April 16, 2014

Ukraine Takes Action Against Russian Subversion

The situation in Ukraine may have reached the boiling point.

The situation in Ukraine may have reached the boiling point. Reuters reports, “Ukrainian armed forces on Tuesday launched a ‘special operation’ against militiamen in the country’s Russian speaking east, authorities said, recapturing a military airfield from pro-Moscow separatists.” Pro-Russian factions have been working to destabilize eastern Ukraine in recent weeks, staging protests and taking over government buildings. This past weekend saw these actions escalated by local crime bosses acting at the Kremlin’s behest. It’s an invasion without soldiers.

Ukraine’s goal is to flush this pro-Russian element out of several cities in the eastern portion of the country. “We won’t allow Russia to repeat the Crimean scenario in the eastern regions of the country,” said acting President Oleksandr Turchynov. The trouble is that some security forces are showing sympathy for the pro-Russian factions and even reportedly switching sides.

Many fear that the uprising is part of a larger plan to provoke Ukrainian response, thereby providing an excuse for Vladimir Putin to swoop in and “defend” Ukraine’s Russian-speaking minority. As Reuters notes, “Moscow accuses Kiev of provoking the crisis by ignoring the rights of citizens who use Russian as their first language, and has promised to protect them from attack.” The news service then adds this humorous line: “Russia also stresses the presence of far-right nationalists among Kiev’s new rulers.” Of course, when you’re practically communist, everyone else is “far-right.”

Ukraine’s ex-prime minister and presidential candidate Yulia Tymoshenko didn’t mince words saying, “We have to tell the Ukrainians the truth: the Russian Federation is waging a real war against Ukraine in the east.” She urged the West to “recognize Russia’s aggression against eastern Ukraine as a war.” Russia insists that Ukraine is on the brink of civil war.

Thursday in Geneva, diplomats from Ukraine, Russia, the European Union and the U.S. will meet for talks. But Russian foreign minister Sergei Lavrov warned that Ukraine’s action jeopardizes that meeting. “You can’t send in tanks and at the same time hold talks, and the use of force would sabotage the opportunity offered by the four-party negotiations in Geneva,” he said. That claim takes some chutzpah given that Russia is fomenting all this unrest and then pretending to be acting in good faith in any talks. Not that they’re admitting anything. Despite all evidence to the contrary, the Kremlin still denies playing a role in destabilizing Ukraine, insisting, “Such speculations are based on inaccurate information.”

Meanwhile, Barack Obama spoke on the phone with Vladimir Putin Monday, though reports are that their chat accomplished little. Big surprise. Obama has had months now to formulate a coherent response, but the best Jay Carney could explain this week is that the White House is “actively evaluating” the situation and “assessing for ourselves what response we may choose.” One thing Obama is doing is holding further sanctions in reserve in case of further escalation from Russia. He has also refused most aid to Ukraine – granting 300,000 meals-ready-to-eat but withholding arms or intelligence. (Then again, if there really are defections among Ukrainian military personnel, withholding such aid may be prudent.) And of the phone conversation, the White House said, “The president expressed grave concern,” so there’s that.

Who We Are

The Patriot Post is a highly acclaimed weekday digest of news analysis, policy and opinion written from the heartland — as opposed to the MSM’s ubiquitous Beltway echo chambers — for grassroots leaders nationwide. More

What We Offer

On the Web

We provide solid conservative perspective on the most important issues, including analysis, opinion columns, headline summaries, memes, cartoons and much more.

Via Email

Choose our full-length Digest or our quick-reading Snapshot for a summary of important news. We also offer Cartoons & Memes on Monday and Alexander’s column on Wednesday.

Our Mission

The Patriot Post is steadfast in our mission to extend the endowment of Liberty to the next generation by advocating for individual rights and responsibilities, supporting the restoration of constitutional limits on government and the judiciary, and promoting free enterprise, national defense and traditional American values. We are a rock-solid conservative touchstone for the expanding ranks of grassroots Americans Patriots from all walks of life. Our mission and operation budgets are not financed by any political or special interest groups, and to protect our editorial integrity, we accept no advertising. We are sustained solely by you. Please support The Patriot Fund today!


The Patriot Post and Patriot Foundation Trust, in keeping with our Military Mission of Service to our uniformed service members and veterans, are proud to support and promote the National Medal of Honor Heritage Center, the Congressional Medal of Honor Society, both the Honoring the Sacrifice and Warrior Freedom Service Dogs aiding wounded veterans, the National Veterans Entrepreneurship Program, the Folds of Honor outreach, and Officer Christian Fellowship, the Air University Foundation, and Naval War College Foundation, and the Naval Aviation Museum Foundation. "Greater love has no one than this, to lay down one's life for his friends." (John 15:13)

★ PUBLIUS ★

“Our cause is noble; it is the cause of mankind!” —George Washington

Please join us in prayer for our nation — that righteous leaders would rise and prevail and we would be united as Americans. Pray also for the protection of our Military Patriots, Veterans, First Responders, and their families. Please lift up your Patriot team and our mission to support and defend our Republic's Founding Principle of Liberty, that the fires of freedom would be ignited in the hearts and minds of our countrymen.

The Patriot Post is protected speech, as enumerated in the First Amendment and enforced by the Second Amendment of the Constitution of the United States of America, in accordance with the endowed and unalienable Rights of All Mankind.

Copyright © 2024 The Patriot Post. All Rights Reserved.

The Patriot Post does not support Internet Explorer. We recommend installing the latest version of Microsoft Edge, Mozilla Firefox, or Google Chrome.