Russia’s 3^rd Front vs Ukraine:

Shots Heard ‘Round the World

Russia’s hostile actions against Ukraine in the Sea of Azov last week cannot be regarded as an isolated, disconnected act of aggression as many foreign policy pundits have tended to imply in their regular ruminations, wondering where this belligerence came from and where it will lead.

The latest Russian shots heard ‘round the world were unquestionably connected to the Russo-Ukraine War of 2014-18 that Moscow launched two weeks after the conclusion of the 2014 Winter Olympics in Sochi, Russia. If the Russian invasion and illegal occupation of Crimea and its war against Ukraine in the eastern oblasts weren’t enough to prove Russia’s dangerous aggressive mindset, then this piracy on the high seas should serve as another wake-up call for the free world.

World leaders are again confronted with a saber-rattling Russia that has proclaimed in recent days accelerated conventional and nuclear re-militarization. Peace and goodwill toward man will not be the hallmark of this year’s Christmas.

The Kerch Strait incident is the newest, obvious example of The Kremlin’s never-ending 1,000-year-old imperial mission to once and for all subjugate Ukraine, to permanently shackle the country and nation to Moscow.

The attack could also signal the start of wider hostilities, as a senior EU diplomat was quoted as telling EUobserver, to create what Vladimir Putin called in 2014 “Novorossiya” – the seizure of territory connecting Russia-occupied Crimea and east Ukraine and cutting off Ukraine from the Black Sea.

However, this iteration of Russian belligerence comes with this difference. Russia has raucously demonstrated that it will lie in the face of incontrovertible facts, and do whatever it wishes to do with arrogant impunity, regardless of a global pushback. It will advance its manifest destiny in defiance of global sanctions as it does everything in its power to resurrect and reinforce the glory and might of its Holy Mother Russian Empire.

While the former captive nations have lived with that ominous reality since the end of World War II, global leaders today do not enjoy the luxury of disparaging that possibility by blindly continuing to suggest equal culpability, glad hand Putin and meet with Russian officials.

In the wake of Russia’s firing upon three Ukrainian vessels that were sailing in international waters, the Ukrainian Ministry of Defense raised its Armed Forces’ war preparedness to the highest level and declared martial law in a dozen northern, eastern and southern oblasts.

The world is facing the possibility of not only losing Ukraine on its watch but also dealing with a more brazen, bellicose Russia.

At a UN Security Council meeting on Monday, November 26, Russia was left out in the cold and it wasn’t fazed by being vilified. By supporting Ukraine, the council members declined to accept its dishonest explanations as they isolated Moscow.

Nonetheless, the Russian Deputy Permanent Representative Dmitry Polianskiy nonchalantly blamed Ukraine for disrupting regional peace and security and accused it of banditry. He told the Security Council members that Kyiv’s actions since the Revolution of Dignity five years ago have been “fraught with dangerous consequences.” He blamed the United States and other countries for encouraging Ukraine’s policies.

Polianskiy warned the international community that despite the free world’s support for Ukraine, Russia has never caused the first blow but it will repel any incursions on Russian territory and it knows how to protect itself.

“The people of Crimea, like Russia’s other regions, are well protected,” he asserted.

His most immoral, cynical affirmation was to say that the Russian people love Ukrainians. Russians “believe in their wisdom and take them in willingly. We listen to their stories of the suffering, misery and wrongdoings that are happening in that once rich and successful country, from which people today are scattering in every direction in the realization that this ship is sinking.”

Ironically, Polianskiy made this ridiculous statement on the weekend when Ukrainians were observing the 85th anniversary of the Russian-made famine that killed 7-10 million Ukrainian men, women and children.

Rather than telling what had happened in the Kerch Strait, Polianskiy offered a fictional presentation, blaming Ukraine for violating Russia’s territorial waters. Fortunately, high-tech devices have proved that the Ukrainian vessels were in fact in international waters.

Polianskiy further cautioned that sanctions will never force Russia to change its behavior. In other words, the world shouldn’t expect a de-escalation of military hostilities against Ukraine and other countries anytime soon.

For all dreamers around the world, Russia confirmed at UN Security Council that nothing, no amount of sanctions will force it to change its behavior and policies. It will actively defend its state, sovereignty and independence against all detractors and expand its empire.

