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The Pushback in Ukraine
NYT ^ | May 23, 2014 | Adrian Karatnycky

Posted on 05/23/2014 10:15:10 AM PDT by 1rudeboy

KIEV, Ukraine — A few short weeks ago the Kiev I visited was awash in talk of terrorist plots and civil war.

The lightning-quick annexation of Crimea by Russian troops had created much anxiety. People feared that the commemoration of May 9, the day on which Ukraine and Russia celebrate the Soviet Union’s victory in World War II, would encourage pro-Moscow insurgents to seize government buildings beyond their strongholds in eastern Ukraine. Hundreds of well-armed and well-trained men, many with links to Russia, had already moved into hard-scrabble industrial cities near the Russian border. There had been violent clashes between Ukrainian patriots and pro-Russian separatists in Odessa, in the south.

The mood today is markedly different. Voters throughout Ukraine will go to the polls for the presidential election on Sunday amid clear signs that major unrest is abating and that President Vladimir V. Putin is backing away from his gambit to annex more Ukrainian territory.

This is a remarkable reversal. After Russia’s flash invasion of Crimea, Mr. Putin had seemed to be on the march. It is believed that, emboldened by the weak Western response and rising popularity at home, he then approved the offensive in eastern Ukraine. He reportedly sent in Russian fighters to support the ethnic Russian minority and Russian speakers in the region, apparently in the hope of triggering a separatist insurgency and eventually splitting up Ukraine — or at least weakening the new non-Moscow-aligned government in Kiev.

But the effort soon stalled. If Moscow’s so-called green men were largely welcomed when they swept into Crimea, its proxy fighters got little assistance from locals when they slipped into eastern Ukraine.

(Excerpt) Read more at nytimes.com ...


TOPICS: Editorial; Foreign Affairs; News/Current Events; Russia
KEYWORDS: ukraine
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To: caww
80 year old woman's home is lost from last nights bombing by Ukraine Military


21 posted on 05/23/2014 12:31:55 PM PDT by caww
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To: tcrlaf
Nazi's should not mess with the old folk......they remember.


22 posted on 05/23/2014 12:33:55 PM PDT by caww
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To: tcrlaf
Nazi's should not mess with the old folk......they remember.


23 posted on 05/23/2014 12:33:56 PM PDT by caww
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To: McGruff
I wonder who John McCain is campaigning for.

We know who the Russians supported - Communist North Vietnam, which killed almost 60K Americans and tortured McCain to the extent that he can't raise his arms above his shoulders. Patton amusing take on Russians:

The difficulty in understanding the Russian is that we do not take cognizance of the fact that he is not a European, but an Asiatic, and therefore thinks deviously. We can no more understand a Russian than a Chinaman or a Japanese, and from what I have seen of them, I have no particular desire to understand them, except to ascertain how much lead or iron it takes to kill them. In addition to his other Asiatic characteristics, the Russian have no regard for human life and is an all out son of bitch, barbarian, and chronic drunk.

24 posted on 05/23/2014 4:50:31 PM PDT by Zhang Fei (Let us pray that peace be now restored to the world and that God will preserve it always.)
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To: demshateGod
I wonder if Adrian Karatnycky plays chess. I’m pretty sure Putin does.

Well, yeah, but his rooks are T-80's.

25 posted on 05/23/2014 6:15:25 PM PDT by lentulusgracchus
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To: lentulusgracchus

Someone should market a chess game with pieces of modern militaria like that, I think it could work.


26 posted on 05/23/2014 6:19:32 PM PDT by GeronL (Vote for Conservatives not for Republicans!)
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To: caww; Admin Moderator
IMO Yulia she-devil is behind this as well as she knows the EAst opposes her.

Russian troll ..... JR know you're posting on his website?

27 posted on 05/23/2014 6:19:53 PM PDT by lentulusgracchus
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To: ghost of stonewall jackson
certainly better than the thief tymoshenko

So Putin grabbing the whole thing would be better?

Annnnnd we find another one.

