There is an issue with the zoo animals (click here) and their relocation. If the animals cannot be relocated soon they will have to be euthanized because of the danger they pose to citizens if their enclosures fail due to shelling by Russia. The average Ukrainian is not equipped to deal with a hungry lion, tiger or bear. So, in fear of further instability there needs to be an effort to remove them or they must be euthanized.
That is what I thought I would be discussing and then I ran across this and it begs for attention to THE TRUTH. The idea there was ethnic cleansing in Urkraine is a lot of hogwash.
A month and a half into Russia's war in Ukraine, (click here) Moscow's envoy to Washington has outlined to Newsweek his country's reasoning for launching what it has deemed a "special military operation" against its neighbor, and detailed the demands that, if satisfied, could end the conflict involving Europe's two largest countries.
And as Kyiv (spelled Kiev by Russia) accused the Kremlin of conducting "war crimes" to the extent of "genocide," Russia's ambassador to the United States, Anatoly Antonov, argued it was Ukraine's alleged ethnic cleansing, along with its bid to join the U.S.-led NATO Western military alliance, that fueled the war....
...The senior Russian diplomat said the events of February 24 (2014) had roots eight years earlier, when the uprising known to its supporters as the Euromaidan toppled a Ukrainian government with close ties to Moscow and put into power a pro-West administration seeking closer ties with NATO and the European Union....
For Russia the war in Ukraine started in 2014. I hope everyone noted the day of February 24, 2014. Eight years later on that exact day Russia launched an invasion into Ukraine. Russia, like al Qaeda, likes to instill psychological damage to those they want to dominate.
The Ukrainians see this rendition of Russia very differently.
May 2019
In late November 2013, (click here) Ukrainians took to the streets in peaceful protest after then-president Viktor Yanukovych chose not to sign an agreement that would have integrated the country more closely with the European Union.
As the protests in Kyiv’s Independence Square, or Maidan, continued into 2014, the government began cracking down on the demonstrators. The size of the protests only grew in reaction and turned into what was termed “the revolution of dignity.” Those who remained on the Maidan risked assault, kidnapping, unlawful arrest, and loss of their jobs. On January 16, the government introduced a series of repressive laws severely restricting civil society and the right to protest. On January 22, the first protesters were killed in clashes in Kyiv; in all, over 100 mostly civilian protesters died, the majority on February 20 and 21.
On February 22, after President Yanukovych had fled the country, parliament voted to oust him and hold new elections. On May 25, Ukrainians elected Petro Poroshenko as president. After October elections, a new pro-reform coalition government came into power in December 2014....
I find it interesting that one of the conditions Russia holds dear to pretending to agree to a ceasefire and if that holds a treaty between Russia and Ukraine, is the CONSTITUTIONAL element in the Ukraine Constitution that states it will never join NATO. It isn't the Ukrainians seeking to change their constitution, it is Russia that is seeking to change the Ukrainian Consitution. Why is that interesting? Because the Ukrainian Constitution is at the heart of the protests in Ukraine. Pro-Russian influences in Ukraine were/are corrupt and chronically assaulted the Ukrainian Constitution to remove power from the country and empower Russia.
The desire for an economic relationship with the European Union was a long time in coming. Ukraine wanted to not just trade with their established partners, but, with Europe and Russia as well. It wanted a vibrant economy that would improve the lives of the Ukrainians and provide for a far more diverse economy. All that "Europe" thinking Russia saw as a threat.
Under Yanukovych Ukraine was disarmed of it's national military and replaced quite covertly by militias with loyality to the oligarches. These militias became the method to control the cities and their people. There was no national defense, Russia would provide that should Ukraine be invaded. It is almost laughable that Putin could not bear the idea that Ukraine was trading with Europe.
The protests and the oppression or should I say attempted oppression of them by Yanukovych resulted in stronger and stronger protests. The people in the Euromaidan in February 2014 already were weeded out of those most vigorous about their freedom from corruption. They were threatened with loss of jobs and all kinds of punishments for even protesting the decision by Yanukovych to end any relationship with the EU. Those demonstrators were prepared to die for their freedom. Some did. There are at least 100 deaths of Ukrainians attributed to that protest. That is a lot of people to die in a protest.
The agreements between the EU and Ukraine stated long before 2014. They began in somewhere around 2005.
During the EU-Ukraine Summit held in Paris in September 2008, the parties reached an understanding and accorded that the new enhanced agreement would be known as the Association Agreement.
Twenty one rounds of negotiations on the Association Agreement were held between 2007 and 2012. Eighteen of negotiation rounds were focused on the chapter of the Deep and Comprehensive Free Trade Area.
