Free World must Condemn and Reject

Russian Elections in Occupied eastern Ukraine

The free world must categorically condemn and reject Russia’s contrived elections in occupied eastern Ukraine, which would turn the region into Vichy Ukraine.

The Kremlin elections in occupied Donbas are being seen as a Russian gambit to weaken and fragment Ukraine and make it ripe for re-subjugation by Russia.

In a telephone press conference a couple of days ago, Special Representative for Ukraine Negotiations Kurt Volker called on Russia to halt the sham elections.

“We believe that the entities themselves do not have legitimacy in the local area, nor are they consistent with the Minsk agreements themselves. They don’t exist in the Minsk agreements, and in fact the implementation of the Minsk agreements calls for the restoration of Ukraine’s constitutional order and there is no place for these Republics in the Ukrainian constitutional orders either,” Volker said.

The US official said Washington supports elections but they must be part of the so-called Minsk process and he insisted that they must be held in accordance with Ukrainian laws.

“So the elections being held, that Russia is organizing for November 11 (tomorrow) are wholly illegitimate. We urge that they be stopped and there is no way that anyone from Europe, the United States, et cetera, can give any recognition to the results of such elections,” Volker declared.

His message must be repeated by all governments and global institutions like the UN, NATO and the European Union.

Volker further pointed out that Russia and not its mercenary-terrorists is in control of virtually everything in the Donetsk and Luhansk oblasts.

“What is notable here is that we have said for a long time that Russia has 100% command and control of what is happening in the occupied areas there – military forces, political entities, and direct economic activity. This is the first step taken in the form of sanctions that explicitly recognizes or explicitly is based on the notion that Russia actually controls the Donbas and eastern Ukraine,” he said.

Last week, the US Treasury Department placed additional sanctions on Moscow for its continuing occupation of Crimea and its war in eastern Ukraine. Two Russian individuals and a business entity were sanctioned for “serious human rights abuses.” Eight Russian entities, some of them hotel complexes near the Black Sea resort of Yalta, and one individual were sanctioned for “advancing Russian interests in Crimea.”

Shortly after the Treasury Department announcement, Ukrainian President Petro Poroshenko posted a message on his Facebook page saying the new round of sanctions were a “clear message that all those involved in the illegal occupation of the Ukrainian peninsula and hybrid aggression in Donbas will not avoid responsibility.”

The European Commission joined growing denunciations of the Russian elections. High Representative for Foreign Affairs and Security Policy/Vice-President of the European Commission Federica Mogherini said the European Union condemns the so-called “elections” and considers them as illegal.

“The EU considers the ‘elections’ planned for 11 November 2018 in the non-government controlled territories of the so-called ‘Luhansk People's Republic’ and ‘Donetsk People’s Republic’ as illegal and illegitimate and will not recognize them. The EU condemns these ‘elections,’ as they are in breach of international law, undermine the commitments taken under the Minsk agreements and violate Ukraine’s sovereignty and law. The Minsk agreements exclusively provide for local elections to be held within the framework of the Ukrainian legislation and under the OSCE standards and observation,” Mogherini said.

Ukrainian Minister of Foreign Affairs Pavlo Klimkin pointed out that Russia is making plans to rebuild its prison of nations and needs fake elections in occupied Donbas to fragment and weaken Ukraine.

“Russians already have occupying administrations that are responsible for everything, relying on military force, military and hybrid aggression against Ukraine,” Klimkin told journalists, according to an UNIAN correspondent. He added that it is pointless for anybody but Russia to hold another sham “elections” in Donbas.

“Since Russia’s entire idea is not only to stop worrying about Donbas, but to forget about it at all. The whole idea is to abuse Donbas to destabilize Ukraine, legitimize the Russian occupation of Donbas, and return it to Ukraine as a kind of a ‘Trojan horse’ to fragment Ukraine, weaken Ukraine, and so that there is no independent, free, democratic and European Ukraine,” the Ukrainian official emphasized.

Echoing Poroshenko’s statement that local Russian secessionist-proxies will be held responsible for holding these elections, Secretary of the National Security and Defense Council of Ukraine Oleksandr Turchynov also said everyone who chooses to participate in fake and illicit events related to the so-called “elections” in Russian-occupied Donbas will bear inescapable responsibility.

“The law enforcement agencies of Ukraine will identify all the organizers and participants in those pseudo-elections, and they will inevitably be prosecuted,” the NSDC’s press service quoted Turchynov as saying.

