Ukraine on Fire Page #8

the idea of referendum in crimea is quite simply unconstitutional

there are questions whether this vote was really free and fair

especially considering the military presence of russia in crimea now

so that's how it's shown to the american people

the reality is very different

the atmosphere here is certainly remarkable

thousands of people gathered in the capital of crimea

this is happening after last sunday

when the referendum was held where the majority voted for reuniting with russia

crowd:
russia, russia

i'd like to ask you

what is democracy?

democracy is a policy based on the will of the people

how do you know the will of the people?

in the modern world it's done by voting

over 90% of people came and over 90% of those people voted for joining russia

the will of the people has to be respected

don't bend international law and democracy principles

according to your current geopolitical interests every time

we had no combats there, no shooting, no one was killed

what is described by the west as russian invasion in crimea

is in fact a presence of russian soldiers

can you clarify that?

russian soldiers in crimea, as it is known

were there for ages, because the black sea naval base was in crimea

as long as 1804 the c naval base

became the main naval base of the russian empire on the black sea

during the 2nd world war heroic defense of c lasted almost a year

and took hundreds of thousands of lives

therefore the naval base in crimea

has a legacy of historical pride for the russian black sea fleet

as well as being of huge strategic importance

in 1962 during the ongoing arms race

the USSR began sending rockets to cuba

those of us alive at that time remember

how frightened and angry we were by that fact

and how it nearly grew into a nuclear conflict

because the weapon of such power was based that close to the us

if the us considers cuba to be its backyard

then crimea is merely at russia's doorstep

what are the consequences of the us or nato capturing that naval base?

very dramatic

because base itself means nothing

but there is one thing i'd like to focus on

why do you think we are reacting on growth of nato so much

we're worried by its decision making practice

i know how it's done

when countries become a nato member

it's very hard for them to resist the pressure from such a large country

which is the leader of nato, the usa

and than anything can appear there very easily

missile defense systems, new bases, new offensive systems, if needed

and what should we do?

we're forced to counteract

meaning putting those objects that are threatening us on the aim of our missile systems

the situation is stressful

sergei lavrov:
if we're being attacked we will definitely respond

you know, it seems to me that

i don't always understand the logic of our partners

sometimes i have the impression that

they need to set better discipline

set things straight in their atlantic enclave

and it requires an enemy

iran does not fit this part at all

i am concerned about the expansion of nato

it has expanded by 13 countries up to the borders of russia

13 countries

this is a very dangerous topic

we are talking about war

war between russia and the us

it's sheer madness

in early spring of 2014

eastern ukraine had also risen

against the new ukrainian government

this region's population

both culturally and geographically close to russia

feared that the newly formed ultra-right government

would cause the growth of nationalism

and they had reasons to worry

the status of the russian language in ukraine was one of the key questions for years

declaring the russian language as the second official

was one of the key points of viktor yanukovich's presidential campaign

in 2012 yanukovich's government passed a law

that declared russian the second official language in those regions

where more than 10% of the population consider it as their native

mostly on the east and south of ukraine

the ukrainian nationalists initiated massive protests opposing the law

and an attentive observer can see here a few familiar faces

oleg tyagnibok:
we have shown that those bastards

those gangs can be defeated

on february 23rd of 2014

the very next day after the regime change

the new government voted to denote the official status of the russian language

and even though later acting president alexander turchinov vetoed this act, it still sent a message

this alarmed the russian-speaking regions

and they went on the streets to protest

in response the maidan supporters carried out their own demonstrations

when the two parties met the tension was growing

and it lead to tragedy

one person died and about 50 were injured

in clashes during the pro-russian march to protest against the new kiev government

on april 6 the crimean scenario began repeating in eastern ukraine

the protesters seized the government institutions and the next day

april 7 they proclaimed the people's republic of donetsk

kiev replied by announcing an anti-terrorist operation in eastern ukraine

by that time the international media was screaming about a russian invasion in ukraine

russia could be on the verge of invading ukraine

but disregarding such strong words in the media

the ukrainian authorities never declared a war state

why?

imf cannot give money to countries engaged in ongoing war

zaharchenko:
you know, in big politics

whatever they're talking about

they are talking about money

too much money was already invested in ukraine to stop half way

victoria nuland:
we've invested over 5 billion dollars

to assist ukraine in its course to assure secure, prosperous and democratic ukraine

on developing what kind of democracy was this money spent?

installing a democratic regime, as they were calling it

i guess they meant the kind of regime that is now happening in donbass

obviously the funding was continued

and the conflict had to keep going

getting more and more deadly

as parties on both sides were using more and more lethal weapons

mr. turchinov, who practically started a war

is responsible for it, he started a war on his own people

he sent troops to donbass

they did what i didn't do, they started the bloodshed

the world seemed too busy with greeting the new democracy in kiev

to notice what was being done as it was spreading its wings over the country

many in southern ukraine were watching the revolution with concern

and an anti-maidan movement was formed in odessa in january of 2014

the protesters set up camp in front of the trade union house

a building that would soon become a monument of a massacre itself

it is difficult to overestimate the importance of odessa

it is strategically located on the black sea

and is the largest sea port of ukraine

it's not surprising that ukraine's new authorities

were watching this situation unfold with growing concern

more and more protesters were joining the anti-maidan

while the situation in the east was heating up

Rate this script:0.0 / 0 votes