SUBSCRIBE TO OUR FREE NEWSLETTER
Daily news & progressive opinion—funded by the people, not the corporations—delivered straight to your inbox.
5
#000000
#FFFFFF
5
#000000
#FFFFFF
'High Alert': Ukraine and Russia Building Up Military at Crimean Border
'The events are developing according to a pretty negative scenario. Neither side has any trust in the other.'
Aug 11, 2016
Both Ukraine and Russia are escalating military activity along the Crimean border, as tensions between the two nations--largely stoked by the West--mount once again.
On Thursday, a Ukrainian spokesman said that in recent days, there has been "a strengthening of the [Russian] units that are at the border."
Meanwhile, in response to Russian claims that the Ukrainian government was plotting terrorist attacks inside Crimea, Ukraine's President Petro Poroshenko on Thursday ordered "all military units near Crimea and the eastern Ukrainian Donbas region to be at the highest level of combat readiness," RT reports.
The Ukrainian security forces at the border with Crimea are ready "for any turn of events," Ukrainian border guard spokesman Oleg Slobodyan told journalists at a press briefing.
Foreign Policy reports:
Speaking to reporters on Wednesday, Volodymyr Yelchenko, Ukraine's ambassador to the United Nations, drew parallels between the current situation in Crimea and the outbreak of the Russo-Georgian War in 2008, which also coincided with the Summer Olympics and a U.S. election.
"This scenario looks very similar and very familiar," said Yelchenko. "That's why we stand ready for further provocative developments."
And the Kremlin said Thursday that Russian President Vladimir Putin has held a meeting with his Security Council to discuss additional security measures and tightening border controls in Crimea.
"There may be escalation in eastern Ukraine and that is very dangerous," Alexei Makarkin, deputy head of the Moscow-based Center for Political Technologies, told Bloomberg on Thursday. "The events are developing according to a pretty negative scenario. Neither side has any trust in the other."
Unsurprisingly, voices in the West pinned blame for the recent escalation on Russia.
U.S. Ambassador to Ukraine Geoffrey Pyatt dismissed Russia's latest claims against Kyiv:
"We don't want to be distracted from the real issue here, which is not only Russia's occupation and attempted annexation of Crimea, but their continued aggression in eastern Ukraine," State Department spokesperson Elizabeth Trudeau added to reporters in Washington on Wednesday.
And a NATO official called on Moscow to "work for calm and de-escalation," adding that "Russia's recent military activity in Crimea is not helpful for easing tensions."
But as investigative journalist Robert Parry wrote last month, "the endless drumbeat of Western media reports about 'Russian aggression' results from a clever demonization campaign against Putin and a classic Washington 'group think' rather than from a careful intelligence analysis."
"The real narrative based on actual facts would have acknowledged that it was the West, not Russia, that instigated the Ukraine crisis by engineering the violent overthrow of elected President Viktor Yanukovych and the imposition of a new Western-oriented regime hostile to Moscow and Ukraine's ethnic Russians," Parry argued.
He continued:
In the up-is-down world that NATO and other Western agencies now inhabit, Russia's military maneuvers within it own borders in reaction to NATO maneuvers along Russia's borders are "provocative." So, too, is Russia's support for the internationally recognized government of Syria, which is under attack from Islamic terrorists and other armed rebels supported by the West's Mideast allies, including Saudi Arabia, Qatar and NATO member Turkey.
In other words, it is entirely all right for NATO and its members to invade countries at will, including Iraq, Libya and Syria, and subvert others as happened in Ukraine and is still happening in Syria. But it is impermissible for any government outside of NATO to respond or even defend itself. To do so amounts to a provocation against NATO--and such hypocrisy is accepted by the West's mainstream news media as the way that the world was meant to be.
Earlier this year, news outlets reported that the United States was ramping up the deployment of heavy weapons and armored vehicles to NATO member countries in Central and Eastern Europe, citing "suspicions" about Russia's motives in Crimea and eastern Ukraine.