According to him, these criminal acts condemned by all leading nations “are a gross violation and a total discredit of the Minsk peace agreements, as well as the Russian aggressor’s attempt to strengthen its control over the occupied territory.”

There is no realistic way to halt this latest Russian attempt to destroy Ukraine but nonetheless the international community must continue to press with its condemnation of Moscow’s effort to do so.

From a local, American perspective, US senators and representatives and the Congressional Ukrainian Caucus must join the denunciation campaign and threaten Russia with further steps that will isolate it – no, ban it – from the international community.

Anything less, will mean recognizing Vichy Ukraine.

Scroll down for more blogs on Ukraine and Russian imperialism.

Walesa Calls for Global Coalition to Subdue Russian Aggression

Lech Walesa, the inspirational leader of the historic Polish Solidarity movement (Solidarność) and former president of Poland, believes that only a strong, global coalition can subdue belligerent, undemocratic Russia.

Walesa told RFE/RL that a united international movement, akin to Poland’s Solidarity, is urgently needed now to respond unequivocally to Moscow’s aggression.

Furthermore, he opined, nearly five years after Russia invaded and occupied the Ukrainian peninsula of Crimea, a worldwide “Solidarity for Ukraine” campaign should be launched to help liberate the region of Russian invaders and keep Moscow at bay.

Undeniably, Walesa’s words are timely today as Russia continues to spread its menacing tentacles not only in Ukraine but its hazardous impact is also being felt across Eastern Europe and the Middle East. Leaders of the former captive nations are on record as warning the international community about Russian subjugation.

Since the start of the Russo-Ukraine War of 2014-18, the former captive nations have steadfastly defended Ukraine against the Russian invasion and warned that Russia’s appetite for conquest will not abate unless it is forced to do so. They have also cautioned the free world against betraying Ukraine for the sake of an ersatz greater good. For example, they rightly fear that including Russia in the anti-ISIS coalition could compel the free world to halt sanctions against Russia, which would unleash a major backlash against it.

Lithuanian President Dalia Grybauskaite had observed that the former captive nations’ shared goal of a secure and economically strong region can only achieve collectively. “We will only achieve this goal by standing together in the implementation of long-term collective defense measures and strategic projects aimed at ensuring the region’s energy self-sufficiency,” she said.

Grybauskaite, a staunch defender of Ukraine and outspoken opponent of Russian hostility, elaborated: “Russia is at war against Ukraine and that is against a country which wants to be part of Europe. Russia is practically in war against Europe,” she said, adding that she is prepared to “take up arms” in the instance of Russian attacks.

Grybauskaite is convinced that if Russia is not repulsed from Ukraine, Putin will sweep across the Baltics, central Europe and northern Europe. So how to dislodge Russia from Ukraine?

“The situation is still deteriorating. Russian troops are still on the territory of Ukraine. That means that Europe and the world are allowing Russia to be a country which is not only threatening its neighbors but is also organizing a war against its neighbors. It is the same international terrorism as we have in Iraq and Syria,” she said.

Linas Linkevičius, Lithuanian minister of foreign affairs, another candid critic of the free world’s political myopia, in an article in EurActiv, chastised the free world for paying too much attention to placating Russia. Linkevičius warned about the dangers of acting in a “pragmatic and responsible manner” with Russia.

The Lithuanian official recalled that at the 2008 NATO-Russia Summit in Bucharest, Russian President Putin urged the West not to cooperate with Ukraine, claiming that the country is an artificial creation, rather than a state. “That seemed to have set off an alarm clock. However, it was not heard, or the West comfortably chose not to hear it. Ukraine experienced the impact six years later, while Georgia witnessed warfare on its territory soon after, in August,” he wrote.

As Walesa cautioned against Russia, he also told RFE/RL that Western powers need to understand that Russia is a country that “used to be a super power,” but has lost that position. Consequently, it is struggling to cope with its inferior standing.

“It is important to remember that there has been never been democracy in Russia. It has always been ruled by using the threat of an enemy to sustain unity,” Walesa said. “Russia even used to invent enemies to preserve its unity.”

Walesa told RFE/RL that he thinks President Vladimir Putin made a “huge mistake” when the Russian military invaded and occupied Ukraine’s Crimean Peninsula in early 2014.

“In the 21st century, this is not a proper way of resolving disputes,” Walesa said. “There might be attempts to use those old methods, but it will be very costly” in the end. Ultimately, he said, what matters is the price a country has to pay for such aggression.

