Zhirinovsky: Buffoon or Harbinger of Apocalypse

Vladimir Zhirinovsky, the vitriolic, bellicose Russian chauvinist, has been spewing his hatred against neighboring nations for years. He doesn’t espouse his love of Russia but he regularly rages against Ukraine and the other x-captive nations. Lately dressed as a colonel in the Russian armed forces, ranting and salivating, Zhirinovsky looks and behaves like a buffoon. But what if he isn’t?

His latest tirade came during an appearance on a talk show on Russia’s Rossiya 24 network. Zhirinovsky, who is also leader of the Liberal Democratic Party of Russia (LDPR), shed a series of new threats against the x-captive nations.

Zhirinovsky, a deputy speaker of Russia’s lower house of parliament, not only threatened those countries, he also suggested launching pre-emptive strikes against Lithuania, Latvia, and Estonia, as well as Poland. He justified the remarks by suggesting that Russia “cannot allow” peripheral nations’ missile defenses and air forces to be within striking distance of Russia, and that Russia should seek to destroy them “a half hour before they launch,” according to the Euromaidan website.

The language used in the broadcast was considered especially inciteful, not only for calling for the carpet bombing of the four countries, but their entire annihilation.

“What will remain of the Baltics? Nothing will remain…in Poland, the Baltics, they are doomed. They’ll be wiped out…Let the leaders of these dwarf states reconsider this. Eastern European states will place themselves under the threat of total annihilation, and only they will be to blame…we’ll have to teach them the lessons of May 1945,” declared Zhirinovsky, also a close ally of Putin.

As for the USA, Zhirinovsky said it will not be threatened because it is too far. About Ukraine, which is next door, he said: “All questions of war and peace in general and in particular those relating to Ukraine will be solved by one person, the head of the Russian Federation.”

Understandably, Poland and the Baltic states, witnessing Russia’s invasion of Ukraine, are already concerned about their destinies. This angst is certainly compounded by Zhirinovsky’s latest venom.

In quick order, they summoned the Russian ambassadors in their respective capitals to meetings with their officials to protest his threats.

Latvia strongly condemned the threats. The Foreign Ministry in Riga summoned Russia Ambassador Alexander Veshnyakov “to hear Latvia's position regarding the issue,” the ministry said.

“Statements of this kind are a strong testimony to the wish of Russia's ruling elite to restore the Russian empire,” Latvian Foreign Minister Edgars Rinkevics said. “This also demonstrates that the sanctions applied by the EU and other states against Russia in response to the latter’s actions in Ukraine are appropriate and fully justified.”

Rinkevics added that Latvia would take these comments into account when it discusses with its NATO partners additional measures for the security of the Baltic States and Poland.

A day earlier Polish Foreign Minister Radek Sikorski summoned the Russian ambassador in Warsaw, saying Poland had to react because Zhirinovsky is not a private citizen or even an ordinary lawmaker.

However, Valeria Perzhinskaya, a Russian Embassy spokeswoman in Warsaw, obnoxiously said the ambassador didn’t feel he should have to explain the comments of Zhirinovsky, who does not speak for the Russian government. The Polish government would have been well within its rights to send the Russian envoy home.

The LETA news agency reported that Russian embassy officials further warned against “pre-election rhetoric” and accused Latvian government officials of making “russophobic” comments in the past. That is a standard Russian defensive counter-argument against any sovereign country that disagrees with its policies.

In 2013, Zhirinovsky had threatened the Baltic States, saying that they would be occupied or destroyed since they had dared to support the intervention of the Western countries in Syria.

None of these threats can be treated separately from what the Kremlin is doing. Zhirinovsky is not an unknown commodity in Russia. And he is not alone. Putin stands at the top of Russian triangle and he too is known for threatening near and distant countries. Last week, his former chief economic advisor Andrej Illarionov, said Putin seeks to create “historical justice” with a return to the days of the last Tsar Nicholas II, and the Soviet Union under Stalin. Putin is even targeting Finland.

