Surrounded by Russian militiamen, a Ukrainian officer says his outpost is cut off

Washington Post ^ | 10 Mar 14 | Pam Constable

[elhombrelibre]

BAKHCHYSARAY, Ukraine – Lt. Col. Sergei Sadovnik, a tall Ukrainian army officer, emerged nervously Monday afternoon from the front gate of a military transport base in this Crimean village, surrounded by grim-faced Russian militiamen. Just inside the gate, several dozen armed men could be seen, some with masks and Kalashnikov rifles.

Sadovnik, the base commander, tried to be casual and humorous about the situation, but no one else was laughing. He carried no weapon, and there were no insignia visible on his uniform. His face looked slightly bruised. Asked by journalists about rumors that he had been kidnapped, he shook his head.

[Fido969]

Russian militamen?

[elhombrelibre]

Yes, pro-Putin militias.

[Berlin_Freeper]

Putin and state-sponsored terrorism

[Samogon]

He was caught DUI, arrested, and “worked with”. Considering the situation there, I am pleasantly surprised there are very few acts of treason, all of them under extreme duress.

[elhombrelibre]

Yes, as you probably know, Putin still denies that there are any regular Russian forces in Ukraine. I’m sure that pleases the Putinista pack, lying being such a commendable trait in a leader.

[elhombrelibre]

Treason? What do you mean?

[Berlin_Freeper]

A rule of thumb for understanding Vladimir Putin's propaganda regarding the Ukraine is to assume the truth is usually the opposite of what he says. Hence, the Nazis and anti-Semites in the conflict are not, as Putin says, part of the revolutionary, anti-communist forces in Ukraine, but rather in the Putin camp. In this case, National Review has run a very revealing article, "The Eurasianist Threat," by Robert Zubrin, on an influential Russian thinker and Putin adviser by the name of Aleksandr Dugin.

Blogger Anton Shekhovtsov has published an article that includes a photograph of Dugin and former Ku Klux Klan leader David Duke.

[elhombrelibre]

Yes, I’ve been seeing the same reports. He is, after all, a former KGB man. I’m beginning to wonder about a lot of Putin’s supporters. Ties to the Klan would make sense.

[Samogon]

The “kidnapped” officer surrendered his base with all the equipment and people to Russians. The WaPo is a little vague on that.

[elhombrelibre]

Putin basically has his own stabbed in the back theory about why communism collapsed too.

[dynachrome]

via zerohedge.com:

“Mere days ahead of Crimea’s referendum to join Russia (or not) and following reports of shots fired between Russian and Ukrainian forces, the Ukraine Defense Ministry reports (via Facebook):

•*UKRAINE LIEUTENANT COLONEL DEFECTS TO RUSSIAN FORCES: MINISTRY
•*UKRAINE OFFICER IN CHARGE OF CRIMEA UNIT DEFECTS: UKR MINISTRY
•*OFFICER CONVINCES ‘SEVERAL’ SOLDIERS TO DEFECT: DEF MINISTRY
Lt. Colonel Sadovnyk is the officer reported as ‘kidnapped’ yesterday in Bakhchisarai. It would appear Crimea is annexing itself as this comes just one week after the head of Ukraine’s Navy defected.

Via UKRInform,”

[Berlin_Freeper]

Russia's President Vladimir Putin has described the collapse of the Soviet Union as "the greatest geopolitical catastrophe" of the 20th century.

[elhombrelibre]

It’s a lot easier to defect when a gun is pointed at your head.

[MUDDOG]

The Alamoski it’s not.

[Dalberg-Acton]

Do we have some sort of mutual defense treaty with Ukraine? If not, how is it our problem?

[Vermont Lt]

There being a need for a well regulated militia...Better Call Vlad!

[elhombrelibre]

Yeah. You know he still denies those Spetnaz are Russian troops. He says they’re “militias” who are regular volunteers.