Land Destroyer: Russian Crimea: One Year Later

NATO calls Crimea "invaded" and "occupied." NATO has taught the world well what invasion and occupation really looks like, and Crimea isn't it.

March 22, 2015 (Tony Cartalucci - NEO) - In 2001, NATO invaded and began the occupation of the South-Central Asian country of Afghanistan. The invasion and occupation has left tens of thousands dead, many more displaced, and has resulted in continued chaos and violence up until and including present day. Throughout the conflict, revelations of abuses, mass murder, and other atrocities including systematic torture have been exposed, perpetrated by invading NATO forces and their Afghan collaborators.

The war has also resulted in the use of armed drone aircraft which regularly kill men, women, and children indiscriminately along the Afghan-Pakistani border - a campaign of mass murder ongoing for nearly as long as the conflict has raged.

In 2003, NATO-members joined the United States in the invasion and subsequent occupation of Iraq. An estimated 1 million people would lose their lives, including thousands of Western troops. For nearly a decade the United State occupied Iraq, and during its attempts to prop up a suitable client regime, laid waste to the nation. American forces in their bid to exercise control over the Iraqi population would conduct sweeping assaults on entire cities. The city of Fallujah would be leveled nearly to the ground, twice.


Complete story at - Land Destroyer: Russian Crimea: One Year Later

Crimea's Growth Fastest in 20 Years Thanks to Russia, Sanctions - Minister / Sputnik International

In an interviw with Sputnik, Deputy Chairman of the Council of Ministers of Crimea Dmitry Polonsky explained how the republic won after rejoining Russia, how Western sanctions contributed to its economic development and what the West should focus on.

MOSCOW (Sputnik) – Crimea has been experiencing an upsurge in development following its reunification with Russia thanks to the country’s investment in the republic, Deputy Chairman of the Council of Ministers of Crimea Dmitry Polonsky told Sputnik on Wednesday.

“Crimea has not developed at such a pace as it has in the past year over the past twenty years,” Polonsky said, adding that the Russian government plans to invest almost 700 billion rubles ($12.1 billion) in the republic’s economy under the current social-economic development program, which will run until 2020.

Polonsky, who is Crimea's Internal Policy, Information and Mass Communications Minister, stressed that during the 23 years prior to the March 2014 independence referendum, Crimea experienced “regression” due to the Ukrainian authorities lack of investment.

“Unfortunately, the 23-year-long tenure in Ukraine has been the time of regression for Crimea. The Ukrainian government did not invest a single penny into Crimea, at the same time it sucked out all possible resources from here," Polonsky told Sputnik, stressing that Russia “is taking an entirely different route” which is making a “drastic” difference on the peninsula. But even if Crimea residents were told not to expect any investment from the Russian government a year ago, they would have "still made the choice of becoming part of Russia," the minister stressed.

Complete story at - Crimea's Growth Fastest in 20 Years Thanks to Russia, Sanctions - Minister / Sputnik International

A beautiful place caught in geopolitical games: Expats give their views on Crimea | Russia Beyond The Headlines

It has been a year since Crimea became part of Russia. RBTH asked several Western expats in Russia about Crimea and if the geopolitical tensions between Moscow and the West have affected their lives. Several people declined to answer the questions, citing the complex nature of the situation, but three people responded. They are:

Elizabeth Bagot, 27, is an American from Kansas who works as a professional translator. She has lived in Russia for 4.5 years and is based in Moscow.

Bryan McDonald, 35, is an Irish journalist. He has lived in Russia for five years and is based in Sochi.

Richard Winterbottom, 31, lived in Russia for eight years teaching English before recently moving to London.

RBTH: In your opinion, have attitudes towards foreigners in Russia changed in the year since Crimea's absorption by Russia?

Elizabeth Bagot: Yes, attitudes towards foreigners appear to have changed since the annexation, not so much on a person-to-person level as on a rhetorical and abstract level.

I have heard a lot of anti-American rhetoric on social media and in discussions with Russians, but the same holds true for anti-Russianism from my American friends. Never once have I been treated differently on a personal level in Russia. This is probably because I speak Russian fluently and don't loudly express political opinions.

Bryan MacDonald: Yes, definitely. The usual Russian warmth and curiosity towards west Europeans is gone. However, it isn't nasty yet in any way.

That said, I believe it's pretty bad for Americans. I've also noticed that Russians are less interested in the EU Europe as a palace to visit/work.