Earlier this week, Reuters reported that Russia began military exercises in a Pacific island chain, parts of which are also claimed by Japan, which could be a potential blow to Japanese Prime Minister Shinzo Abe's efforts to keep the door open to dialog with Moscow despite strains over the Ukraine crisis. Japan has sided with Ukraine in its war with Russia.
“Exercises began involving military units in the region, which are deploying to the Kurile Islands," Col. Alexander Gordeyev, a spokesman for Russia’s Eastern Military District, told the Russian news agency Interfax. Gordeyev said more than 1,000 troops, five Mi-8AMTSh attack helicopters and 100 other pieces of military hardware would be involved in the maneuvers.
A Japanese foreign ministry official said the ministry was checking whether the exercises were taking part on islands that Japan considers its territory. The islands are known as the Southern Kuriles in Russia and the Northern Territories in Japan.
“If they are conducting a military exercise on the Northern Territories, we can by no means accept that in light of Japan's stance on the islands. We've already informed the Russian side of that stance and asked for clarification,” the official said.
Even NATO has expressed concern that Russia’s imperial ambition goes beyond Ukraine, Secretary General Anders Fogh Rasmussen has opined.

"We have seen the illegal annexation of Crimea, we have seen a strong Russian hand in the destabilization of eastern Ukraine," Rasmussen was quoted as telling journalists on a visit to Iceland. “But actually we also see Russia behind the frozen and protracted conflicts in Transnistria and eastern Moldova, in Abkhazia and South Ossetia and Georgia.”

He added, “That's why I am concerned that the Russian ambitions go beyond Ukraine.”

Putin’s imperial arrogance is not original but it should be indicative of who the international community has to deal with. Putin also believes that he can win a war with NATO.

Russian pundit Andrei Piontkovsky was quoted by Paul Goble as saying about Putin, “No state or regime goes to war firmly convinced that it will lose it.” Piontkovsky said if Putin goes to war with NATO and even if he escalates that conflict by using nuclear weapons, he will be acting on the belief that he can win it.

Piontkovsky’s observation is also revealing about his intentions with Ukraine. Putin started the war, seized Crimea, then sent his commanders, mercenaries and terrorists into eastern Ukraine and is now amassing tens of thousands of Russian troops on the border with Ukraine – not to mention penetrating the border with a 200-plus convoy of trucks while the world looks on aghast. Putin has a plan and he is convinced that he can win, defeat Ukraine and re-subjugate it.

It is important for world leaders – and the citizens who elected them – to realize that none of this is new or even recent. Putin did not wake up one day in January of this year announcing that he is going to invade Ukraine and take Crimea. Invasion plans are made months if not years in advance.

For decades, even going back to the Soviet days, Moscow had composed security, defense, military and foreign policies that championed its victory. The only difference is that since the downfall of the Soviet Union, Russia’s policies have been openly championing the ancient glory of mother Russia and the longing desire to reestablish its predominance. The Kremlin has a track record, plan and budget to fulfil it.

Consequently, the Western allies, NATO and others would be foolhardy to belittle the menacing saber rattling of someone like Zhirinovsky.

If the West had believed and reacted to Hitler’s Mein Kampf in 1925 and his speeches in Nuremberg in 1934, then there might not have been a war in 1939-45.

Russia Planned to Destroy Aeroflot Plane: Kyiv

As incredible as it sounds, Ukrainian officials have uncovered a Russian plot to shoot down an Aeroflot airliner to justify the invasion of Ukraine.

The SBU head Valentyn Nalyvaichenko reported on the findings at a press conference on, August 7, reported Ukrainska Pravda.

According to Nalyvaichenko, the Russian plane was following the same air corridor at approximately the same time as the Malaysian airliner. It was flight AFL-2074 on the Moscow-Larnaca route, filled with vacationing Russian citizens. It was for this specific dark reason that the Buk missile system, directed by a Russian crew, was delivered to Ukraine. As Nalyvaichenko explained, the Malaysian Boeing-777 was flying at the height of 10,000 meters, and the Aeroflot airliner was to fly at an altitude of 11,600 meters. The Buk missile system, which functions on much higher altitudes, was necessary to destroy the Russian airliner.

Nalyvaichenko explained that this complex was to be set up in the village of Pervomaisk, 20 km west of Donetsk, but “because the experts weren’t locals” they confused the location and transported the Buk to a village further away with the same name, located northeast of Donetsk.

“The Aeroflot airliner was to be struck from the originally planned location, so that it fell on the territory controlled by Ukraine’s armed forces. This terrorist act was cynically planned as a pretext for launching open aggression caused by the mass destruction of innocent Russians,” he said.

According to Nalyvaichenko, the terrorists, including their leader Igor Girkin, expected a full-scale deployment of Russian troops in Ukraine during the night of July 18, UNIAN reported. In fact, it was on July 18 that Russian media began to report on the supposed shelling of Russian territory by Ukrainian troops.

