Serpo
19th March 2014, 05:11 AM
FROM JOSEPH FARAH'S G2 BULLETIN
Putin poised to take entire Ukraine
Risky move could backfire on Russian leader
Published: 12 hours ago F. Michael Maloof, staff writer for WND and G2Bulletin, is a former senior security policy analyst in the office of the secretary of defense.
http://www.wnd.com/files/2014/03/russian_troops_ukraine.jpg (http://www.wnd.com/2014/03/russian-troops-mass-at-border-with-ukraine/russian_troops_ukraine/)Russian troops in Ukraine
Editor’s Note: The following report is excerpted from Joseph Farah’s G2 Bulletin, (http://g2.wnd.com/)the premium online newsletter published by the founder of WND. Subscriptions are $99 a year or, for monthly trials, just $9.95 per month for credit card users, and provide instant access for the complete reports. (http://g2.wnd.com/)
WASHINGTON – Now that the predominantly ethnic-Russian residents of the Crimean Peninsula have voted to be annexed to Russia, Russian President Vladimir Putin, who pushed the effort after the overthrow of the democratically elected Ukrainian President Viktor Yanukovych, may be looking to take the rest of Ukraine because of its geo-strategic importance, according to Joseph Farah’s G2 Bulletin. (http://g2.wnd.com/)
According to the official count, 95 percent of those who voted in the referendum on the Crimean Peninsula chose to rejoin Russia.
Washington regards the referendum as illegal. Europeans are torn, especially those in the southeast who rely on natural gas that flows from Russia through Ukraine. There are concerns that Ukraine’s troubles are similar to the violent breakup of Yugoslavia.
As a justification for a takeover of all Ukraine, Putin may cite the close ties between the ultra-nationalist Chechens and the Muslim Tatar minority in the Crimean Peninsula.
Regional specialists, however, believe that while this strategy may work in the short term for Putin, using the Chechen card could create greater problems in the long run for the Russian leader.
Yanukovych was pro-Russian and sought refuge in Moscow following demonstrations in the western portion of Ukraine, centering in the country’s capital of Kiev. The protests turned violent and, despite concessions Yanukovych agreed to undertake, demonstrators attacked government buildings, taking over the capital.
With Yanukovych’s flight to Moscow, the Ukrainian parliament, surrounded by armed ultra-nationalist fighters, voted to form a new government under the leadership of interim Prime Minister Arseniy Yatsenyuk, who was in Washington last week to meet with President Barack Obama.
The demonstrators were primarily ultra-nationalists who took advantage of the split in Ukraine over Yanukovych’s decision not to join the European Union but to take up Putin’s offer of $15 billion and cuts in natural gas prices if Ukraine would instead join his Eurasian Union.
The ultra-nationalists, however, want neither to join the EU nor to be aligned with Russia.
In fact, they are anti-Russian to the point that the leader of one of the most prominent ultra-nationalist groups, the Ukrainian organization Pravy Sektor, or Right Sector, has called on Chechen Islamic leader Dokku Umarov, whose jihadists are battling Russians in Chechnya, to “ramp up your struggle.”
As WND recently reported (http://www.wnd.com/2014/03/russians-u-s-siding-with-neo-nazis/), Right Sector leader Dmitry Yarosh also has links to neo-Nazis in Europe.
The developments prompted Russian Foreign Minister Sergey Lavrov to say that the ultra-nationalist threat is the reason to prepare to move Russian troops into Crimea. Lavrov is concerned not only about the anti-Russian stance but that Yarosh’s forces might move into Crimea and into eastern Ukraine, where ethnic-Russians also a majority.
“Chechen involvement in Ukraine would have given Russia an additional reason for criticizing the new Ukrainian authorities, accusing them of ties to ‘terrorists,’” according to Mairbek Vatchagaev of the Washington think-tank Jamestown Foundation.