Complete story at - A beautiful place caught in geopolitical games: Expats give their views on Crimea | Russia Beyond The Headlines

Russia Won't Return Crimea To Ukraine Despite Threat Of Continued Sanctions, Kremlin Says

Russia reiterated Tuesday it will not return Crimea to Ukraine, one year after its much-criticized annexation of the region despite objections from Western leaders. The United States and European Union have each said they will not lift economic sanctions against Russia unless Crimea was returned to Ukrainian control.

“There is no occupation of Crimea. Crimea is a region of the Russian Federation and of course the subject of our regions is not up for discussion,” Kremlin spokesman Dmitry Peskov told reporters Tuesday, according to Reuters.

Russia annexed Crimea in March 2014 following the disputed results of a referendum and one month after Russian soldiers entered the peninsula to quell unrest that forced pro-Russia former Ukrainian President Viktor Yanukovych to resign. Russian President Vladimir Putin said 97 percent of Crimean citizens had voted to join Russia, though many in the international community disputed the referendum’s alleged results.

The annexation of Crimea led to an ongoing conflict between pro-Russian separatist rebels and pro-government Ukrainian forces, resulting in the deaths of more than 5,800 people since last summer. Western leaders have accused Russia of providing the rebels with direct and logistical support, and both the United States and the European Union instituted economic sanctions as punishment. A U.S. State Department spokeswoman and EU foreign policy chief Federica Mogherini each reiterated this week that sanctions will remain intact so long as Russia continues to control Crimea.

Despite international outrage, support for Putin has increased since Russia’s annexation of Crimea. Recent polls found Putin’s approval rating at between 80 percent and 90 percent.

Putin said in a documentary that aired Sunday that he was “ready” to place Russia’s nuclear weapons on standby if other nations attempted to interfere in Crimea’s annexation. He added the military intervention was enacted in part to save Yanukovich’s life, according to Reuters.

Complete story at - Russia Won't Return Crimea To Ukraine Despite Threat Of Continued Sanctions, Kremlin Says

Japan's Orwellian Politics About Ukraine - Washington's Blog

Yukio Hatayama, who during 2009 and 2010 had been the first and only non-LDP, or non-one-party-state, Prime Minister of Japan (and he was then quickly ousted by the LDP), said in Crimea on Tuesday, March 10th, that Japan should not be so totally controlled by the U.S. Government, and that, “It’s shameful that information from Japanese and Western media is one-sided.” Hatayama also praised “the happy, peaceful life in Crimea,” as opposed to the war-torn and economically collapsing Ukraine, which the IMF, EU and especially the U.S., keep lending money to pay Ukraine to bomb the residents in Ukraine’s strongly anti-fascist eastern area.

Japan’s LDP Foreign Minister, Fumio Kishida, promptly dismissed the Hatayama statement by saying that it came from a “gaffe-prone” man. Telling the truth is a ‘gaffe.’

Mitsuhiro Kimura, leader of another small anti-U.S.-control-of-Japan party, travelled with Hatayama, and supported this initiative for increasing trade and cultural exchanges with Crimea and with Russia generally. He said that this visit was “historic,” and that “Maybe it will give us a chance to influence Japan’s foreign policies and change them.”

The Agence France Presse report on this event referred to Kimura’s party as “the right-wing political group Issuikai,” implicitly suggesting thereby that opposition to U.S. control of Japan is “right-wing.” This propaganda effort aimed to insinuate that since the U.S. had defeated the fascist Government of Japan in 1945, the LDP, which the U.S. installed in Japan post-War, can only be the opposite of fascist.

Complete story at - Japan's Orwellian Politics About Ukraine Washington's Blog

Putin: Russia Could Not 'Abandon' Crimea

MOSCOW — President Vladimir Putin said Monday that Russia took over Crimea because it had to protect Crimea's mostly ethnic-Russian population after pro-Western Ukrainian nationalists came to power in Ukraine.

In the latest preview of an upcoming documentary called "Homeward bound" on state-run Rossiya-1 television, Putin portrayed Russia's military takeover and annexation of the Ukrainian province as a rescue mission.

"We were forced to start working on returning Crimea to Russia because we could not abandon this territory and the people who live there to the mercy of fate, to be crushed by nationalists, " Putin said.

Putin pinned the blame for what Moscow calls a coup in Kiev on nationalists supported by Western countries "thousands of kilometers away."

"It wasn't us who committed a coup d'etat, it was done by nationalists and people with extreme views, they were given support," Putin said.

"But we are here, this is our land," he said.

