Russia Orders Troop Maneuvers Amid Ukraine Tensions

[MerryBlooms]

President Vladimir Putin ordered massive military exercises involving troops in western Russia, as pro-Western Ukrainian revolutionaries charted a new course in Kiev.

The military exercise is meant to “check the troops’ readiness for action in crisis situations that threaten the nation’s military security,” said Russia’s Defense Minister Sergei Shoigu, who added that Putin ordered the exercise Wednesday afternoon. The troop maneuvers will begin Friday and will last four days, and involve ships of the Baltic and Northern Fleets and the air force.

Shoigu did not make any reference to Ukraine, which shares a border with western Russia, the Associated Press reports. Opposition figures there are setting the groundwork for a new government after toppling the Russia-supported President Viktor Yanukovych. A Russian lawmaker promised Tuesday to protect pro-Russia activists in Ukraine’s Crimean Peninsula, where Russia has a major naval base.

It remains to be seen what kind of pressure Putin will apply in Ukraine and how he may seek to reassert his control in the country. When the protests began in December, Putin promised Russia would not use military force in Ukraine. “None of this means that we are going to go in there and wave our saber around and send in our troops,” he said at his annual year-end press conference three months before Yanukovych was overthrown. “That’s total rubbish. That is not happening and cannot happen.”

Read more: Russian President Vladimir Putin Orders Military Exercises Amid Ukraine Tensions | TIME.com http://world.time.com/2014/02/26/russia-orders-troop-maneuvers-amid-ukraine-tensions/#ixzz2uRO5BZ8t

[RKP5637]

1. I guess Russia has gotten better, but often it seems the SOS. n/t

[Tommy_Carcetti]

2. This can't be good. nt

[MerryBlooms]

11. I just don't know, but it makes me a little nervous.

Hopefully, like dipsydoodle said down thread, just regular maneuvers and done.

[loli phabay]

3. i wonder how much they mean by massive, the russians still have a lot of hardware.

[Adrahil]

5. They certainly have enough military force....

... to roll over any Ukrainian forces. If they invade and seize the eastern portion of Ukraine, including Crimea, I suspect there will be lots of strongly worded statements from the UN an EU, but they will do nothing. And Russia will get it's Black Sea port back, which is probably what they really want.

TBH, other than having to weather some bad PR (though some will cheer them on, even here), there isn't much downside for them.

[loli phabay]

9. it could be seen as a liberation as there are a lot of ethnic russians and pro russian ukranians

in regions of the ukraines, especially crimea and eastern ukraine. it might be that a split on peaceful terms might be the end result.

[Adrahil]

12. Possibly....

... I think it would not a be a great precedent, but ultimately, if the people of those regions really want to leave Ukraine and join the Russian Federation, I can't see a good reason to stop them. I've been reading how Russia has been issuing passports to ethnically Russian Ukranians as well.... it smells like a long term plan to secure those eastern regions, or to justify intervention, but we are where we are, so if they want to peacefully separate, I'd say that's probably the best course.

[loli phabay]

16. pretty much all countries have separatists within their borders, the issue is who do we support if

any especially since a lot of borders were drawn cutting off large groups of people within countries where they have no cultural ties. these internal fights always end up messy.

[Tommy_Carcetti]

17. The real question....

Would East Ukraine simply be allowed to secede and become its own independent nation?

Or would Russia be seeking to annex East Ukraine for itself?

Because if it's the latter, there's no way the rest of Ukraine would stand for that. There are still a lot of ethnic Ukrainians living in Eastern Ukraine.

[Adrahil]

19. I concur....

But could Ukraine stop them? I don't think so. And I doubt the EU or NATO would intervene.

[malaise]

4. What would the US do if Mexico had allied itself to the Muslim equivalent

of the neo-Nazis?

[Adrahil]

7. So to be clear, you think a Russian invasion is justified? NT

[Tommy_Carcetti]

10. What?

Malaise, I like you. You add a lot to this site. Your post count speaks to that.

But on this one particular issue, you're just plain delusional, I hate to say.

Neo-nazis are not in control of Ukraine.

[malaise]

18. Al Qaeda wasn't in Iraq either

We're dealing with nasty global politics and domination.
The imperialists and neo-cons need to stop terrorizing this planet.
You cannot scream freedom and democracy and continue overthrowing democratically elected governments in favor of suspect bands of thugs feeding off of the fears of well-intentioned citizens.

Enough with these not so velvet or whateverthefuck they are revolutions which have been financed by the West.

I respect your posts too but we disagree on this one.
I'll let time resolve this one.

[Adrahil]

20. I suggest you read up on the "democratic" elections in Ukraine.

There was shenanigans going on.

And if you think the Russians aren't casting a very long shadow over Ukraine then you are just naive. The U.S. is not the only nation playing imperialist in the world.

[malaise]

21. FFS - you read up on Bush 2000

and get back to me

[Adrahil]

23. I know it well... so I'm back.

You seem to accept the legitimacy of the Yanukovich government uncritically. What do you think of the Tymoshenko case? Do you think there was no political motivation to her trial and imprisonment?

You seem to be in the tank for the Yanukovich government.

[malaise]

26. Look I've lived through the mess of removing governments

supposedly through the ballot box after lots of bloodshed all in the name of 'freedom and democracy'.

Who the fugg is Yancovich - you think I give a rat's behind about him.

[Tommy_Carcetti]

25. One does not preclude the other.

The fact that we have voting rights issues and irregularities of our own does not mean it should not be called out when it happens in other countries.

[dipsydoodle]

6. Its the media tying the two together but its a coincidence.

Russia hold those execises regularly - about 6 times a year. The biggest was last July.

So - if the background is Ukraine why was last July's exercise so big ?

[Adrahil]

8. Perhaps. It could also just be some good old fashioned saber rattling....

... in preparation for demands forthcoming.

[dipsydoodle]

13. Given that 6 times a year is every 2 months or so

and this has been going on for about that length of time the exercise may have been overdue.

[Adrahil]

15. yeah, that's fine...

... if it's just a drill, who cares, right? But it does seem that given the tensions in that region, the decision to proceed with such a drill would HAVE to be a political decision at the highest level. Putin is no idiot. He's an evil, sadistic son-of-a-bitch, but NOT an idiot. He knows how this will be perceived both in Ukraine and further abroad. To proceed with such "drills" at this time is a definite political calculation, I think you would have to admit, even if not an outright preparation for war.

[ananda]

14. I guess it's only a matter of time.

Somebody here was saying something to the effect that Russia
would enter Ukraine soon after Sochi.

[hack89]

22. A nice intelligence windfall for NATO nt

[pampango]

24. Russia would not support foreign intervention to protect Ukrainians from their own government.

See Syria. Besides the US could always use its veto on the Security Council to prevent the use of Russia's military in Ukraine.

I doubt Russia is worried about an invasion coming from Ukraine, so this is normal saber rattling by countries with with big armies. That's why they spend so much (too much) money on the military. People are likely to do what you want even if you don't use your military. See Assad's agreement to dispose of chemical weapons.