Linking the Tatars and the ultranationalists to the Chechen jihadist Umarov, who is labeled as a terrorist by the U.N. and the U.S., has given Moscow a means to look at the threat to ethnic Russians throughout all of Ukraine.
However, the U.S. has backed the new interim government featuring ultra-nationalists, who occupy key government positions in the interim Western-oriented government and maintain Chechen ties.
“It is obvious that whatever the future scenario in Ukraine, Chechens will be drawn into the conflict,” Vatchagaev said. “Moscow will need to realize that this strategy risks making the region even worse, since it may provide the Chechens with yet another front after Syria for acting on their anti-Russian sentiment.”
For the rest of this report, and full access to Joseph Farah’s G2 Bulletin, subscribe now.
Related stories:
“These 4 nations to be in new ‘Russian Empire’?” (http://www.wnd.com/2014/03/these-4-nations-to-be-in-new-russian-empire/)
“U.S., EU split on more sanctions for Moscow” (http://www.wnd.com/2014/03/u-s-eu-split-on-additional-sanctions-against-moscow/)
“Russia now flexing muscles toward Georgia” (http://www.wnd.com/2014/03/russia-now-flexing-muscles-toward-georgia/)
Is Putin trying to recreate the Soviet Union?
No, George W. Bush was right: He's a man who can be trusted
No, he's merely trying to enhance his own personal power
No, why would he want control of Muslim-dominated 'stan' nations?
No, one little peninsula does not an empire make
Yes, and it'll be more hammer than sickle
Yes, but it will include only the nations with high ethnic Russian populations
Yes, everyone knows Putin is hungry to be a superpower leader
Yes, it's like the biblical beast with the mortal wound returning
Other
View Results (http://www.wnd.com/2014/03/putin-poised-to-take-entire-ukraine/#ViewPollResults)
http://www.wnd.com/2014/03/putin-poised-to-take-entire-ukraine/
Crimean Forces Take Ukrainian Navy HQ
4:00 AM ET
(SEVASTOPOL, Crimea) — Crimea’s self-defense forces on Wednesday stormed the Ukrainian navy headquarters in the Black Sea port of Sevastopol, taking possession without resistance a day after Russia signed a treaty with local authorities to annex the region.
An Associated Press photographer witnessed several hundred self-defense forces take down the gate and make their way onto the headquarters’ premises. They then raised the Russian flag on the square by the headquarters.
The unarmed Crimean self-defense forces waited for an hour on the square before the moved to storm the headquarters, but Ukrainian servicemen did not offer any resistance. The AP photographer was able to enter the headquarters and saw the Crimean self-defense forces roaming around while the Ukrainian servicemen were packing up and leaving.
RECOMMENDED FOR YOU
(http://content.time.com/time/video/player/0,32068,2710684012001_2153580,00.html?iid=tabvidre circ)
by Taboola (http://www.taboola.com/en/popup?template=colorbox&taboola_utm_source=timeinc-time&taboola_utm_medium=bytaboola&taboola_utm_content=ab_text-links-1c_1x3:right-rail:)
1
World (http://time.com/world/) Pro-Russian Forces Seize Ukrainian Naval Base
Dan Kedmey (http://time.com/author/dan-kedmey/)
6:33 AM ET
http://timedotcom.files.wordpress.com/2014/03/2014-03-19t104750z_2031980145_gm1ea3j1-copy.jpg?w=1100&h=734&crop=1 A man holds a Russian flag on the roof of the naval headquarters in Sevastopol, March 19, 2014. Vasily Fedosenko—Reuters Hundreds of pro-Russia self-defense forces in Sevastopol, Crimea, the southern Ukrainian region claimed by President Vladimir Putin in a lengthy speech yesterday, swarmed into a square across from the Ukrainian Navy's headquarters and raised the Russian tricolor
http://timedotcom.files.wordpress.com/2014/03/time-pol-putin-crimea-russia-140318.jpg?w=560&h=374&crop=1More
It’s Not Just Putin: Russia’s Obsession With Crimea Is Centuries-Old
(http://time.com/29651/putin-crimea-russia-annexation/)Former U.S. Ambassador to USSR: Let Russia Take Crimea
(http://time.com/29107/former-u-s-ambassador-to-ussr-let-russia-take-crimea/)
Hundreds of Crimean self-defense forces stormed a Ukrainian naval base in the port of Sevastopol on Wednesday, one day after the fatal shooting of a Ukrainian officer marked the first violent outbreak in the three-week standoff.