Shortly after the February 2014 overthrow of Ukraine's Russian-backed president Viktor Yanukovych in Kiev, Russian soldiers suddenly fanned across Crimea, which has deep ethnic-Russian roots and where there was less support for the pro-Western revolution in the capital.

A subsequent referendum staged after Ukrainian authorities had already been pushed out gave overwhelming backing to making the Black Sea peninsula part of Russia.

The military operation was initially kept secret, despite the increasingly obvious actions of unmarked Russian forces. Later, the Kremlin conceded that it had been behind the power grab.

Complete story at - Putin: Russia Could Not 'Abandon' Crimea

Crimea: Was It Seized by Russia, or Did Russia Block Its Seizure by the U.S.?

Both before and after Crimea left Ukraine and joined Russia in a public referendum on 16 March 2014, the Gallup Organization polled Crimeans on behalf of the U.S. Government, and found them to be extremely pro-Russian and anti-American, and also anti-Ukrainian.(Neither poll was subsequently publicized, because the results of each were the opposite of what the sponsor had wished.) Both polls were done on behalf of the U.S. Government, in order to find Crimeans' attitudes toward the United States and toward Russia, and also toward Ukraine, not only before but also after the planned U.S. coup in Ukraine, which occurred in February 2014 but was actually kicked off on 20 November 2013, the day before Ukraine’s democratically elected President Viktor Yanukovych publicly announced that Ukraine had received a better economic offer from Russia’s Eurasian Economic Community than from America’s European Union. (The EEC subsequently became the Eurasian Economic Union, now that it was clear that Ukraine was going with the EU.) That decision by Yanukovych in favor of the EEC was mistakenly thought by him to be merely an economic one, and he didn’t know the extent to which the U.S. Government had set up an operation to overthrow him if he didn’t go along with the EU’s offer. (If some of these basic historical facts don’t come through from merely the wikipedia articles alone, that’s because the CIA is among the organizations that edit wikipedia articles, and so wikipedia is unwittingly a . It is especially used for propaganda by the CIA and FBI.)

More recently, a poll of Crimeans was issued on 4 February 2015, by the polling organization GfK, and paid for this time by the pro-American-Government Canadian Government, via its Canada Fund for Local Initiatives, and via Free Crimea, which is itself funded by the latter organization. However, the Canadian Government got no better news than the U.S. Government had gotten: 82% of Crimeans “Fully endorse” Crimea’s having become part of Russia (of which it had been part between 1783 and 1954, and which the public there had never wanted to leave); 11% “Mostly endorse” it; 2% “Mostly disapprove”; 3% “Don’t know”; and only 2% “Fully disapprove.” Or, to put it simply: 93% approve; 3% don’t know, and 4% disapprove. This poll was publicly issued only in the polling organization’s own report, which was made available only in Russian (the Ukrainian Government’s main language for international business) and therefore not comprehensible to English-speakers. It was titled, “СОЦИАЛЬНО-ПОЛИТИЧЕСКИЕ НАСТРОЕНИЯ ЖИТЕЛЕЙ КРЫМА Исследование проведенное GfK Ukraine по заказу компании” or "SOCIO-POLITICAL SENTIMENTS IN CRIMEA: Research conducted by GfK Ukraine on the order of the company.”On February 10th, an English-language article reported and summarized the poll’s findings.

During the 16 March 2014 public referendum in Crimea, 96% voted to rejoin Russia. One question on the post-referendum, April 2014, U.S.-sponsored Gallup poll in Crimea, was headlined, “Perceived Legitimacy of March 16 Crimean Referendum” (on page 28 of the poll-report), and 82.8% of Crimeans agreed with the statement, “The results of the referendum on Crimea’s status likely reflect the views of most people here.” 6.7% disagreed. According to the newer poll (4 February 2015), 96% were for annexation to Russia, and 4% were opposed, which happens to be exactly what the 16 March 2014 referendum had actually found to be the case. But, continuing now with the description of the April 2014 Gallup poll: its “Views of Foreign Parties’ Role in the Crisis — Crimea” (p. 25), showed 76.2% of Crimeans saying that the role of the U.S. was “Mostly negative,” and 2.8% saying the U.S. role was “Mostly positive”; while Crimeans’ attitudes towards Russia were the exact opposite: 71.3% said Russia’s role was “Mostly positive,” and 4.0% said it was “Mostly negative.”

