Ukrainian Peninsula of Crimea: gambling game for Russia and reliability test for International Organizations

Any strategic game starts with a map. The territory of Ukraine seems to be one of the most attractive regions for Russia in the post soviet area. The bloody “Arab Spring” have already past when Russia boasted of its diplomatic abilities and president Putin has evidently decided to recall his falling into a tyrannical habit of aggressiveness now regarding its freedom-loving neighboring country – Ukraine. The plausible reason for choosing Ukrainian Peninsula of Crimea as an object for imperial aggression was the recent and rather unstable internal situation in Ukraine. This country has been insensibly weakened by the fight of civil society with the Ukrainian “Putin’s homologue” – Viktor Yanukovych. The popular uprising on the Maydan (Independence Square) in Kyiv has made Ukraine face the progressive Europe, draw it closer to its EU neighbors, the EU leaders and the USA. President Yanukovych has left Ukraine in the direst financial and industrial straits. Western countries and the IMF expressed their readiness to provide Ukrainian state with the necessary assistance aimed at reforming postsoviet inconceivably energy consuming economics. It was in February this year when a group of young and not spoiled with corruption politicians created a new government and approved it by open people’s acclamation on the Maydan Square in Kyiv. The newly appointed Prime-minister of Ukraine Arseniy Yatsenuk is calling new Ukrainian government “doomed to the political death” as far as it supposed to make tough and even economically painful for Ukrainians measures foreseen by the proposed crisis-proof system. It seemed that Ukraine was going on in its evolution in proper for Ukrainian state historical period like countries recently known as the Warsaw treaty states in the Central and Eastern Europe. Nevertheless it was never easy for Russia for set free its former satellites even less significant and big than Ukraine. One Chinese said that all Chinese tell lies. Russian propaganda used to take all opportunities including the most primitive ones to create an image of real monster for new Ukrainian government allegedly adding fuel to interethnical hostility and even feud inside Ukraine. Mass media dependent on president Putin and composing virtually 90% of Russia’s information space are overfull with distorted information on victims of Ukrainian government in Crimea in particular where Russia has been traditionally building its aerie like the Black See Russian Navy base with fully packed mobile military units. Moscow is still trying to treat its own parliament and population like a blind man – Putin speaks on nonexistent victims among Russians in Crimea, shows fake photos of perished compatriots and huge queues of nonexistent Ukrainian refugees. He gives shelter to V.Yanukovych, invades the Peninsula of Crimea, seizing the peninsular Ukrainian infrastructure and coastguards and frontier posts. The vague signs of Russian Blitz-Krieg failure in Crimea are already noticed: Ukrainian soldiers didn’t try to fire or strike back their Russian colleagues, Ukrainians kept their heads composed – no chance for provocations. Ukrainians acknowledge sibling connections between two countries and never want shed the blood for political purposes. Crimean roads were blocked by live chains formed by women from Crimean Tatars people, supplicating for the right for Crimean people to choose their future themselves. By the way its rather curious that president Putin has already proposed to cut off Crimea from the energy system of Ukraine and to resettle virtual Ukrainian refugees in Siberia for exploration purposes. The similar policy was implemented to the Crimean Tatars by the Soviet Union so it is not strange to see this national minority struggling against imperial aggression of Russia in Ukrainian Crimea. Does Russia really need the second “Tatar Chechnia” novadays? The qualitatively new generation of Ukrainians was born in Ukraine these days, they truly believe in democracy, rule of law and right and fair principles of the European Union. Ukrainians are looking forward to listening and seeing the UN, OSCE and the Council of Europe and its transatlantic allies in precise action in this very particular situation. All “the watching dogs of democracy” have to recall Geneva rounds of multilateral talks on Abkhazia and Northern Ossetia and become real guarantors for sovereignty and territorial integrity of Ukraine. Ukraine has agreed to get rid of the nuclear weapon 20 years ago curbing its ambitions and leaving the road of militarism. It was promised to get guarantees of its security from world leaders. You should agree that as the state-guarantor Russia shows the height of hypocrisy attacking Ukraine. We don’t want other states-guarantors watch quietly all the fakes and falsifications made by Moscow in Ukrainian Crimea. Why the average civilians and soldiers must pay for that by their territories and even lives? Just to change the Peninsula of Crimea into the territory of instability barring for Ukraine the way towards European integration? International back up is really needed now for Ukraine as a firm protection from imperial intentions of Russia.
Ulas Martyn, 04/03/2014