The conclusion of the negotiations on the EU-Ukraine Association Agreement had been announced at the EU-Ukraine Summit on December 19, 2011. This Agreement is more extensive in comparison with similar agreements concluded between the EU and other Central or Eastern European countries.
On March 30, 2012 the EU and the Ukrainian counterparts initialled the Association Agreement in order to further strengthen relations and cooperation. Initialling of the chapter on Deep and Comprehensive Free Trade Area was held on July 19, 2012....
So, the idea that something radical had occurred in February 2014 is Russian propaganda. What occured in The Maidan that killed 100 protestors was a long awaited movement to seek economic relationships with Europe. Quite frankly, Yanukovych was demanding the end of those economic dreams and an adherence to Russian standards and nothing else. That didn't go over well. Yanukovych was removed from the presidency after he self-exiled from a very plush presidential palace. To say there was corruption was to witness the lavish lifestyle of Yanukovych compared to that of the people. What was occuring was a slow creep of autocracy. The people knew it. They didn't want it.
After Yanukovych left and there was an election there was no pro-Russian candidate elected. The people could have put another pro-Russian candidate back into the presidency, but, by a majority vote that did not happen. This GOVERNANCE was subscribed to by the Ukrainian people a long time ago. Russia and it's minions in Ukraine were corrupting the system in Ukraine and even the newly elected president was finding it difficult to remove all the Russian interference. It wasn't until President Zelensky that the corruption was finally addressed. With the removal of the corruption, Russia lost it's power within Ukraine. The people didn't want it.
The idea that Russians were being ethnically cleansed in Ukriane as part of a justification for invasion was never made plain with clear and factual evidence before the UN Security Council or any other human rights council. As a matter of fact, the current federal administration was still prosecuting those that killed in the attacks at the Maidan and police that were left over from the past and their willingness to carry out torture. Ukraine had its problems, but, the current administration as the one before was pushing hard to change the course of past ills. Human rights was at the center of the administrations since Yanukovych.
If anyone wants to cast a real shadow on Russia's intention for Ukraine, look to Crimea. This conviction occured 8 days before the invasion and Mr. Vladyslav Yesypenko was stated to be providing information to Ukraine intelligence. Hm?
February 16, 2022
Yesypenko, a dual Russian-Ukrainian citizen who contributes to Crimea.Realities, a regional news outlet of RFE/RL’s Ukrainian Service, was detained by Russia’s Federal Security Service (FSB) in Simferopol on March 10, 2021, on suspicion of collecting information for Ukrainian intelligence. Yesypenko left Crimea for mainland Ukraine with his wife, Kateryna, following the 2014 Russian annexation, where she gave birth to their daughter, Stephania; he would later return to Crimea periodically to report for RFE/RL on the social and environmental situation on the peninsula....
There is no freedom of the press in Crimea. In the face of corruption, Ukraine has a very vibrant freedom of speech. They don't want to give it up. Anyone blame them?
So, between the chronic civil war in Eastern Ukraine instigated and backed by Russia and the clear demonstration of the lack of freedom in Crimea is there any wonder why Ukrainians are fighting for their freedom from the oppressive Putin regime? Considering this is a Crimean journalist being jailed, the ethnic cleansing is not at all by Ukraine.
Russia invaded Ukraine with what it believed was impunity for the reasons of permanent occupation. What are the Russians still doing in Zaporizhzia? When I read the Russian statements in this reporting it tells me only one thing, Russia wants a larger war, one where it can unleash hell on Europe and NATO.
Russian officials (click here) have attempted to enter and take full operational control of Ukraine's Zaporizhzhia nuclear power plant, the head of Ukrainian state nuclear company Energoatom said on Friday.
Energoatom chief Petro Kotin said Russian forces had told the plant’s Ukrainian staff that the plant now belonged to Russian state nuclear company Rosatom after its capture last week. Ten officials from Rosatom, including two senior engineers, then unsuccessfully attempted to enter the plant and take control of operations, he said in a televised interview....
Russia wants Europe dependent on it for energy of any kind. The ships the USA wants to send with LNG and petrol or crude oil; all I can say is "Remember the Lusitania" (click here). It was once the fastest ocean crossing vessel in the world.
Putin is at war. He will do exactly what he wants to achieve what he sees as a conquest of NATO. Kindly remember that. Exampled is Finland and Russian aggression in it's airspace after a cyber attack. It would seem as though part of the strategy of Russia is to cause cyber chaos to inhibit any retaliation for violating airspace.
I don't see Russia changing it's path at all. I strongly believe this is it for Putin. He is at war and nothing else is possible. Russia has to be defeated. Made weak and Ukraine and Europe made strong. That strength will stop Putin's war, but, nothing short of it will. That means a lot more than $100 million in military spending for Ukraine.
Have a good evening.