An accurate reflection of the reason why Crimeans, during the lead-up to the referendum, were appalled by America’s extremely violent and bloody takeover of the Ukrainian Government (as the EU itself had confirmed), was given on Crimean television shortly before the referendum, when a former criminal prosecutor in the Ukrainian Government, who lived and worked in Kiev and saw with her own eyes much of the violence but was not personally involved in the events, quit her office, and got in her car and drove back to her childhood home in Crimea, now unemployed, because she was so revulsed at what had happened to her country. On this call-in show, which was watched by many Ukrainians, she explained why she could no longer, as a lawyer and a supporter of the Ukrainian Constitution, support the Ukrainain Government — that it was now an illegal Government. She closed her opening statement, just before taking the calls from people over the phone, by saying, “Despite that our ‘great politicians’ who seized power by bloodshed, are now claiming that we don’t have the right to decide our own future — citizens of Crimea, you have every right in the world. Nobody is allowed to ururp power.” She subsequently became a criminal prosecutor in the new Crimean government, enforcing now the Russian Constitution, in Crimea.

However, anyone who says that Russia “seized Crimea,” is clearly lying or else is fooled by people who are.

Complete story at - Crimea: Was It Seized by Russia, or Did Russia Block Its Seizure by the U.S.?

German sociologists on Crimea’s choice | Oriental Review

A few days ago an interesting study, “The Socio-Political Sentiments in Crimea,” was released by the Ukrainian branch of GfK, the well-known German social research organization, as part of the Free Crimea initiative. Intriguingly, the primary objectives of this project, launched with the support of the governmental Canada Fund for Local Initiatives, were to “debunk aggressive Russian propaganda” and to “reintegrate Crimea into Ukraine.” Thus the researchers can hardly be suspected of being Russian sympathizers. So let’s take a look at the results.

The attitudes of Crimeans were studied in January 2015. This representative sample included 800 respondents living on the peninsula, from all age and social categories. The poll had an error margin of 3.5%.

In answer to the most important question: “Do you endorse Russia’s annexation of Crimea?” 82% of the respondents answered “yes, definitely,” and another 11% – “yes, for the most part.” Only 2% gave an unambiguously negative response, and another 2% offered a relatively negative assessment. Three percent did not specify their position.

We feel that this study fully validates the results of the referendum on reunification with Russia that was held on March 16, 2014. At that time 83% of Crimeans went to the polling stations and almost 97% expressed support for reunification.

Ukrainians continue to question whether this was a credible outcome, but it is now backed up by the data obtained by the Germans. The 82% of the respondents who expressed their full confidence in the results of the Russian election make up the core of the electorate who turned up at the ballot boxes on March 16, 2014.

These figures are also relevant in terms of another important question. The former chairman of the Mejlis of the Crimean Tatars, Mustafa Dzhemilev, has repeatedly stated that all Tatars on the peninsula are opposed to reunification with Russia. Dzhemilev’s statements have been widely quoted by the media, which present them as entirely authoritative and undisputed.

But let’s think about that – Crimean Tatars make up 12% of the Crimean population, yet only 4% of those polled conveyed disapproval of Crimea’s reunification with Russia. And that 4% very likely includes not only Tatars, but also Ukrainians and citizens of other ethnicities. There’s an inconsistency here. Of course further study is needed on this issue, but the results obtained by GFK cast doubt on whether Mustafa Dzhemilev or the entire Mejlis of the Crimean Tatars is an accurate barometer of the feelings of the Crimean Tatar community.

Those few respondents who disapproved reunification were then asked “Why do you fully or mostly disapprove annexation?” Only 20% of them (i.e., less than 1% of the total sample) claimed that they preferred to live in the state of Ukraine. The most common response, offered by 55% of those who opposed reunification, was “Annexations was not fully legitimate, it should be brought into accord with the international law.” Which means that, in theory, they do not object to the idea of living in Russia, but rather question the legitimacy of the transition.

Complete story at - German sociologists on Crimea’s choice | Oriental Review

Korsun massacre anniversary - what really pushed Crimea away from Ukraine - Fort Russ

While the Ukrainian Euro-maidanites are celebrating the anniversary of the bloody coup, the supporters of Antimaidan begin to mark their own tragic dates. Exactly one year ago, on February 20, a bestial gang of Nazis from the "Right Sector" attacked a convoy of buses with Crimeans near Korsun, perpetrating a real slaughter and a massacre of the opponents of a nationalist coup.

Eight buses with Crimeans, who participated in Kiev in Antimaidan rallies, were returned home [after their opponents have won]. Near Korsun in Cherkasy oblast, the convoy was ambushed by the armed thugs from the Right Sector. As became known later, the Nazis were aware of the movement of the column and were expecting the Crimeans.