It’s curious how many economic penalties would force Russia to change its ways when according to estimates by experts at Bloomberg, sanctions against the Russia have already caused the country’s economy to lose additional 6%.

Permanent Representative of Ukraine to the UN Volodymyr Yelchenko during the Security Council meeting accused Russia of committing an act of an open military aggression against Ukraine by targeting, firing on and capturing three military vessels. By all accounts, this wasn’t the first such act. Then he dramatically added that “Nevertheless, further escalation of the situation by the Russian Federation should not be ruled out,” indicating that Kyiv is preparing for a greater military insertion against Ukraine by invading Russian forces. Yelchenko said according to available intelligence data, there is a clear threat for invasion and seizing of Mariupol and Berdyansk, which dovetails with Putin’s plans for “Novorossiya.”

“Kremlin’s criminal regime has once again demonstrated that it won’t stop its aggressive policy and is ready for any acts of aggression against the Ukrainian state. The dramatic escalation of the situation in the region needs a prompt reaction from international community,” he said.

US Ambassador to the United Nations Nikki Haley warned Russia that its seizure of three Ukrainian vessels was an “outrageous violation of sovereign Ukrainian territory” and urged Moscow to reduce tensions caused by its “arrogant” act. Haley said she had spoken with President Donald Trump and Secretary of State Mike Pompeo earlier on Monday and that her statement “reflects the concerns at the highest level.”

“As President Trump has said many times, the United States would welcome a normal relationship with Russia. But outlaw actions like this one continue to make that impossible,” said Haley, a member of Trump’s cabinet. “The United States will maintain its Crimea-related sanctions against Russia. Further Russian escalation of this kind will only make matters worse. It will further undermine Russia’s standing in the world. It will further sour Russia’s relations with the U.S. and many other countries,” Haley said.

She further said “Sunday’s outrageous violation of sovereign Ukrainian territory is part of a pattern of Russian behavior that includes the purported annexation of Crimea, and abuses against countless Ukrainians in Crimea, as well as stoking conflict that has taken the lives of more than ten thousand people in eastern Ukraine, and it shows no sign of decreasing. What we witnessed this weekend is yet another reckless Russian escalation. Let’s be clear about what is known.”

Though she favorably cited Trump, the President of the United States did not condemn Russia for firing upon Ukrainian ships in international waters. Ahead of the G7 meeting in Argentina, Trump’s staff announced that the President would not meet officially with Putin but Trump did meet with him in a less-than-official setting.

The international community ran to Ukraine’s side with declarations of support and condemnation for Russia.

NATO issued a statement giving unconditional support to Ukraine, said NATO spokesperson Oana Lungescu in a commentary for Evropeyska Pravda. Lungescu emphasized that NATO is closely monitoring developments in the Azov Sea and the Kerch Strait. “We are in contact with the Ukrainian authorities. We call for restraint and de-escalation.

“NATO fully supports the sovereignty and territorial integrity of Ukraine, including its navigational rights in its territorial waters. We call on Russia to ensure unhindered access to Ukrainian ports in the Azov Sea, in accordance with international law,” the NATO press secretary stated.

NATO Secretary General Jens Stoltenberg said following a meeting of the NATO-Ukraine Commission that all allies expressed their full support for Ukraine’s territorial integrity and sovereignty.
“So we call on Russia to ensure unhindered access to Ukrainian ports and allow freedom of navigation for Ukraine in the Sea of Azov and the Kerch Strait.

“There is no justification for the use of military force against Ukrainian ships and naval personnel.   So we call on Russia to release immediately the Ukrainian sailors and ships it seized yesterday.” Stoltenberg said.

In Washington, the Congressional Ukraine Caucus Chairs, Representatives Marcy Kaptur (D-OH), Andy Harris (R-MD), Sander Levin (D-MI) and Brian Fitzpatrick (R-PA), among many other lawmakers from both sides of the aisle, rebuked Russia’s attack on Ukraine near the Kerch Strait in the Sea of Azov:

“As co-chairs of the Congressional Ukraine Caucus, we strongly condemn Russia’s dangerous naval assault on Ukrainian ships. This episode, as well as Russia’s blockade of Ukrainian ports, is a deeply disturbing sign of continued Russian aggression in its efforts to tighten its bloody grip and illegitimate occupation of the Crimean peninsula.