Wrongly or not, Walesa advised that open and democratic means could have been used to resolve the Crimean and other international issues that would have yielded better results. He added that sooner or later Putin would abandon his Crimean dream as other foreign policy pundits have suggested. “The sooner he realizes that, the less the costs he has to bear will be,” he said.

However, Walesa, framing his coalition concept, insisted that confronting and working with Russia now requires “solidarity” among countries. He said the international community should respond to Russia’s seizure and annexation of Crimea by mobilizing countries in a “solidarity for Ukraine” group.

“You chose 10 representatives from all over the world, people who are well informed about Ukraine and Russia,” he expanded about his coalition. “You can allocate them either through NATO or the United Nations.”

Suggesting a variation to typical anti-Russian sanctions, Walesa continued “Let that group of 10 people prepare 10 different propositions for different countries to choose that can hurt Russia. Something not to buy, something not to sell.... Every country has different interests, so each country could pick something from the list.”

Walesa next proposed an option similar to a good cop-bad cop routine: “It would be great to have five people within this group who have good relations with Putin. Every day, one of those five people could call Putin and tell him, ‘Listen, Putin, we have lost so much. How much have you lost?’”

“The last person who calls him should tell him, ‘Let’s sum up the losses and let’s think again, because your own oligarchs will never forgive you,’” Walesa said.

Concluding that nowadays each country is mistakenly acting in its own manner for its own interests rather than in unison, Walesa pronounced “You can’t win against Russia in such a way.”

It is questionable whether Putin could be swayed by a soft spoken discussion on any subject, but Walesa’s point about a coalition against Russia is well taken.

In view of the raging Russo-Ukraine War of 2014-18, the joint defense concept charted by Stepan Bandera and Jaroslaw Stetzko seven decades ago is worthy of a revival. The former captive nations have already made individual and collective political declarations and expressed a willingness that could lead to the successful resuscitation of such a structure. The reestablishment of the historic anti-Russian defense alliance, the Anti-Bolshevik Bloc of Nations, is well within reason especially because of the free world’s stumbling approach to defending former captive nations’ independence and sovereignty.

Not surprisingly, Ukrainian Foreign Minister Pavlo Klimkin had also alluded to the necessity of such a far-reaching coalition. Outraged by the Russian invasion of his homeland, Klimkin suggested the creation of what he had called a Coalition of Freedom to defend democracy and Western values in a troubled world.

“It is about security for everyone,” said Klimkin during an exclusive Fox News interview on the eve of the 65th UN General Assembly. “If someone in this interchangeable and intertwined world cannot feel secure, how can US citizens here feel secure?”

Klimkin explained that Ukraine is confronting a threat any nation can face, adding “we need a network of security.” His Coalition of Freedom would consist of “countries which are committed to freedom, to democratic values, where we are not talking about spheres of influence, but the values and real interests of democratic countries.”

What Ukraine and the former captive nations have experienced in the Russian prison of nations has convinced them that Russia can’t be trusted today. The former captive nations must convince Washington, the other capitals and Russia that they will unite in a bloc or coalition, arm themselves and build ramparts against Russia if their common predicament is not remedied.

Countries from Georgia, to Ukraine, the Baltics, Poland and beyond would do well to form a global, UN, regional, academic, military, and NGO coalition to defend their statehood, democracy, liberty and human rights as a bulwark against Russian aggression.

With everyone in agreement, what remains is for a standard bearer to galvanize the coalition.

Scroll down to read additional blogs.

EU8 Condemn Russian Occupation of Ukraine

Following up on yesterday’s post regarding Ambassador Volodymyr Yelchenko’s address at the UN Security Council meeting, I am providing the full text of the EU8 members’ joint statement on Ukraine. Yelchenko alluded to this statement in his remarks.

In it, the European countries expressed their support for the independence and territorial integrity of Ukraine and protested Russia’s plan to hold elections in the occupied regions of Donetsk and Luhansk.

EU8 Members Joint Statement on Ukraine

Joint EU8 statement on Ukraine, delivered by Ambassador Karen Pierce on behalf of the five EU Members of the United Nations Security Council France, Netherlands, Poland, Sweden and the United Kingdom, and Italy, Belgium and Germany, as former and future EU Members of the Security Council, 30 October 2018, New York.

I would like to make the following statement today on behalf of the five EU Members of the Security Council (France, Netherlands, Poland, Sweden and the UK), and Italy, Belgium and Germany, as former and future EU Members of the Security Council, which demonstrates the continuity of the EU’s position on Ukraine.