The captured buses were burned, their passengers were brutally tortured, beaten and humiliated. Several people were beaten to death and murdered.

A testimony of one of the victims of torture by the Right Sector scum soon appeared online:

"We were going home from Kiev with the guys on a bus. There was a roadblock. They started to shoot at us, throwing Molotov cocktails," - shared her experience victim Oksana. "When I came out, I was hit, then they started to pull the boys". The Crimean activists of "Stop Maidan" were attacked near Korsun-Shevchenkovsky, when they returned from Kiev. On the bus there was also an injured man, for whom an ambulance was called earlier. "And they started to beat us. Boys, girls - they didn't care - remembers Oksana. "Then they took the men, and they came back already half naked. Forced them to kneel on broken glass and sing the Ukrainian anthem, shouting "Glory to the Heroes". They took the phones, passports, beat them and took them away. We were left on the bus for nine hours, and then released". The attackers spoke Ukrainian, and forced the Crimeans to speak the state language. Their actions were marked by frenzied brutality and hatred for the Crimeans.

"Now I like the situation in Crimea. At that time, when we were in trouble, not one military, nor the police saved us. No one would give a damn. When they let us go, told us to pass a message that they will soon arrive in Crimea, and it will be much worse than in Kiev. I'm glad that someone will protect us."

Complete story at - Korsun massacre anniversary - what really pushed Crimea away from Ukraine - Fort Russ

Pro-Kiev Commander: 'We Will Burn Down Crimea, With All Its Residents' / Sputnik International

You can take the leader out of his battalion, but you can't take the battalion out of its leader: a Ukrainian MP has issued outrageous threats against Crimea and threatened to torch its population.

The militantly pro-Ukrainian Dnipro Battalion leader- turned-MP Yuri Bereza has promised to "burn down Crimea, with all of its residents if needed," vociferously refusing to “liberate the peninsula in a somewhat cultural manner.” The saber-rattling politician, did not specify who might need the people to be burnt and why

The threat was voiced in a live broadcast on the Ukrainian national TV channel 1+1.

Bereza has already distinguished himself following the scandal over the false photos illustrating an alleged Russian military presence in Ukraine on German TV.

A recent news segment which aired on Germany's federal ZDF channel showed the alleged movement of Russian tanks and missile systems into eastern Ukraine, illustrating the news with the image taken several years earlier, in 2009, and in South Ossetia, not Ukraine.

Complete story at - Pro-Kiev Commander: 'We Will Burn Down Crimea, With All Its Residents' / Sputnik International

One Year Later, Crimeans Prefer Russia - Bloomberg View

By Leonid Bershidsky

As European leaders engage in shuttle diplomacy to still the armed conflict in eastern Ukraine, Crimea, where the Russian onslaught began almost a year ago, has become all but forgotten. It isn't the subject of any talks, and the international sanctions imposed on Russia for annexing the Ukrainian peninsula are light compared to the ones stemming from later phases of the conflict. Yet Crimea provides a key to understanding the crisis and its potential resolution: Ultimately, it's all about how the people in disputed areas see both Russia and Ukraine.

Ukrainian political scientist Taras Berezovets, a Crimea native, recently started an initiative he called Free Crimea, aided by the Canada Fund for Local Initiatives and aimed at building Ukrainian soft power on the peninsula. He started by commissioning a poll of Crimean residents from the Ukrainian branch of Germany's biggest market research organization, GfK. The poll results were something of a cold shower to Berezovets.

GfK Ukraine's poll wasn't based on actual field work, which is understandable, since a Ukraine-based organization would have a tough time operating in today's Crimea, which is rife with Russian FSB secret police agents and ruled by a local government intent on keeping dissent to a minimum. Instead, it conducted a telephone poll of 800 people in Crimea.

The calls were made on Jan. 16-22 to people living in towns with a population of 20,000 or more, which probably led to the peninsula's native population, the Tatars, being underrepresented because many of them live in small villages. On the other hand, no calls were placed in Sevastopol, the most pro-Russian city in Crimea. Even with these limitations, it was the most representative independent poll taken on the peninsula since its annexation.

Eighty-two percent of those polled said they fully supported Crimea's inclusion in Russia, and another 11 percent expressed partial support. Only 4 percent spoke out against it.

Complete story at - One Year Later, Crimeans Prefer Russia - Bloomberg View

Moscow Not to Revise Stance on Ukraine, Reunification With Crimea / Sputnik International

Russian Deputy Prime Minister Rogozin believes that the West started putting pressure on Russia not because of its reunification with Crimea following a referendum in March 2014, but "as soon as Moscow declared its right to act independently and to make sovereign decisions."