When asked why in the SBU’s radio intercepts the terrorists believed that they had shot down a military transport aircraft of the Armed Forces of Ukraine, Nalyvaichenko explained that terrorists at the lower levels were not privy to the real plans. He noted that the terrorist leader Igor Bezler (Bes) reported to Russian security services that the attack had been carried out and then was summoned to Moscow. The SBU wants to question the people who summoned him, Nalyvaichenko said.

He also pointed out that the terrorist Girkin had plans to blow up residential buildings. “When one terrorist act didn’t work, it was to be replaced by another,” he said.

This is not the first time that Russia was caught scheming to kill civilians, including innocent Russians, to achieve its diabolical goals.

Obama Doesn’t Get It

President Barack Obama unfortunately observed that Ukraine does not need additional military assistance to help fight pro-Russian separatists but an invasion by Russia would raise “a different set of questions.”

Extending threats and waiting for Russia to escalate the war before taking action against it is a dangerous game of brinkmanship.

Obama’s comments came after NATO said on August 6 that Moscow had increased its forces along the border with eastern Ukraine to some 20,000 troops.

Obama comment that Ukraine is fighting separatists “who can’t match the Ukrainian army,” is a nice compliment but should not serve as the basis of Washington’s foreign policy. Ukraine is America’s ally or it isn’t. Ukrainian officials have urged Washington to provide lethal aid to Kyiv and some lawmakers have expressed their support for these pleas.

Vice President Joe Biden spoke via phone with President Poroshenko, who said Moscow is already involved in the conflict, firing artillery at Ukrainian forces from Russia.

President Obama and his officials will not serve their or Ukraine’s interests by losing Ukraine on their watch. The consequences of such a failure will resound for generations.

NATO’s Support for Ukraine is Crucial

Ukraine has been recording military victories against Russia and has even surrounded Russian mercenaries in Donetsk. But for complete victory, stronger global support is imperative.

NATO Secretary General Anders Fogh Rasmussen said during a visit to Kyiv last Thursday that the alliance stands by Ukraine and is looking to strengthen its partnership with the country at its summit in Wales in September.

“NATO’s support for the sovereignty and territorial integrity of Ukraine is unwavering. Our partnership is long-standing. It’s strong, and in response to Russia’s aggression, NATO is working even more closely with Ukraine to reform its armed forces and defense institutions,” Rasmussen said.

He discussed how to strengthen NATO’s partnership with Ukraine with President Poroshenko, who presented Rasmussen with Ukraine’s Order of Liberty, for his personal contribution to the development of NATO-Ukraine relations and support for Ukraine’s sovereignty. “We stand by Ukraine and your struggle to uphold the fundamental principles on which we have built our free societies,” he said in accepting the reward. 

Russian Tanks on Ukraine’s Border

Despite being again censured by the international community, Russia has been pressing with its intention of helping Ukraine in its time of humanitarian crisis by dispatching several thousands of its troops into Ukraine who would occupy the country for generations to come. In railroad stations in border towns such as Rostov, trains have been seen with tanks on train flatbed cars.

Ukrainian military officials said on Saturday it had headed off an attempt by Russia to send troops into Ukraine under the guise of peacekeepers with the aim of provoking a large-scale military conflict. A statement from Moscow dismissed this as a “fairy tale.”

Ukraine has made several similar statements about Russian aggression during months of the war with Russian mercenaries and terrorists in its eastern region. A senior aide to Ukrainian President Poroshenko was quoted as saying that a large Russian military convoy had been heading for the border on Friday under a supposed agreement with the Red Cross. A spokesman for the Red Cross later denied the Russian statement.

Russia will stop at nothing to force an invasion of Ukraine. Global vigilance is imperative in order to keep Moscow’s manifest destiny in check.

Ambassador Power: Russian Peacekeepers in Ukraine – Oxymoron

Ambassador Samantha Power is recognized among Ukrainians and other freedom-loving peoples around the world as a stateswomen and human being who supports the rights of the downtrodden and is not afraid to reprimand national bullies that seek to persecute others. In other words, she is not reluctant to duke it out with the likes of Russian diplomats at the United Nations who by virtue of position and audacity attempt to pull the wool over the worlds’ eyes.

Three days after Russia was again rebuked by the global community, specifically the members of the UN Security Council, the Kremlin was again admonished for its attempt to launch a full-scale invasion against Ukraine under the guise of peacekeeping and humanitarian aid.

As we wrote previously, after invading Ukraine and spreading death a mayhem in eastern Ukraine, creating a humanitarian crisis, Russia sought to have the UN approve a humanitarian mission to Ukraine. Fortunately, not one member state swallowed the bait.

