It’s time to look at V. Putin and the situation in Russia more objectively, more impartially, without fear or favor - I try to do it in this article.
You can use the English version by the link here:
NEWS AND POLITICS-Vladimir Putin and the situation in Russia in the summer of 2014
or the Russian version by the link:
My American friend Rick Jones would like to give the American point of view in a week, I’ll try to record his opinion and to add it to this thread.
Und hier ist die deutsche Übersetzung des Artikels über W. Putin: POLITIK AKTUELL-Wladimir Putin und die Situarion in Russland im Sommer 2014
Die Krim musste doch annektiert werden, damit Russland nicht den Schwarzmeerhafen als Militärbasis verliert, da sich die Ukraine zu Europa und nicht mehr zu Russland gehörig fühlte. Die Annäherung der Ukraine zu Europa hat Russland herausgefordert, und Russland hat geantwortet. Das war ein Fehler, nicht nur von der Ukraine, sondern auch von der EU. Den baltischen Staaten hätte es ähnlich ergehen können, jedoch sind sie unwichtig, besser in der EU integriert, und Russland hat ja einen Zugang zur Ostsee. Man soll den großen Bären “Russland” nicht an der falschen Stelle ärgern, sonst beißt er. 
In other words, big countries have more rights than small countries. Some small countries should not exist or at least should be dependent on the whims and wishes of their larger neighbours. Interesting perspective, and no doubt a more popular view in big countries than in small countries.
Big (and rich) countries have more clout, Steve. That’s just the way it is. BTW we shouldn’t kid ourselves that our leaders are primarily concerned about things like justice or law, etc. (Otherwise they’d be a lot more hot and bothered about places like Tibet.) No, this is about a clash of competing interests between Russia and the West. The Ukrainians are pawns in the game.
T-Shirts!
As I promised I give here the link to the recorded comment on my article ‘Vladimir Putin and the situation in Russia in the sommer of 2014’ made by my American friend Rick Jones. I believe that it can be interesting for many Lingqers both who support and who hate V. Putin. Now the link to this podcast ‘Rick Jones from the USA about V. Putin’: NEWS AND POLITICS-RICK JONES FROM THE USA ABOUT V. PUTIN
Interesting article. Thanks Rick.
Re situation in Ukraine, it is useful to listen to what people on the ground are saying. First two links are in Russian.
http://www.novayagazeta.ru/politics/64868.html
The first is a youtube video where Russian Orthodox Priest blesses DNR fighters and points out that the main enemy is America.
Second is a fascinating interview with senior military figure in DNR, Fedor Berezin, close friend of Russian citizen and de facto military leader of Novorossiya, Igor Strelkov.
Third is in English where one of the early leaders of Maidan, and influential Ukrainian journalist of Afghan origin, Mustafa Nayyem offers his views.
To me the struggle is not about independence for Eastern Ukraine. The DNR ( People’s Republic of Donetsk) forces, whether Ukrainian or Russian, are fighting for a restoration of the Soviet Union/Russian Empire with a mixture of icons, world revolution, Russian nationalism, Stalin, the Orthodox Church, “all enemies are Fascists”, “death to America” and whatever else works like “Right Sector” “ Bandera” without any real sense of what these words mean in reality. Everything is part of a matrix, we don’t really exist, as Berezin says in his interview.
On the other side are the Ukrainians. Some just want to keep their country together and defend it against this new form of Russian Imperialism. Most reject the Soviet Union and what it stands for. Most ordinary citizens buy into the idea of the Maidan, to rid the country of the abuses, corruption, arbitrary power that has characterized their first 23 years of independence. The elite are more ambivalent. The sense of civic mobilization in Ukraine is palpable, among Russian speakers and Ukrainian speakers. But they will have a long way to go to change the habits of their ruling class, most of whom, in the first 23 years, have been Russian speaking Eastern Ukrainians. Once open hostilities cease, it will be interesting to see how this plays out.
It is useful to understand the minds of the leaders of the pro-Russian rebels, most of whom, until recent resignations, were Russian citizens, like Aleksandr Borodai former head of the Donetsk People’s Republic. Here is an excerpt of an August 13 interview in Novaya Gazeta, an excellent Russian paper.
Kanygin: (Journalist with Novaya Gazeta) You are a citizen of Russia, I wonder how you communicate and find a common language with the residents of the region, citizens of Ukraine?
Boroday: Why would I have to find a common language?
Kanygin: I mean you’re a leader of the DPR, a citizen of Russia…
Boroday: But we’re all Russian people! Why would I have to find a common language with them? If in their day the internal administrative borders of the Soviet Union, which were already demarcated rather strangely, suddenly became state borders, why would the resident of Donetsk be fundamentally different from the resident of Rostov? I’ll explain it to you: they aren’t different, they’re from one big country. And you should understand a fundamental thing. I’m often called a separatist, but I’m not a separatist, I’m against separatism in general!
Who are the separatists?
The Kiev junta are separatists. Because there is a gigantic Russian world which was formed for a thousand years. This is a common civilization – it is Russia, Belarussian and Little Russian (Malorossiyskaya, a term Ukrainians have always found offensive–The Interpreter). For hundreds of years we had a common state which was forged in sweat and blood.
Kanygin: Alright. But where are the borders of this state?
Boroday: They are well known. Where the Russian language is heard, where Russian culture is on the move, where Russian blood has been shed…
…And we are fighting for a global Russian idea. And the center as before is the city of Moscow, and for us, the capital is Donetsk and Lugansk and Rostov and St. Petersburg and other places where they speak Russian and Russians live. It’s very simple.
Very interesting Rick Jones artical. Thanks!