MOSCOW, January 28 (Sputnik) – Russia is not going to revise its stance on Ukraine crisis, as well as its decision to reunify with Crimea, despite political and economic pressure posed on Moscow by Western sanctions, Russian Deputy Prime Minister Dmitry Rogozin said Wednesday.

"The price that we are ready to pay is pretty high. Therefore, we are not going to revise any decisions, including those on Crimea and Sevastopol. We can only wonder at stubbornness and sometimes stupidity of our Western partners, who think that their sanctions can pressure us," Rogozin said.

The West started putting pressure on Russia not because of its reunification with Crimea following a referendum in March 2014, but "as soon as Moscow declared its right to act independently and to make sovereign decisions," Rogozin added.

Complete story at - Moscow Not to Revise Stance on Ukraine, Reunification With Crimea / Sputnik International

Google Ban in Crimea Prompts Companies to Switch to Russian Services / Sputnik International

Crimean internet users are turning to Russian internet service companies following Google's announcement that it would make its Apps inaccessible on the peninsula in accordance with the latest round of US sanctions.

MOSCOW, January 25 (Sputnik) — Google's announcement to clients in Crimea that the company's services would no longer be accessible after January 31 has prompted local business owners to switch to alternatives, including the popular Russian internet company and search engine Yandex, Rossiyskaya Gazeta has reported.

Google announced this week that its Google Apps services would no longer available to Crimean-registered accounts. In a letter written to users, the company noted that "we are obliged to comply with the recently adopted international sanctions, and users will not be able to access Google Apps from inside Crimea from January 31, 2015. Since access to Google for accounts located in Crimea will be suspended, we strongly recommend that you export your data prior to January 31."

The announcement follows news from earlier in the week that Google AdSense would block Crimean customers' accounts beginning January 23.

As a result of the company's decision, Crimean business owners have noted their intention to switch to other Russian internet firms, including Yandex and Mail.ru. For instance, the director of the Yalta-based interior design firm Bell'Arte told Russian news agency RIA Novosti that "we will be transferring our client base to Yandex and will be using their services [in future]."

Yandex is Russia's largest internet search engine on the Runet (Russian-language internet), and is estimated to account for over 60 percent of all searches in Russia. Like Google, in addition to the search service, the company also has an extensive range of other products, including mail, an e-commerce platform, maps, news, video, and more.
Earlier, US companies PayPal, Apple, Visa and MasterCard also announced their intentions to join in on the newest round of sanctions, announced last December. The sanctions have demanded that US companies stop providing a range of products and services to Crimea by February 1, 2015.

Complete story at - Google Ban in Crimea Prompts Companies to Switch to Russian Services / Sputnik International

​A renaissance for Crimea? Peninsula looks with hope to the future — RT Op-Edge

A few days before the end of 2014, I visited Crimea to see the immediate effects of its re-unification with Russia. I found a peninsula largely content with its historic choice but grappling with a future that, while promising much, won't be easy.

The Azov Sea winds are roaring and the waters are choppy. A lone Russian policeman is trying to keep order among hundreds of frustrated car drivers on the approach to Port Kavkaz, from where it’s only 4 kilometers by ferry to Crimea’s Kerch. I’ve been slowly inching forward for five hours. Frustration is general and the rain lashes down.

I approach the officer, asking if I can expect to reach Crimea tonight. “Normally, it only takes an hour or two, but the weather has been horrible all day. Until the bridge is built across the strait, we are at His mercy,” he explains while pointing towards the sky. As I return to my vehicle, a man in a Sevastopol-registered car rolls down his window and asks for an update.

“What's he saying?”

“That God will decide when we get there.”

“I hope God knows we are trying to get home for New Year's. I am tired. I’ve already driven from Rostov.”

Complete story at - ​A renaissance for Crimea? Peninsula looks with hope to the future — RT Op-Edge

Crimea for Dummies

NoBC4U Note: A relevant documentary done in an easy to understand format. If one chooses to understand, that is. 

Russia Moving Nukes Into Crimea, and America’s Asinine Response — Novorossia News Agency

Day after day, the scene in Ukraine seems to be looking more and more unstable. The brinksmanship of the Cold War appears to be making a comeback in Europe, as Russia asserts its claims over Ukraine. Recently, Putin has ordered the Russian military to begin moving tactical nuclear weapons into Crimea, as well as several Tu-22 nuclear armed bombers.