Ambassador Power, the US permanent representative to the UN, publically observed that the idea of Russian peacekeepers in Ukraine is an oxymoron.

Admitting that these are challenging times for Ukraine, Power sympathized with Ukrainians who have had to flee their homes. “No one should be forced to live without access to essential medicine, or with only an hour of access to water a day,” she said.

But she quickly added that relief should not come from the source of the devastation – Russia. “That’s why we welcome the fact that the Ukrainian government has created humanitarian corridors, which are allowing critical aid to get into – and civilians to get out of – separatist-controlled areas. And Ukraine is making a concerted effort to address the complex needs of approximately 117,000 people who have been internally displaced. In doing so, Ukraine is working effectively with international humanitarian organizations to provide assistance,” she said.

The America official said “in Ukraine, urgent humanitarian assistance should be delivered by the international humanitarian organizations that have the expertise, experience, and independence to provide it. It should not be delivered by Russia.”

Ukraine has been asking for aid from humanitarian organizations, she said, so there is no logical reason for Russia to deliver it.

“Therefore, any further unilateral intervention by Russia into Ukrainian territory – including one under the guise of providing humanitarian aid – would be completely unacceptable and deeply alarming,” she said. “And it would be viewed as an invasion of Ukraine.”

Great observation. Simple and true.

“Last week, the Russians again floated the idea of sending Russian quote ‘peacekeepers’ to eastern Ukraine. A ‘Russian peacekeeper’ in Ukraine is an oxymoron: at every step in this crisis, Russians have sabotaged peace, not built it. And it is particularly worrisome given Russia’s purported annexation of Crimea, which was predicated on calls by an illegitimate, puppet government, for Russia to send troops to restore ‘peace.’ Peacekeepers are impartial – yet Russia fully supports Russian armed separatists in this conflict,” Ambassador Power declared.

Listing Russia’s recent aggressive transgressions against Ukraine, she said the following:

“Russian cross-border military assistance to illegal separatists has actually increased substantially. Russian tanks, infantry fighting vehicles, multiple rocket launcher systems, and truck-loads of munitions continue to flow to separatists, while new fighters are trained on Russian soil. And Russia continues to take actions that escalate the conflict; amassing more and more troops and hardware near the border; launching extensive military exercises this week; and shelling across the border into sovereign Ukrainian territory. Perhaps most shocking is that Russia has doubled down on its support for rebels and provocative actions after witnessing the horrific carnage that resulted from the downing of Malaysian Airlines flight MH-17.”

Ambassador Power has been leading the global diplomatic campaign on behalf of Ukraine in the hallowed halls of the United Nations. Canadian, British and Lithuanian diplomats have also earnestly spoken up in defense of Ukraine. Too bad there aren’t more of them.

Britain's UN Ambassador Mark Lyall Grant at the emergency session accused Russia of continuing “recklessly to fuel the conflict” by building up its forces on the border, “and now we hear that Russia is ready to intervene on humanitarian grounds to alleviate the suffering that it has manufactured.”

Assistant Secretary-General for Human Rights Ivan Simonovic, briefing the council by videoconference from Croatia, welcomed President Petro Poroshenko’s proposal for a new round of talks to find a way to restore a ceasefire.

He warned that “the fabric” of Ukrainian society is being torn apart by the ongoing violence, the use of “hate speech” is increasing especially in social media, and there is “what amounts to a reign of fear and terror in areas under control of the armed groups, with a breakdown of law and order.”

No Truce Now, Just Capitulation: Lysenko

Ukrainian military victories and siege of Donetsk have prompted Russian terrorists to seek a ceasefire to prevent what they are promoting as a humanitarian catastrophe. However, Ukrainian officials appropriately demanded that the Russian forces surrender instead.

In a press conference in Kyiv, Andriy Lysenko, a spokesman for Ukraine’s National Security and Defense Council, said the only way for the rebels in Donetsk to save their lives would be to “lay down their arms and give up.” He said the Ukrainian side hadn’t seen the rebels show any real willingness to cooperate.

“If white flags come up and they lay down their arms, nobody is going to shoot at them,” he said. “(But) we have not seen any practical steps yet, just a statement.”

Indeed. Russian terrorists must surrender and withdraw from Ukraine deep into Russia. They can’t make any conditions. Just pick up and leave. Then Moscow must submit to an internationally guaranteed treaty in which they would commit to never invading Ukraine again.