The AP reports (http://bigstory.ap.org/article/russia-eu-hampers-talks-ukraine) that no shots were fired as hundreds of pro-Russian forces tore down the naval compound’s fences and swarmed into a square adjacent to the Ukrainian navy’s headquarters. According to an AP photographer on the scene, Ukrainian servicemen stood guard outside the building as the forces raised a Russian flag above the square.
The fatal shooting of a Ukrainian officer in the Crimean capital of Simferopol on Tuesday threatened to draw Russian and Ukrainian troops into open battle. Ukraine’s new government claimed the attackers wore Russian uniforms, though the reports could not be independently verified. Kiev reacted to the news by authorizing soldiers to use live fire against attackers, according (http://www.reuters.com/article/2014/03/19/us-ukraine-crisis-idUSBREA1Q1E820140319?feedType=RSS&feedName=topNews&utm_source=dlvr.it&utm_medium=twitter&dlvrit=992637) to Reuters, making standoffs outside of the Ukrainian bases all the more combustible.
Even as Ukraine’s prime minister darkly warned of a shift from a “political to a military stage” of the conflict, the political theater of Crimea’s annexation continued. Russian President Vladimir Putin, flanked by Crimea’s new leaders, formally signed a treaty of annexation of Crimea in a grand hall of the Kremlin on Tuesday. The borders have been formally redrawn, but the skirmishes at military bases continue.
http://time.com/29865/crimean-forces-storm-ukrainian-navy-hq/
Putin poised to take entire Ukraine
Risky move could backfire on Russian leader
Published: 12 hours ago F. Michael Maloof, staff writer for WND and G2Bulletin, is a former senior security policy analyst in the office of the secretary of defense.
http://www.wnd.com/files/2014/03/russian_troops_ukraine.jpg (http://www.wnd.com/2014/03/russian-troops-mass-at-border-with-ukraine/russian_troops_ukraine/)Russian troops in Ukraine
Editor’s Note: The following report is excerpted from Joseph Farah’s G2 Bulletin, (http://g2.wnd.com/)the premium online newsletter published by the founder of WND. Subscriptions are $99 a year or, for monthly trials, just $9.95 per month for credit card users, and provide instant access for the complete reports. (http://g2.wnd.com/)
WASHINGTON – Now that the predominantly ethnic-Russian residents of the Crimean Peninsula have voted to be annexed to Russia, Russian President Vladimir Putin, who pushed the effort after the overthrow of the democratically elected Ukrainian President Viktor Yanukovych, may be looking to take the rest of Ukraine because of its geo-strategic importance, according to Joseph Farah’s G2 Bulletin. (http://g2.wnd.com/)
According to the official count, 95 percent of those who voted in the referendum on the Crimean Peninsula chose to rejoin Russia.
Washington regards the referendum as illegal. Europeans are torn, especially those in the southeast who rely on natural gas that flows from Russia through Ukraine. There are concerns that Ukraine’s troubles are similar to the violent breakup of Yugoslavia.
As a justification for a takeover of all Ukraine, Putin may cite the close ties between the ultra-nationalist Chechens and the Muslim Tatar minority in the Crimean Peninsula.
Regional specialists, however, believe that while this strategy may work in the short term for Putin, using the Chechen card could create greater problems in the long run for the Russian leader.