28 posted on 05/23/2014 6:23:39 PM PDT by lentulusgracchus
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To: GeronL
I'm sure it's been done .... I've seen them, with a medieval theme, and iirc with a Napoleonic theme as well.
29 posted on 05/23/2014 6:32:16 PM PDT by lentulusgracchus
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To: GeronL
Someone should market a chess game with pieces of modern militaria like that, I think it could work.

It would be a cool idea. I'd like to see a World War II version too. BTW, I do have an old tank boardgame where you and your opponent drew pegs and you advance or push back the difference and then pull a string to simulate land mines knock tanks off the battlefield. IIRC, one side had M-48/60 tanks the other had T-55/62's (it has been a while), well you got to remember it was made in the 1970's.
30 posted on 05/24/2014 4:16:53 PM PDT by Nowhere Man (Mom I miss you! (8-20-1938 to 11-18-2013) Cancer sucks)
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To: 1rudeboy

Seems to me While everyone is considering keeping the rest of Ukraine a victory, Putin is laughing all the way to the Crimea.


31 posted on 05/25/2014 10:49:52 PM PDT by Williams
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To: ghost of stonewall jackson

Pot. Kettle. Black.

Putins net worth. : 70 Billion
Annual salary: 187 k.
Not bad for a former KGB Tovarish.

But you Putin ass kissers always forget that little tidbit.


32 posted on 05/27/2014 2:52:20 AM PDT by Kozak ("It may be dangerous to be America's enemy, but to be America's friend is fatal" Henry Kissinger)
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To: caww

The “Nazis “ are Putin, his LGM, and the ass kissers around here.
The Ukrainian people just pulled off an election under great duress, and did it with dignity.


33 posted on 05/27/2014 2:55:12 AM PDT by Kozak ("It may be dangerous to be America's enemy, but to be America's friend is fatal" Henry Kissinger)
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To: Kozak

Does the 70 billion include Putin’s share of the spoils of the western Crimea offshore gas platforms and territorial gas fields transferred to Gazprom at annexation?


34 posted on 05/27/2014 3:05:10 AM PDT by Justa
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To: Justa

No that’s pre rape of Crimea.


35 posted on 05/27/2014 3:36:23 AM PDT by Kozak ("It may be dangerous to be America's enemy, but to be America's friend is fatal" Henry Kissinger)
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To: Kozak

How is Putin able to hide all that money? I assume it’s in some sort of shell corporation/s? And what banks are involved?


36 posted on 05/27/2014 8:34:20 AM PDT by FBD
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To: Kozak

Legally what they just did was break their own Constitution from the get go by an intitial violent coup against an elected President...like him or not.

Now they had another Illegal Election in the midst of war, which is also illegal to do.

Alas though, this IS how Ukraine Governs from one revolution to another..and they are not finished yet with those. Maidan has been in the square preparing for the next one (under sweet little Yulia)... because those governing now and in the past will never be accepted as long as Solvada/Private Sector is not in control and allowed representation.


37 posted on 05/28/2014 11:55:00 AM PDT by caww
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To: caww

Nonsense. They tossed out a crook and a traitor by overwhelming vote of Parliament. If only we had the balls to do so.
They then had an election, monitored by multiple international agencies. And they overwhelmingly elected a moderate Russian speaking Ukrainian.
The boogie an extreme “ right” got a tiny fraction of the vote. The only people disappointed are Putin, his LGM and some of his ass kissers.


38 posted on 05/28/2014 11:36:14 PM PDT by Kozak ("It may be dangerous to be America's enemy, but to be America's friend is fatal" Henry Kissinger)
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To: Kozak
I do believe you will find the truth once all the dust settles...meanwhile Keiv is not getting the world support the MSM would like all to think....Protest against Ukraine's Yats visit to Germany greeted Ukraine prime-minister Yatsenyuk yelling "Murderer!" with banners "Kiev hands-off Donbass!"


39 posted on 05/29/2014 12:03:00 PM PDT by caww
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To: Kozak

right...they fire at his car and threaten his family..while they violently take over the administration offices and set fire to their city. That is a Coup...look it up.


40 posted on 05/29/2014 12:12:34 PM PDT by caww
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