The event has U.S. lawmakers in an uproar, and NATO officials shaking in their boots (or at least that’s how I imagine them). They’re throwing around terms like “treaty violation” and “menacing threats to Europe”. Meanwhile, those same U.S. officials seem to be thinking in very obsolete terms.

“Locating nuclear weapons on the sovereign territory of another state without its permission is a devious and cynical action,” states the letter signed by House Armed Services Committee Chairman Howard P. “Buck” McKeon (R., Calif.) and two subcommittee chairmen.

“It further positions Russian nuclear weapons closer to the heart of NATO, and it allows Russia to gain a military benefit from its seizure of Crimea, allowing Russia to profit from its action.”

They can’t accept that the Crimea is no longer the sovereign territory of Ukraine. Whether the actions of the Russian government are right or wrong, is irrelevant. They’ve taken Crimea, a region that has belonged to Russia for longer than the U.S. has even existed, and the place is just lousy with ethnic Russians (who’d have thought?).

Complete story at - Russia Moving Nukes Into Crimea, and America’s Asinine Response — Novorossia News Agency

The Vineyard of the Saker: Why Ukraine Will Never Retake Crimea

Written especially for Russia Insider

The Ukrainian Defense Minister Valerii Geletei is hardly a credible figure.

Not only did he recently declare that Russia had threatened the Ukraine with nuclear strikes, he even told a Ukrainian journalist that Russia had already executed two tactical nuclear strikes on the city of Lugansk (apparently to explain why the Ukrainian forces had to retreat from there). The Junta later denied the story and blamed it on the journalist who first published it.

Despite these antics, Geletei nonetheless caught the world's attention when he promised the Ukrainian Rada that the Ukraine would retake Crimea and organize a victory parade in Sevastopol. The Rada (Ukraine's parliament) greeted that promise with a standing ovation.

The truth is that this will never happen. Here is why:

By 2020 Russia will have completed the following defense plan:

86.7 billion rubles will be spend to modernize the Black Sea Fleet. Modernization plans include the deployment of ultra-modern Project 11356 frigates and top of the line Project 636.3 diesel-electric attack submarines.

A separate army group, similar to the one in Kaliningrad, will be formed and a bomber base will be created. The ground forces component will include one Air-Assault brigade, one Spetsnaz brigade, one Naval Infantry brigade and one Motor-Rifle brigade. Earlier, other sources spoke of one or two Airborne brigades, two or three Motor-Rifle brigades and one Tank brigades. 

The Russian Air Force plans to deploy Tupolev Tu-22M3 “Backfire” bombers in Crimea which will be able to not only defend Crimea from any threat from the sea, but also destroy key components of the the US/NATO anti-ballistic missile system now deployed in southern Europe. 

Finally, Crimea will be defended by coastal defense missiles, air defense systems and anti-ship cruise missiles.

In other words, Crimea will become a formidable defensive node, an unsinkable aircraft carrier if you want, and an ideal location for the power-projection of Russian military forces in southern Europe, the Balkans, the Mediterranean, the Middle-East, the Caucasus and Central Asia.

No wonder the US/NATO wanted it so badly.

Complete story at - The Vineyard of the Saker: Why Ukraine Will Never Retake Crimea

Crimeans are happier to be a part of Russia than Russians themselves. | Vera Graziadei

It’s mid-July and I’m on a flight to a place that the Foreign and Commonwealth Office advises against all travel to with these menacing warnings:

“Russian forces and pro-Russian groups have established full operational control in Crimea. Following an illegal referendum on 16 March, Russia illegally annexed Crimea on 21 March and tensions remain high. Flights in and out of Simferopol airport are subject to disruption. … Train and bus routes out of the peninsula are still operating, though subject to unscheduled disruptions. There are reports of road blocks, with passengers being searched but traffic is able to get through. If you’re currently visiting or living in Crimea, you should leave now. If you choose to remain, you should keep a low profile, avoid areas of protest or stand-off and stay indoors where possible.”

Had I not been going to this exotic peninsula on the edge of the Black Sea every single year since I was 6, I would probably follow this mis-advice, which is still current on the UK government’s website. Even at the peak of the Crimean crisis in March 2014, when I was phoning all my numerous Crimean friends, worrying about the situation there, I was always reassured that most of the things I read in the western media were a lie. None of these friends, mainly living in the southern area of Crimea, have encountered any problems, seen any little green men, been searched, threatened or in any way intimidated. The majority of ordinary citizens were not affected at all, and far from ‘keeping a low profile’, people flocked to the streets at any opportunity to celebrate what most see as a ‘re-unification’ with Russia.