An Urgent Message From Our Co-Founder
Dear Common Dreams reader, It’s been nearly 30 years since I co-founded Common Dreams with my late wife, Lina Newhouser. We had the radical notion that journalism should serve the public good, not corporate profits. It was clear to us from the outset what it would take to build such a project. No paid advertisements. No corporate sponsors. No millionaire publisher telling us what to think or do. Many people said we wouldn't last a year, but we proved those doubters wrong. Together with a tremendous team of journalists and dedicated staff, we built an independent media outlet free from the constraints of profits and corporate control. Our mission has always been simple: To inform. To inspire. To ignite change for the common good. Building Common Dreams was not easy. Our survival was never guaranteed. When you take on the most powerful forces—Wall Street greed, fossil fuel industry destruction, Big Tech lobbyists, and uber-rich oligarchs who have spent billions upon billions rigging the economy and democracy in their favor—the only bulwark you have is supporters who believe in your work. But here’s the urgent message from me today. It's never been this bad out there. And it's never been this hard to keep us going. At the very moment Common Dreams is most needed, the threats we face are intensifying. We need your support now more than ever. We don't accept corporate advertising and never will. We don't have a paywall because we don't think people should be blocked from critical news based on their ability to pay. Everything we do is funded by the donations of readers like you. When everyone does the little they can afford, we are strong. But if that support retreats or dries up, so do we. Will you donate now to make sure Common Dreams not only survives but thrives? —Craig Brown, Co-founder |
Our work is licensed under Creative Commons (CC BY-NC-ND 3.0). Feel free to republish and share widely.
Deirdre Fulton
Deirdre Fulton is a former Common Dreams senior editor and staff writer. Previously she worked as an editor and writer for the Portland Phoenix and the Boston Phoenix, where she was honored by the New England Press Association and the Association of Alternative Newsweeklies. A Boston University graduate, Deirdre is a co-founder of the Maine-based Lorem Ipsum Theater Collective and the PortFringe theater festival. She writes young adult fiction in her spare time.
Both Ukraine and Russia are escalating military activity along the Crimean border, as tensions between the two nations--largely stoked by the West--mount once again.
On Thursday, a Ukrainian spokesman said that in recent days, there has been "a strengthening of the [Russian] units that are at the border."
Meanwhile, in response to Russian claims that the Ukrainian government was plotting terrorist attacks inside Crimea, Ukraine's President Petro Poroshenko on Thursday ordered "all military units near Crimea and the eastern Ukrainian Donbas region to be at the highest level of combat readiness," RT reports.
The Ukrainian security forces at the border with Crimea are ready "for any turn of events," Ukrainian border guard spokesman Oleg Slobodyan told journalists at a press briefing.
Foreign Policy reports:
Speaking to reporters on Wednesday, Volodymyr Yelchenko, Ukraine's ambassador to the United Nations, drew parallels between the current situation in Crimea and the outbreak of the Russo-Georgian War in 2008, which also coincided with the Summer Olympics and a U.S. election.
"This scenario looks very similar and very familiar," said Yelchenko. "That's why we stand ready for further provocative developments."
And the Kremlin said Thursday that Russian President Vladimir Putin has held a meeting with his Security Council to discuss additional security measures and tightening border controls in Crimea.
"There may be escalation in eastern Ukraine and that is very dangerous," Alexei Makarkin, deputy head of the Moscow-based Center for Political Technologies, told Bloomberg on Thursday. "The events are developing according to a pretty negative scenario. Neither side has any trust in the other."
Unsurprisingly, voices in the West pinned blame for the recent escalation on Russia.
U.S. Ambassador to Ukraine Geoffrey Pyatt dismissed Russia's latest claims against Kyiv:
"We don't want to be distracted from the real issue here, which is not only Russia's occupation and attempted annexation of Crimea, but their continued aggression in eastern Ukraine," State Department spokesperson Elizabeth Trudeau added to reporters in Washington on Wednesday.
And a NATO official called on Moscow to "work for calm and de-escalation," adding that "Russia's recent military activity in Crimea is not helpful for easing tensions."
But as investigative journalist Robert Parry wrote last month, "the endless drumbeat of Western media reports about 'Russian aggression' results from a clever demonization campaign against Putin and a classic Washington 'group think' rather than from a careful intelligence analysis."
"The real narrative based on actual facts would have acknowledged that it was the West, not Russia, that instigated the Ukraine crisis by engineering the violent overthrow of elected President Viktor Yanukovych and the imposition of a new Western-oriented regime hostile to Moscow and Ukraine's ethnic Russians," Parry argued.
He continued:
In the up-is-down world that NATO and other Western agencies now inhabit, Russia's military maneuvers within it own borders in reaction to NATO maneuvers along Russia's borders are "provocative." So, too, is Russia's support for the internationally recognized government of Syria, which is under attack from Islamic terrorists and other armed rebels supported by the West's Mideast allies, including Saudi Arabia, Qatar and NATO member Turkey.
In other words, it is entirely all right for NATO and its members to invade countries at will, including Iraq, Libya and Syria, and subvert others as happened in Ukraine and is still happening in Syria. But it is impermissible for any government outside of NATO to respond or even defend itself. To do so amounts to a provocation against NATO--and such hypocrisy is accepted by the West's mainstream news media as the way that the world was meant to be.
