"Vladimir Putin Not Responsible for Ukrainian Civil War," Expert Says--Truthdig

[KoKo]

Russia, Ukraine, Donbas, & the Rebels
Vladimir Putin Not Responsible for Ukrainian Civil War, Expert Says
Posted on Mar 21, 2015

http://www.truthdig.com/avbooth/item/vladimir_putin_is_not_responsible_for_the_ukrainian_civil_war_20150321

Through a careful review of recent history, Russia and Soviet scholar Paul Robinson debunks the claim that Russian President Vladimir Putin is directing the rebels fighting in Ukraine’s eastern region.

“No plausible evidence has been produced to indicate that members of the Russian army were involved at the start of the uprising,” says Robinson of the civil war in the Donbass.

Robinson made his remarks in a panel titled “Who has done what, and why?” at the University of Toronto’s “Ukraine and Russia Peace Conference” on Feb. 22. He writes about foreign policy at Irrusianality, a site devoted to understanding “the relationship between Russia and the West; and the apparently irrational decision making processes which dominate much of international relations.”

The clip above came to Truthdig via James Carden, a former adviser at the State Department’s Office of Russian Affairs, contributing editor at The National Interest and contributor to The Nation magazine.

—Posted by Alexander Reed Kelly.

Published on Feb 24, 2015
Presentation by Prof. Paul Robinson at the "Ukraine Russia Peace Conference", University of Toronto, 22 February 2015.

Prof. Robinson's blog "IRRUSSIANALITY - Russia, the West, and the world"
https://irrussianality.wordpress.com

- Russian state, Ukrainian government, rebels, Western powers (USA, UK, France, Germany, Canada, etc.)
- 0:23 Little if any direct Russian involvement in Donbas
- 0:50 Siezure of Crimea was orderly and peaceful, not in Donbas, no evidence of "little green men" in Donbas. No plausible evidence of Russian involvement at the start of the uprising
- 1:19 Igor Strelkov, agent of Russian secret service (FSB) not plausible, but rather a loose cannon
- 2:08 Rebels supplied themselves with arms seized from the Ukrainian army, huge quanitities of Ukrainian army equipment fell into rebel hands, little direct Russian support. Slovyansk, Igor Ivanov
- 3:07 Arrival of Russian volunteers who joined the rebels. Vast majority of Ukrainian rebels, 90%, are Ukrainian citizens. This is a war where Ukrainians are primarily fighting Ukrainians, not Russians
- 3:34 No credible evidence that Russian army directly involved in combat operations in Ukraine until July 2014. Russian supplies of weapons and ammunition increased substantially in August 2014. Russian units entered Ukraine and helped inflict a major defeat on the Ukrainian army in Ilovaisk
- 4:38 Debaltseve
- 5:20 Russian military aid to the rebellion grew over time. Russia has been reacting to events in Ukraine, not leading them
- 5:40 Russia's political relationship with the Donestk People's Republic. Change in leadership in Lugansk, Donetsk
- 7:00 Moscow was not in control of events and wanted leaders who were amenable. Russia is not interested in annexing Donbas
- 8:00 Minsk agreements
- 8:35 Ukrainian side, Maidan, President Yanukovych, Orange revolution, Viktor Yushchenko
- 9:15 Mark MacKinnon, Globe and Mail, "We don't care if Donbas and Crimea are with (Ukraine)"
- 9:50 New government does not care what Donbas thinks
- 10:18 Russian language status in Donbas. Overthrow of Yanukovych was illegal. New government was illegitimate
- 11:10 Mariupol. Ukrainian soldiers shot and killed Ukrainians
- 11:30 Ukrainian government used lethal force against its own citizens
- 12:04 No evidence that Ukrainians have deliberately targeted civilians. Grad rocket launches. White phospherous
- 13:10 Ukrainian army has killed thousands of Ukrainian citizens, caused billions of dollars of damage. Poroshenko has killed more Ukrainians than Yanukovich. Colonel Lysyenko
- 14:20 Vice News, Simon Ostrovsky
- 15:00 Poroshenko, Yatsyniuk, etc are not fascists, but they formed an alliance with far-right groups, right sector
- 15:45 Stepan Bandera, Azov Battalion, UPA