Ukraine latest – The invasion begins: armed Russian-speaking gunmen with Crimea in their grip as Barack Obama warns Moscow
Russian troops were on the move inside Ukrainian territory on Friday, prompting US President Barack Obama to warn Moscow that “there will be costs for any military intervention”.
It was unclear exactly what the Russian forces were doing but two airports in Crimea was taken over by armed men in combat fatigues, barricades shut off road links to the region, military helicopters were seen flying in across the border and armoured personnel carriers were on the roads. The Crimean peninsula’s main port, Sevastopol, where Russia’s Black Sea fleet is based, was also blocked off.
Russia’s Foreign Ministry confirmed in a statement that armoured units were operating inside Ukraine, but insisted they were acting in accordance with an agreement with Kiev. Their mission was to protect its naval base, the ministry said in a statement.
Um, they are russians who already lived there. It’s a complicated situation but the idea is that the majority of Ukranians don’t want to live in a post-communist eastern bloc kleptocracy, they would rather throw their lot in with “the west”. On the surface, it looks like a lower class revolution but the bottom line is that they’re fighting for what we already take for granted.
The scary part is that back in the 90’s NATO said “Get rid of your nukes and we got your back”. Well they got rid of their nukes. If Pooty does anything crazy, then things could go south in a hurry. Like, Armageddon south. Who knows what Putin is thinking though. Maybe GWB can fly over there an look in his eyes again.
Looks like Romney was right.
The armed people at the airport in Crimea yesterday were identified as Russian.
Romney was right about what and just what do you think anyone can do in the backyard of Russia?
Most of the population of Ukraine speaks Russian and due to the fact Russia’s Black Sea Fleet is based in Sevastopol, it is not surprising that they, the Russians, would have troops stationed in the Crimea. The government of Crimea has requested Russian military assistance to stop the Nazis in Kiev from coming south – most of Ukraine want to preserve the relationship with Moscow because of them see themselves as Russia and they have a lot more in common with Russia than they do with Europe. Over the next few months we will witness the disintegration of Ukraine which will solve the whole issue – and if the Ukrainians are lucky, the Russians will not shut off their natural gas supply which will really be a death nail for Ukraine – The US needs to keep its nose out of the situation not unless it wants to take responsibility for providing food, medical supplies and natural gas and oil to the Ukraine. The words from Obama are just that words…he realizes that what Russia is doing is the right thing to do and why Russia’s primary interest is Crimea, I would not be surprised if it extended to the whole east of Ukraine…we could be looking at another Balkans if there is interference from Washington…just let the Russians deal with the situation as the US can ill afford to become involved in it