“I was crying with joy. I’ve never seen the sea front so full people. Everyone was ecstatic (re: Russia’s Day, 12th June). The day Crimea joined Russia was the happiest day of my life”, told me on the phone one of the old friends of my family Lyubov (65), who was born in Yalta and lived there all her life. All my other friends and acquaintances, 23 to 70 year olds, whom I’ve spoken to voted for independence from Ukraine and told me that all their friends and family have done the same. The only person I knew, whose experience was different, was a Crimean-born Ukrainian singer Jamala of Qimily Tatar origin, who wrote to me back in March: “when my grandpa heard that Russian occupied Crimea, he barely handled it. He will not be able to endure another war, that’s why I’m in hysterics as well.”

Complete story at - Crimeans are happier to be a part of Russia than Russians themselves. | Vera Graziadei

Ukrainian billionaire Kolomoisky to be stripped of his assets in Crimea | Russian Legal Information Agency (RAPSI).

MOSCOW, September 3 (RAPSI) – Crimean authorities have decided to nationalize property of Ukrainian billionaire Ihor Kolomoisky located within the territory of the republic, RIA Novosti reported Wednesday.

Lawmakers of the State Council of Crimea, the parliament of the republic, supported the initiative submitted by Acting Head of Crimea Sergei Aksyonov almost unanimously.

Russia’s Investigative Committee is looking for assets Kolomoisky may own in Russia, including in Crimea, and which may be seized, committee’s spokesman Vladimir Markin said Tuesday. A court in Moscow has already seized a business center owned by Elite Holding, a company co-founded by Kolomoisky.

A criminal case has been opened in Russia against Kolomoisky and Ukrainian Interior Minister Arsen Avakov under Russian articles on “the masterminding of murder, the use of prohibited methods and means of warfare, abduction, and the hindering of the legitimate activities of journalists.”

Kolomoisky is one of Ukraine’s richest people, whose personal wealth is estimated by Forbes at $1.8 billion.

Complete story at - Ukrainian billionaire Kolomoisky to be stripped of his assets in Crimea | Russian Legal Information Agency (RAPSI).

Kolomoisky (L)

The Vineyard of the Saker: Situation report evacuees from Auslander

We received the first 5 evacuees who will be benefactors of our efforts. We have two adult women and three children. I will give no information about this group or how they came to us beyond these are special people whom no one else could help. When this war is over I will tell some details of the evacuees. This makes a total of 8 women and children we have gotten out. The first group of 3 women were all mothers of an earlier group of children evacuated that we were not involved with in regards to their actual evacuation. Mother is taking care of their food and lodging.

This group was picked up and taken to the facility where they will live for the duration. Their journey was not uneventful. After we arranged all for them, VCO spent three hours talking to them and translating for me as they rotated out to shower and clean up. They are exhausted but three were anxious to tell their story. The best therapy is for them to talk about their experiences.

I am pretty good at gently getting information from people. When 3 people tell me the same story over the course of 3 hours and often not all 3 are together, and I from time to time go back to conversations an hour or two before the moment and ask a question and get the same basic answer, I tend to believe them. Plus, VCO spent some time speaking to them alone and she got exactly the same story with added details.

First, a caution.

All identifying information such as street names and numbers, personal names, places of work etc is redacted. These people are in danger simply because of who they are. We must protect them but we must also get their story out. The information they gave was detailed and voluminous, far more than what is written here.

The evacuees speak.

'I worked in a bank office. I have been there for some years. I have not been paid since March. Every week we were promised we would be paid next week. 3 weeks ago masked and armed men came to the office with manager. They ordered us to leave. We stood outside and watched as the men loaded all the computers, machines and records in to two large cars (trucks) and last they brought all the money in large black metal boxes. We asked them about our money and they pointed their automats at us and told us to shut up. They left. That night the bank office was burned. Our самообороны (defense forces) was blamed for the fire. It was not our men, it was the men who took all the money.

Militsiya (police) are useless. They don't work, they are cowards, they are waiting to see who wins this war. When there is trouble we send children running to get самообороны to us.

Shooting started. They shoot from the radio tower on the hill at us every day and every night. Many shops have been damaged. Almost all shops have stopped working now. No one could get their money from banks. All banks are closed. Every day someone is killed near us. We do not have any самообороны post in our area. The guns are very big. We can hear them when they shoot. We have nowhere to hide.

Complete story at - The Vineyard of the Saker: Situation report evacuees from Auslander