“We join the international community and our NATO allies in resolute affirmation of the fact that Crimea and its surrounding waters belong to Ukraine. We call on Russian authorities, in accordance with international law, to cease any and all interference with access to Ukrainian ports and the Azov Sea. Russia must end this bloody and unjust occupation of Ukrainian sovereign territory.”

Secretary of State Michael R. Pompeo added the USA’s deep concern over the incident in the Kerch Strait. He noted that reports that Russian vessels rammed and fired on the Ukrainian ships, injuring Ukrainian crewmen, before seizing three vessels, represent a dangerous escalation and a violation of international law.

“The United States condemns this aggressive Russian action. We call on Russia to return to Ukraine its vessels and detained crew members, and to respect Ukraine’s sovereignty and territorial integrity within its internationally recognized borders, extending to its territorial waters,” Pompeo said.

The former captive nations came to Ukraine’s defense. Lithuanian President Dalia Grybauskaitė said “obviously, Russia is waging a direct and aggressive war against Ukraine, cynically violating international agreements and assumed obligations. We are ready to defend it.”
Lithuania’s Minister of Foreign Affairs Linas Linkevicius stated that Russian actions undermine security of the whole region. “We strongly condemn Russia’s move to physically block Kerch Strait and ramming of Ukrainian boat. Cannot be qualified differently than an act of aggression & another blatant violation of an international maritime law,” said Linkevicius.

European Council President Donald Tusk condemned Russia’s seizure of Ukrainian navy vessels in the Kerch Strait.

“I condemn Russian use of force in the Azov Sea. Russian authorities must return Ukrainian sailors, vessels and refrain from further provocations,” Tusk said after a phone call with Ukrainian President Petro Poroshenko. “Europe will stay united in support of Ukraine.”

Prime Minister Theresa May’s spokesman told reporters “We condemn Russia’s act of aggression. This incident provides further evidence of Russia’s destabilizing behavior in the region.”

While sanctions’ success may be questionable in the wake of Polianskiy’s admission in the Security Council that Russia will not budge, France and Germany have already declared that they do not support the introduction of new sanctions against the Russia for seizing Ukrainian ships. According to sources in the EU’s diplomatic circles, at a private meeting of the Political and Security Committee (PSC) in Brussels on Tuesday, diplomats from France and Germany said it is now important to take measures to build confidence. Berlin and Paris believe that sanctions are not part of these activities. Cracks in the pro-Ukrainian, anti-Russian alliance?

Later in the week, Russia revealed perhaps its next target. Spokesperson for Russia’s Foreign Ministry Maria Zakharova has threated Ukraine with occupation of regions where Russian diplomatic institutions located. The Russian MFA said the Russian people “could lose patience,” which would lead to attacks on the Ukrainian diplomatic institutions on Russian territory.

Chief of the General Staff of the Armed Forces of Ukraine Viktor Muzhenko says there were 23 Ukrainians on board the three boats captured by Russia near the Kerch Strait and contact with them has been lost. “We know nothing about the navy men, there is only information about six wounded, two of them have been wounded seriously,” he said at a meeting of the National Security and Defense Council of Ukraine in Kyiv in the early hours of Monday, November 26.

Ukrainian sailors were transferred toward the end of the week from occupied Crimea to a Moscow prison as Dzhemil Temyshev, the lawyer of captured sailor Roman Mokriak, reported on Facebook.

“The sailors are already in Moscow. The colleagues from Lefortovo reported this information. Today due to the “technical events,” Lefortovo was almost closed.  And we could not meet our clients in Simferopol as supposedly they were involved in some events,” the lawyer reported.

Global support for Ukraine is welcome but with Russia’s aggressiveness and arrogance intensifying, the x-captive nations must revive wartime alliances such as the Anti-Bolshevik Bloc of Nations renamed Anti-Russian Bloc of Nations that must be supported militarily and politically by a global coalition of free countries determined to subdue Russia.

Ukrainian Foreign Minister Pavlo Klimkin said in a tweet that you don’t need to be a James Bond to ascertain Russia’s designs: re-subjugation of Ukraine and the other x-captive nations and then …

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