Earlier this year, news outlets reported that the United States was ramping up the deployment of heavy weapons and armored vehicles to NATO member countries in Central and Eastern Europe, citing "suspicions" about Russia's motives in Crimea and eastern Ukraine.
Deirdre Fulton
Deirdre Fulton is a former Common Dreams senior editor and staff writer. Previously she worked as an editor and writer for the Portland Phoenix and the Boston Phoenix, where she was honored by the New England Press Association and the Association of Alternative Newsweeklies. A Boston University graduate, Deirdre is a co-founder of the Maine-based Lorem Ipsum Theater Collective and the PortFringe theater festival. She writes young adult fiction in her spare time.
Both Ukraine and Russia are escalating military activity along the Crimean border, as tensions between the two nations--largely stoked by the West--mount once again.
On Thursday, a Ukrainian spokesman said that in recent days, there has been "a strengthening of the [Russian] units that are at the border."
Meanwhile, in response to Russian claims that the Ukrainian government was plotting terrorist attacks inside Crimea, Ukraine's President Petro Poroshenko on Thursday ordered "all military units near Crimea and the eastern Ukrainian Donbas region to be at the highest level of combat readiness," RT reports.
The Ukrainian security forces at the border with Crimea are ready "for any turn of events," Ukrainian border guard spokesman Oleg Slobodyan told journalists at a press briefing.
Foreign Policy reports:
Speaking to reporters on Wednesday, Volodymyr Yelchenko, Ukraine's ambassador to the United Nations, drew parallels between the current situation in Crimea and the outbreak of the Russo-Georgian War in 2008, which also coincided with the Summer Olympics and a U.S. election.
"This scenario looks very similar and very familiar," said Yelchenko. "That's why we stand ready for further provocative developments."
And the Kremlin said Thursday that Russian President Vladimir Putin has held a meeting with his Security Council to discuss additional security measures and tightening border controls in Crimea.
"There may be escalation in eastern Ukraine and that is very dangerous," Alexei Makarkin, deputy head of the Moscow-based Center for Political Technologies, told Bloomberg on Thursday. "The events are developing according to a pretty negative scenario. Neither side has any trust in the other."
Unsurprisingly, voices in the West pinned blame for the recent escalation on Russia.
U.S. Ambassador to Ukraine Geoffrey Pyatt dismissed Russia's latest claims against Kyiv:
"We don't want to be distracted from the real issue here, which is not only Russia's occupation and attempted annexation of Crimea, but their continued aggression in eastern Ukraine," State Department spokesperson Elizabeth Trudeau added to reporters in Washington on Wednesday.
And a NATO official called on Moscow to "work for calm and de-escalation," adding that "Russia's recent military activity in Crimea is not helpful for easing tensions."
But as investigative journalist Robert Parry wrote last month, "the endless drumbeat of Western media reports about 'Russian aggression' results from a clever demonization campaign against Putin and a classic Washington 'group think' rather than from a careful intelligence analysis."
"The real narrative based on actual facts would have acknowledged that it was the West, not Russia, that instigated the Ukraine crisis by engineering the violent overthrow of elected President Viktor Yanukovych and the imposition of a new Western-oriented regime hostile to Moscow and Ukraine's ethnic Russians," Parry argued.
He continued:
In the up-is-down world that NATO and other Western agencies now inhabit, Russia's military maneuvers within it own borders in reaction to NATO maneuvers along Russia's borders are "provocative." So, too, is Russia's support for the internationally recognized government of Syria, which is under attack from Islamic terrorists and other armed rebels supported by the West's Mideast allies, including Saudi Arabia, Qatar and NATO member Turkey.
In other words, it is entirely all right for NATO and its members to invade countries at will, including Iraq, Libya and Syria, and subvert others as happened in Ukraine and is still happening in Syria. But it is impermissible for any government outside of NATO to respond or even defend itself. To do so amounts to a provocation against NATO--and such hypocrisy is accepted by the West's mainstream news media as the way that the world was meant to be.
Earlier this year, news outlets reported that the United States was ramping up the deployment of heavy weapons and armored vehicles to NATO member countries in Central and Eastern Europe, citing "suspicions" about Russia's motives in Crimea and eastern Ukraine.
We've had enough. The 1% own and operate the corporate media. They are doing everything they can to defend the status quo, squash dissent and protect the wealthy and the powerful. The Common Dreams media model is different. We cover the news that matters to the 99%. Our mission? To inform. To inspire. To ignite change for the common good. How? Nonprofit. Independent. Reader-supported. Free to read. Free to republish. Free to share. With no advertising. No paywalls. No selling of your data. Thousands of small donations fund our newsroom and allow us to continue publishing. Can you chip in? We can't do it without you. Thank you.