low and wait for the occupation troops to be withdrawn — and then start the resistance, beginning with everyone known to have publically sided with the invasion. Thanks JimRob.
Even if Russia seems certain to win -- Ukraine can hurt them badly enough to make Putin think twice. But Ukraine has to be willing to actually fight -- and make certain the world knows it.
Sounds like Ukraine will never get to their May elections.
Obama has already decided to turn over the Ukraine to Russia if it comes to that. There may be a “bill” associated with that (a penalty here/a penalty there) ... but it will be minor and Russia will laugh it off.
In a conventional war sense the Ruskies do hold the winning cards. But in a guerilla war, where just about every Uke wants to kill them and have the means to do so, the Ruskies won’t last long.
As long as the Ukes remember what Stalin did to them years ago it won’t take much to motivate them to put a target on every Ruskie soldier and try and kill them.
Let it be their second Vietnam, but I don’t think it’ll sell well with the Russian populace once they see their boys dying in large numbers.
Ukraine has practically nothing to fight with. Their military has been gutted, they gave up their nuke warheads under the ridiculous belief they'd be protected by the West, their conventional stockpiles have been largely destroyed (thanks to Obama and Lugar), etc.
Further, in the ethnic Russian east they'd have part of the their own population working against them.
The Ukraine would have to cede land and try to bloody the Russians with guerilla/partisan type activity. They probably couldn't really fight until/unless Russia advanced far enough West into solid ethnic Ukranian territory.
Ukraine's best bet is probably to scream loudly about losing the Crimea, prepare to lose at least some further territory in the East of the country, and then use that as an excuse to guilt the West into allowing them into the EU and perhaps getting provisional NATO membership. In the end, some of these solid ethnic Russia areas probably need to go anyway in order for the Ukranian population to have a true majority of people who identify with the Ukraine rather than having so many sympathies with Russia.
This could be a blessing in disguise for the Ukraine if they play their poor hand well. This Russian aggression has probably pushed most actual ethnic Ukrainians into a full embrace of the West (even more than it already was). They lose territory, but by doing so they lose a large chunk of ethnic Russians who were making it difficult for Ukraine to have a distinct Ukranian identity and created election results that prevented them from fully moving away from Russia. And these actions may give Ukraine the leverage to get the West to more fully embrace them and allow them to integrate in the Western community of nations. Russia may gain a little territory here, but if the Ukraine completely moves away from them and tilts decidedly West - Russia still loses in the big picture.
Of course what the Ukes ARE doing is disarming everyone except for the Russia-loving eastern side.
Where are you reading that?
The "leaders" installed by the Obama/Soros/sodomite EU firebomb coup can go jump in a lake. What did these "leaders" think the neighboring powers would do when they violently overthrew the legitimate government? Sit back and sulk?
04 March 2014 Mr Putin sent some very different signals. Most notably, he said that Russia had no intention of annexing Crimea.
19 March 2014 Vladimir Putin announced the annexation of Crimea on Tuesday, denouncing western hypocrisy
19 March 2014 Putin: I Have No Intention Of Invading Other Regions Of Ukraine
23 March 2014 Russia's defense chief has told Defense Secretary Chuck Hagel that Russia had no intention of crossing into Ukrainian territory.
I wouldn’t be surprised if Ukraine started a war to get us involved. I’ve turned into a real skeptic since watching Wag The Dog years ago.
If Exxon pulled out of Russia, it would be huge, but so far with Exxon it is business as usual. I would speculate Exxon has more sway with Putin than Obama right now. Of course, the enemedia is not reporting on this.
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