Yanukovych was pro-Russian and sought refuge in Moscow following demonstrations in the western portion of Ukraine, centering in the country’s capital of Kiev. The protests turned violent and, despite concessions Yanukovych agreed to undertake, demonstrators attacked government buildings, taking over the capital.
With Yanukovych’s flight to Moscow, the Ukrainian parliament, surrounded by armed ultra-nationalist fighters, voted to form a new government under the leadership of interim Prime Minister Arseniy Yatsenyuk, who was in Washington last week to meet with President Barack Obama.
The demonstrators were primarily ultra-nationalists who took advantage of the split in Ukraine over Yanukovych’s decision not to join the European Union but to take up Putin’s offer of $15 billion and cuts in natural gas prices if Ukraine would instead join his Eurasian Union.
The ultra-nationalists, however, want neither to join the EU nor to be aligned with Russia.
In fact, they are anti-Russian to the point that the leader of one of the most prominent ultra-nationalist groups, the Ukrainian organization Pravy Sektor, or Right Sector, has called on Chechen Islamic leader Dokku Umarov, whose jihadists are battling Russians in Chechnya, to “ramp up your struggle.”
As WND recently reported (http://www.wnd.com/2014/03/russians-u-s-siding-with-neo-nazis/), Right Sector leader Dmitry Yarosh also has links to neo-Nazis in Europe.
The developments prompted Russian Foreign Minister Sergey Lavrov to say that the ultra-nationalist threat is the reason to prepare to move Russian troops into Crimea. Lavrov is concerned not only about the anti-Russian stance but that Yarosh’s forces might move into Crimea and into eastern Ukraine, where ethnic-Russians also a majority.
“Chechen involvement in Ukraine would have given Russia an additional reason for criticizing the new Ukrainian authorities, accusing them of ties to ‘terrorists,’” according to Mairbek Vatchagaev of the Washington think-tank Jamestown Foundation.
Linking the Tatars and the ultranationalists to the Chechen jihadist Umarov, who is labeled as a terrorist by the U.N. and the U.S., has given Moscow a means to look at the threat to ethnic Russians throughout all of Ukraine.
However, the U.S. has backed the new interim government featuring ultra-nationalists, who occupy key government positions in the interim Western-oriented government and maintain Chechen ties.
“It is obvious that whatever the future scenario in Ukraine, Chechens will be drawn into the conflict,” Vatchagaev said. “Moscow will need to realize that this strategy risks making the region even worse, since it may provide the Chechens with yet another front after Syria for acting on their anti-Russian sentiment.”
For the rest of this report, and full access to Joseph Farah’s G2 Bulletin, subscribe now.
Related stories:
“These 4 nations to be in new ‘Russian Empire’?” (http://www.wnd.com/2014/03/these-4-nations-to-be-in-new-russian-empire/)
“U.S., EU split on more sanctions for Moscow” (http://www.wnd.com/2014/03/u-s-eu-split-on-additional-sanctions-against-moscow/)
“Russia now flexing muscles toward Georgia” (http://www.wnd.com/2014/03/russia-now-flexing-muscles-toward-georgia/)
Is Putin trying to recreate the Soviet Union?
No, George W. Bush was right: He's a man who can be trusted
No, he's merely trying to enhance his own personal power
No, why would he want control of Muslim-dominated 'stan' nations?
No, one little peninsula does not an empire make
Yes, and it'll be more hammer than sickle
Yes, but it will include only the nations with high ethnic Russian populations
Yes, everyone knows Putin is hungry to be a superpower leader
Yes, it's like the biblical beast with the mortal wound returning
Other
View Results (http://www.wnd.com/2014/03/putin-poised-to-take-entire-ukraine/#ViewPollResults)
http://www.wnd.com/2014/03/putin-poised-to-take-entire-ukraine/
Crimean Forces Take Ukrainian Navy HQ
4:00 AM ET
(SEVASTOPOL, Crimea) — Crimea’s self-defense forces on Wednesday stormed the Ukrainian navy headquarters in the Black Sea port of Sevastopol, taking possession without resistance a day after Russia signed a treaty with local authorities to annex the region.
