Friday, October 21, 2022

Some Links Related to the Russia-Ukraine Conflict

21 November 2013 - a large protest within Kyiv erupts due to unhappiness with the decision to align more with Russia than western Europe.

4 February 2014 - a phone call between Assistant US Secretary of State Victoria Nuland and US Ambassador to Ukraine Geoffrey Pyatt is leaked to Youtube.  In this call Nuland expresses a preference that Arseney Yatsenyuk be installed as Prime Minister in the post Yanukovych government.

20 February 2014 - a massacre of dozens of protesters occurs and is soon attributed to the police forces of Yanukovych.  A detailed study was later conducted and published by Ivan Katchonovski that purports to show that the victims were killed by anti-government pro-Maidan supporters (full paper here) as part of a false flag operation.  Video description of what happened here.

22 February 2014 - Yanukovych flees to Donetsk, later to Russia.

27 February 2014 - Yatsenyuk is installed as Prime Minister.

16 March 2014 - in Crimea a referendum is held to be absorbed by Russia.  It passes with more than 95% support.  It is roundly condemned in the west as a sham, though subsequent polling from a German research company showed that one year later the support for the referendum remained extremely high, comparable to the rate of support indicated in the referendum.

2 May 2014 - Right wing Ukrainian elements burn dozens of anti-Maidan protesters alive by setting fire to the Trade Unions Hall in Odessa, which is part of eastern Ukraine that is predominantly Russian.

5 May 2014 - the Azov Battalion is formed.  They are a unit of the National Guard of Ukraine that adheres to Nazi ideology.  They would play the key role in the Ukrainian war effort in Donbass.  They were incorporated into the formal Ukrainian military in November 2014.  Nazi elements in Ukraine would later be downplayed in western sources like it is fake Russian propaganda, but it was widely discussed prior to February 2022, for instance here, here, here.

12 February 2015 - the Minsk II agreements are signed, which provide a framework for peace in Ukraine.  The Donbass regions would remain part of Ukraine but would be granted some autonomy.

25 September 2015 - video is released of international relations expert John Mearsheimer shockingly accurately predicting the future of Ukraine.

14 July 2016 - UN news report discusses the release of a UN study documenting widespread killings by Ukrainian forces in Donbass of civilians mostly due to indiscriminate shelling of residential areas.

30 December 2016 - Senators Lindsay Graham, John McCain, and Amy Klobuchar meet with Ukrainian troops where Graham declares "Your fight is our fight.  2017 will be the year of offense.  All of us will go back to Washington and we will push the case against Russia.  Enough of a Russian aggression.  It is time for them to pay a heavier price.  Our fight is not with the Russian people but with Putin. Our promise to you is to take your cause to Washington, inform the American people of your bravery, and make the case against Putin to the world."

28 July 2017 - Documentary starring Oliver Stone, Ukraine on Fire, is released that makes the case that the Euromaidan protests were exploited by members of the US government to orchestrate a coup and compel Ukraine to embrace the neoliberal economic aid package preferred by the US.  In 2019 a follow up documentary, Revealing Ukraine, was released that discussed more evidence related to the coup.  George Friedman, director of Stratfor, would call it the most blatant coup in history.  Ray McGovern says the same.

24 April 2019 - the Pentagon commissioned report Overextending and Off Balancing Russia is released by the Rand Corporation.  It proposes providing lethal aid to Ukraine, but warns that this could provoke a Russian invasion.  The lethal aid was subsequently provided.

20 May 2019 - Zelensky assumes office as president, having been elected on a peace with Russia platform.  He is immediately threatened with death by extremist right wingers if he attempts to pursue this path and is forced to back down.

4 December 2021 - the Biden administration says Russia will invade Ukraine in early 2022.

9 December 2021 - Scott Ritter does not believe Russia will invade.

18 December 2021 - Moscow warns that it may escalate if its concerns about NATO expansion into Ukraine are not addressed.

5 January 2022 - Colonel Douglas MacGregor believes Russia will invade, to the surprise of Aaron Mate, who is among my most admired journalists.

5 February 2022 - leader of a Ukrainian neo-Nazi organizations says were it not for the Nazis Maidan would have been a gay pride parade.

15 February 2022 - Russian representatives angrily deny any intention to invade Ukraine.

18 February 2022 - Moscow expresses alarm at sudden increase in shelling of Donbass by Ukraine and criticizes the Organization for Security and Co-Operation in Europe (OCSC) for glossing over it.

21 Feb 2022 - Alex Christoforou and Alexander Mercouris of the Duran seem skeptical of an invasion, but discuss how the renewed and more intense Ukrainian offensive that is getting underway in Donbass may punch through defensive lines and this could affect Moscow's current intentions.

16-22 February 2022 - the OCSE is recording the surge in shelling of Donbass that Moscow had raised.

24 February 2022 - Russia launches what they call a Special Military Operation.

11 March 2022 - the Pentagon releases a fact sheet describing the biological research facilities it funds in Ukraine, claiming that it is for peaceful purposes.  Despite their peaceful nature Victoria Nuland is very concerned the Russians will gain control of these facilities.

28 March 2022 - the Washington Post admits that Ukrainian forces are using civilian areas as a staging ground, undermining any future claim that Russia has committed war crimes by attacking civilian areas.

Early April 2022 - Russian and Ukrainian negotiators tentatively agree on a peace deal during meetings in Istanbul.

9 April 2022 - Boris Johnson arrives in Kyiv and pressures Zelensky to stop negotiating.

June 2022 - Former Ukrainian President Poroshenko admits that the Minsk agreement was used as a distraction to buy time to build his military.  Interesting leaked audio from Silvio Berlusconi reveals he blames Ukraine for this war and their unwillingness to abide by the terms of the peace agreement they signed.

No comments: