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To: More Objective than Subjective
I wouldn't base much on what sort of equipment is used since so much modern stuff is or was produced right in Eastern Ukraine for export to Russia. Everything but the chips for some of the most advanced Russian stuff can be made in Ukraine, or so I'm told by a guy who once lived in that part of the country.

As for the rest, yeah, they're terrorists by that definition just like the crowd in Kiev, I don't doubt that a bit and see no reason to believe they have any corner on the market for that sort of stuff.

Dig through the videos that are available, they're not all from "Putinistas", far from it. The ones from Eastern Ukraine in where people formed lines and beat police forced to run the gauntlet? Seen the ones with civilians building barricades in the streets of Andriivka and confronting the troops? The ones from Odessa with the police beating people already obviously incapable of resisting? People in Odessa beating those who jumped to avoid the fire and not far away others trying to help people escape the fire? Some Odessa police escorting people from the burning building to protect them from the crowd while not far away police are ignoring people shooting at the building?.There are no clean hands in this and damn few trying to keep it from getting worse.

The crowd who took over with mob at their back in Kiev let the genie out of the bottle and no one has to do anything to keep it going now.

I hear through a friend with family who live near Kiev that their friends in the East are convinced the Kiev crowd will deport people in the East that they classify as "ethnic Russians". That would even include people born in Ukraine since it became independent but who had a parent who was born in Russia.

That may not be true, it probably isn't true (or wasn't as when the current crowd in Kiev took over), but it's the position the Right Sector and a lot of other Nationalist groups take. The people in the East, though, haven't heard a peep out of Kiev denying it nor have they seen current Kiev "government" crack down on Nationalist groups who espouse that goal.

So, in a chaotic situation they believe it and the people in Kiev haven't done a thing to change their view, they just issued edicts and demands while yelling for foreign troops to come help them. No matter what someone can say in defense of the "government" in Kiev, they sure can't defend them by pointing to how smart or in touch with reality they are.

That's the root cause of the country now falling apart. The people in Kiev who were desperate to seize power instead of waiting on elections but who had no idea of how to run the balancing act that's been going on ever since the country was formed when the USSR broke up.

106 posted on 05/03/2014 1:01:48 AM PDT by Rashputin (Jesus Christ doesn't evacuate His troops, He leads them to victory.)
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To: Rashputin

I know about the military industrial complex in Ukraine, and wold not doubt the pro-referendum ‘activists’ may have gained access to some weapons.

However, from what little research I’ve done, the newest version of RPG30 is produced in Russia and until very recently, was not available for export. There is definitive proof that the “little green men” had these in Slovyansk.

As to videos, I have seen tons of footage from Ukraine including the most recent of Odessa. I should emphasize that this protest was basically young soccer fans but a very small percentage were Right Sector. There is a great YouTube video of a Right Sector ‘provocateur’ almost getting his butt handed to him by an angry crowd of people ( pro Ukrainian supporters ).

And I have seen the barbaric videos such as in Kharkov of the gauntlet of Kiev protesters going through angry Russian speakers and the same in Western Ukraine such as making the one politician get on his knees. And I’ve seen both the police beating people on both sides and police getting beat by both sides, though the ones in Eastern Ukraine for the most part are much more brutal.

I did not see videos of the pro Ukrainians firing at or into the building ( I do not include air soft guns as real guns ) however, I saw pro referendum protestors firing real guns at the other side both on the streets and in the building.

What is also important, the far right has never held much political power in the Rada percentage wise and I doubt they will in the future.

I wrote this in another post, but the Right Sector is not one group. They are a Ukrainian nationalist coalition made up of ordinary nationalist ( patriots ), ultra-nationalists, and the far right such as the Ukrainian National Assembly – Ukrainian National Self Defence ( which people confuse with solely being Right Sector ) and Svoboda which has according to their platform moved more to maybe a Republican Tea Party equivalent.

Here is an article about the Right Sector ( though they incorrectly lump them all in as ultra-nationalists ).

http://bigstory.ap.org/article/after-ukraine-protest-radical-group-eyes-power

As to the protestors on the Maidan being terrorists, I highly disagree. The Maidan protesters started out with students and Ukrainian professionals ( or what little middle class there is in Ukraine ). They were truly peaceful. Of course you will always have agitators or provocateurs in any protest, but in the beginning, there were virtually none of these. As you know, this protest went on for months.

When the police and titushki started to brutally beat these protestors and many incidents were caught on video. This changed the entire movement. Parents, grandparents, civilized people all over Ukraine were outraged and ashamed that the authorities were behaving like animals. So were the street people which became much of the figurative cannon fodder of the front lines while the peaceful protesters had their rallies and listened to speeches and music.

It went from thousands of protestors to at times hundreds of thousands. And the bulk of the footage during these times are going to of emotional, sensational events which gets eyeballs of viewers.

People were tired of the corruption, the institutionalized criminality, the brutality. And yes, 100% it was a coup, but in a political system as corrupt and inept as in Ukraine, the people spoke and demanded the President resign. Were we going to keep abiding by oppressive English law or have the American Revolution?

The EU thing was really in the beginning, and may have even been financed by the West, BUT it changed into the desire for a country that is corrupt and continually under the thumb of the Kremlin to transform to a modern country along the lines of economically like Poland or politically like Finland where living standards get better and there is hope of a better future.

There needs to be fair, transparent, inclusive national elections that can provide legitimacy to a new government truly elected by the people. Is May 25 realistic, probably not. But the sooner the better, and if it is the people’s will, hopefully a new Constitution. I would like to see decentralization and the right to bear arms for sure.


129 posted on 05/03/2014 1:57:53 PM PDT by More Objective than Subjective
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To: Rashputin

The crowd who took over with mob at their back in Kiev let the genie out of the bottle and no one has to do anything to keep it going now.


The Ukrainians have nothing to do with Putin abusing his other neighbors. The biggest problem in the region is the President of Russia abuses and murders his neighbors. Of course Ukraine is in chaos now. There has been months and months of Russian state sponsored terrorism there.

You think Putin is the only one who can play the irregular warfare game? What happens when foreign nationals arrive and are fighting on the Ukrainian’s side? You think it’s bad now just wait for that. And it will happen.

Russian forces must be removed from Ukraine and Putin’s adventures must be stopped. We are extremely close to a large war in the entire region or world.


134 posted on 05/03/2014 3:06:16 PM PDT by lodi90
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To: Rashputin

Worth a watch and interesting...short video

The people of Lugansk have revived a monument WW2 tank to use against Keiv Gov encroachment in their city

“Legendary WWII tank, which stood on a pedestal in the “Ostroy mogily” in Lugansk, renovated. And again on the move.”

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Bs8HBhVOzfg


163 posted on 05/06/2014 11:39:19 PM PDT by caww
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