An Associated Press photographer witnessed several hundred self-defense forces take down the gate and make their way onto the headquarters’ premises. They then raised the Russian flag on the square by the headquarters.
The unarmed Crimean self-defense forces waited for an hour on the square before the moved to storm the headquarters, but Ukrainian servicemen did not offer any resistance. The AP photographer was able to enter the headquarters and saw the Crimean self-defense forces roaming around while the Ukrainian servicemen were packing up and leaving.
RECOMMENDED FOR YOU
(http://content.time.com/time/video/player/0,32068,2710684012001_2153580,00.html?iid=tabvidre circ)
by Taboola (http://www.taboola.com/en/popup?template=colorbox&taboola_utm_source=timeinc-time&taboola_utm_medium=bytaboola&taboola_utm_content=ab_text-links-1c_1x3:right-rail:)
1
World (http://time.com/world/) Pro-Russian Forces Seize Ukrainian Naval Base
Dan Kedmey (http://time.com/author/dan-kedmey/)
6:33 AM ET
http://timedotcom.files.wordpress.com/2014/03/2014-03-19t104750z_2031980145_gm1ea3j1-copy.jpg?w=1100&h=734&crop=1 A man holds a Russian flag on the roof of the naval headquarters in Sevastopol, March 19, 2014. Vasily Fedosenko—Reuters Hundreds of pro-Russia self-defense forces in Sevastopol, Crimea, the southern Ukrainian region claimed by President Vladimir Putin in a lengthy speech yesterday, swarmed into a square across from the Ukrainian Navy's headquarters and raised the Russian tricolor
http://timedotcom.files.wordpress.com/2014/03/time-pol-putin-crimea-russia-140318.jpg?w=560&h=374&crop=1More
It’s Not Just Putin: Russia’s Obsession With Crimea Is Centuries-Old
(http://time.com/29651/putin-crimea-russia-annexation/)Former U.S. Ambassador to USSR: Let Russia Take Crimea
(http://time.com/29107/former-u-s-ambassador-to-ussr-let-russia-take-crimea/)
Hundreds of Crimean self-defense forces stormed a Ukrainian naval base in the port of Sevastopol on Wednesday, one day after the fatal shooting of a Ukrainian officer marked the first violent outbreak in the three-week standoff.
The AP reports (http://bigstory.ap.org/article/russia-eu-hampers-talks-ukraine) that no shots were fired as hundreds of pro-Russian forces tore down the naval compound’s fences and swarmed into a square adjacent to the Ukrainian navy’s headquarters. According to an AP photographer on the scene, Ukrainian servicemen stood guard outside the building as the forces raised a Russian flag above the square.
The fatal shooting of a Ukrainian officer in the Crimean capital of Simferopol on Tuesday threatened to draw Russian and Ukrainian troops into open battle. Ukraine’s new government claimed the attackers wore Russian uniforms, though the reports could not be independently verified. Kiev reacted to the news by authorizing soldiers to use live fire against attackers, according (http://www.reuters.com/article/2014/03/19/us-ukraine-crisis-idUSBREA1Q1E820140319?feedType=RSS&feedName=topNews&utm_source=dlvr.it&utm_medium=twitter&dlvrit=992637) to Reuters, making standoffs outside of the Ukrainian bases all the more combustible.
Even as Ukraine’s prime minister darkly warned of a shift from a “political to a military stage” of the conflict, the political theater of Crimea’s annexation continued. Russian President Vladimir Putin, flanked by Crimea’s new leaders, formally signed a treaty of annexation of Crimea in a grand hall of the Kremlin on Tuesday. The borders have been formally redrawn, but the skirmishes at military bases continue.
http://time.com/29865/crimean-forces-storm-ukrainian-navy-hq/