Ukraine Thread

[Husar]

Funny that one point is in Russian, another in English. That is for inner consumption it is a Ukrainian dish, for foreigners it is a Russian. Lost in translation?

Yes, it will even out once Russia joins the EU.

[a completely inoffensive name]

Can some one explain to me what the "western" propaganda has told me about Russia and Putin? After months of following this thread I still don't understand the case that Putin is somehow not a terrible person who is implementing aggressive expansionist policies.

[Montmorency]

Well, the terrible person part goes without saying, and doesn't add much to any discussion. I mean, even FDR was a terrible person, and he's one of the greatest leaders who ever lived.

Nevertheless,

[Husar]

Can some one explain to me what the "western" propaganda has told me about Russia and Putin? After months of following this thread I still don't understand the case that Putin is somehow not a terrible person who is implementing aggressive expansionist policies.

Because you actually believe all the western propaganda that there are supposedly russian soldiers in eastern ukraine and all these other lies about weapon convoys etc. None of which was proven and much of which was fake. Plenty of german citizens raised plenty of formal protest against these lies with german public TV stations. The TV stations ignored most of it, crying as though all these formal protests stopped them from working.

There is plenty of controversy about little things the media just didn't mention or unbased assumptions they made:
https://krautreporter.de/270--beschw...nd-zdf-zusetzt

It's all in German, unfortunately for you, the complaints are listed below the article and include the following:

A report claimed to show a picture of how russian tanks supposedly drive through a city under the eyes of media people.
Complaint: It's actually an archive picture from Caucasus 2008.
Reaction: Mistake has been corrected, apology on Twitter, it was just a slip-up.

A reporter claims two people were killed by separatists in Krasnoarmeysk.
Complaint: Actually the two people were killed by ukrainian soldiers, conclusive proof for which can be found on the internet.
Reaction: The mistake was admitted, they had to apologize and removed the original report.

There was also something about "captured russian tanks" where people complained because those were obviously ukrainian tanks and so on. Quite a few of the complaints are about minor details or strange/bogus complaints, but there are quite a few people who think our media are inherently biased on the issue and rather report the anti-Putin spin on the issue even when the situation isn't quite that black and white. Needless to say, the USA have also not managed to make a lot of friends around the world, don't get me started on what some south americans and others post on Facebook and some people think the US are just using Europe to further their own goals while Europe will have to take the brunt of the damage. Which is also an issue regarding TTIP, which will, according to some analyses, destroy a lot of jobs in Europe and create a lot in the USA. Now you may say the USA have a right to care only about themselves, but then I'll reply that Europeans have the same right in return. And that's why some here would prefer a cooperation with Russia rather than the USA. Obviously the 51st state is a special island and doesn't belong to Europe according to itself anyway.

Oh yeah, remember that time when there was conclusive proof for Iraqi WMDs all over the western media (supplied by the US) and Putin said they don't have any?
Credibility is not something you get by writing "good guy" onto your jackboots.

[Viking]

None of which was proven

We even have names of such Russian soldiers.

Anton Tumanov gave up his life for his country - but his country won’t say where, and it won’t say how.

His mother knows. She knows that Mr Tumanov, a 20 year-old junior sergeant in the Russian army, was killed in eastern Ukraine, torn apart in a rocket attack on August 13.

Yelena Tumanova, 41, learned these bare facts about her son’s death from one of his comrades, who saw him get hit and scooped up his body.

His death certificate, signed at a defence ministry forensic-medicine centre in Rostov-on-Don in southwest Russia on August 18, records that he died from an “explosion injury”, receiving “multiple shrapnel wounds to the lower limbs” that resulted in “acute, massive blood loss”. The certificate leaves unticked a box saying the cause of his injuries was “military hostilities”, preferring instead “origin not established”.

If 'proof' to you is Putin saying that he died there, then good luck.

[Husar]

We even have names of such Russian soldiers.

If 'proof' to you is Putin saying that he died there, then good luck.

Yeah, but it's not Putin's fault what they do there in their free time.

[Viking]

Yeah, but it's not Putin's fault what they do there in their free time.

Well, yes. It was a French beach holiday by allied soldiers that was the beginning of the end for Hitler.

[Montmorency]

Well, yes. It was a French beach holiday by allied soldiers that was the beginning of the end for Hitler.

This is proven false by the fact that the bulk of them chose Normandy over the Riviera.

[Kralizec]

Well, yes. It was a French beach holiday by allied soldiers that was the beginning of the end for Hitler.

Indeed. Just like how in the Korean war the communist north managed to turn the tide in the middle of the summer. Hundreds of thousands of Chinese tourists, all eager to lend a hand.

[Gilrandir]

Because you actually believe all the western propaganda that there are supposedly russian soldiers in eastern ukraine and all these other lies about weapon convoys etc. None of which was proven and much of which was fake.

So when in late August the separatists were beaten on all fronts and liberation of Donbas was a question of a couple of weeks (admitted by Girkin himself - sure, you believe HIM?), all of a sudden they, alone and unaided, launched a prodigious counter attack and encircled Ukrainian army at Ilovaysk, evicted them from Savur Mohyla and expelled from Luhansk, some districts of which had been already under Ukrainian control.
I saw weather(and not only weather)-beaten soldiers - and I have no reason not to trust them - who said they were negotiating withdrawal of the encircled troops with RUSSIAN OFFICERS, who were procrastinating for quite a while expecting orders "from high above", as they put it.
And earlier, the storming of the central police department in Kramatorsk was done by untrained Ukrainan rebels?
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=RLX8KlgmUN8
I have already mentioned a special accent and a shibboleth revealing their Russian origin.
But, you are expecting Putin's speech which would directly claim the presence of his troops in Ukraine. Well, he may do it some day. In his memoirs.
As for the convoys, every time a new one arrives Ukrainian soldiers report more intense shelling of their positions. The last one was in Ukraine a couple of days ago and today the quantity of shellings was twice as much and four soldiers were killed.

There was also something about "captured russian tanks" where people complained because those were obviously ukrainian tanks and so on.

Yes, sure, all the tanks, BMWs, BMPs, and other vehicles as well as ammo are being mined by the separatists in weapon-rich deposits under fertile Donbas soil. Or, as an option, they constantly capture/recieve new ones from the Ukrainians, then take them to Russia and then to Ukraine again. The latter event was more than once detected by OSCE missions.

Oh yeah, remember that time when there was conclusive proof for Iraqi WMDs all over the western media (supplied by the US) and Putin said they don't have any?

Oh yeah, remember that time when Putin said there weren't any Russian soldiers in Crimea and then admitted it. Thus, we must believe whatever he is saying and will say in future.

Here is what options Soros sees for European strategy on Ukraine (and Russia).
http://www.nybooks.com/articles/arch...escue-ukraine/

[CrossLOPER]

Can some one explain to me what the "western" propaganda has told me about Russia and Putin? After months of following this thread I still don't understand the case that Putin is somehow not a terrible person who is implementing aggressive expansionist policies.

Context is a thing for the headsick.