We as Member States of the European Union fully support the independence, sovereignty and territorial integrity of Ukraine within the internationally recognized borders.

We condemn the illegitimate “elections” planned for 11 November in the non-government controlled territories of the so-called “Luhansk People’s Republic” and “Donetsk People’s Republic”. If held, these illegitimate “elections” would contravene commitments made under the Minsk agreements and violate Ukrainian law. Any such illegal elections would be incompatible with the sovereignty and territorial integrity of Ukraine.

We call on the international community to stand united in opposing these illegitimate “elections” that can only serve to undermine efforts to achieve peace in the region. We urge the separatists to abandon the plans for “elections” and call on Russia to bring its considerable influence to bear to stop the “elections” from taking place.

We welcome the renewal of the special status law in the Ukrainian Rada. We urge all sides, particularly the Russian-backed separatists, to commit to full implementation of the Minsk Agreements, beginning with a comprehensive ceasefire and withdrawal of heavy weaponry. We fully support the efforts within the Normandy format for implementing the Minsk Agreements.

We remain convinced that a peaceful resolution of the conflict is possible. Only progress on the diplomatic front will bring us to a point where legitimate and credible elections can be held in eastern Ukraine in line with the Minsk agreements. 

Russia must play its part by ending its financial and military support to the separatists and withdrawing its armed forces and military equipment from Ukrainian territory.

We also express our concern regarding the degraded humanitarian situation in the conflict area, particularly as the winter season approaches. We also urge all parties to the conflict to re-establish full access of all international humanitarian organizations to the non-government controlled areas and to allow smooth and speedy delivery of humanitarian assistance in line with humanitarian principles and International Humanitarian Law.

Poroshenko Notes Further Isolation of Russia

As Ukrainian officials have underscored in the United Nations and elsewhere, the global community is isolating Russia from diplomatically and politically promoting its campaign to expand its occupation of Ukraine.

In Kyiv, President Petro Poroshenko noted his statement on Facebook: “The results of the UN Security Council meeting on the ‘Ukrainian issue’ obviously reaffirmed the ongoing international isolation of Moscow, which demonstrates audacious behavior and stubborn reluctance to hear the legitimate calls of the international community. An extremely illustrative and eloquent outcome of the UN Security Council meeting on the ‘Ukrainian issue’ is a strong support for the territorial integrity and sovereignty of Ukraine.”

The Ukrainian president also emphasized that “The Kremlin must stop its brutal aggression in Donbas, terminate the supply of Russian weapons and technology to the occupied territory and stop the violation of the Minsk agreements. Crimea must be de-occupied, Russia’s aggressive policy in the waters of the Sea of Azov and the Kerch Strait is unacceptable.”

Scroll down to read yesterday’s blog about the Ukrainian statement at the Security Council meeting.

At UN Security Council, Ukrainian Ambassador Warns

Russia to Escalate Aggression without Stern Reproach

As the winds of war intensify from within the Kremlin, the United Nations had another opportunity to hear about the devastating crimes against Ukraine perpetrated by Russia and its invading army.

In a presentation at a special session on Ukraine at the UN Security Council on Tuesday, October 30, Ambassador Volodymyr Yelchenko, the permanent representative of Ukraine to the UN, warned the international community that Russia will escalate its aggression against Ukraine and perhaps other countries if its belligerence isn’t harnessed by a global campaign.

Yelchenko appealed to Security Council members not to support Russia’s intention to hold elections in its occupied oblasts of Ukraine in violation of Ukrainian and international laws.

Otherwise, he continued, the “elections may serve as a stepping-stone towards a new cycle of the Russian armed aggression.”

The Ukrainian official thanked Sweden, France, the Netherlands, Poland, the United Kingdom and the United States calling for this special Security Council session and their support for the sovereignty and territorial integrity of Ukraine. But he castigated Russia in no uncertain terms for its “well-documented acts against Ukraine: military aggression, occupation and attempted illegal annexation of Ukraine’s territories.”

Yelchenko likened Russia’s conduct to that of “a hardened and unrepentant criminal determined to make a mockery of a justice system.” He also accused Russia of being “hell-bent on sabotaging all genuine efforts to find a peaceful solution to the conflict and to bring peace to the war-torn regions of Donbas.”

Russia’s plans for so-called “early elections” in its occupied regions of Ukraine would be tantamount to “putting armed gangs’ leaders in seats in illegitimate representative bodies. This is nothing else but a provocation, an outrage against the Minsk agreements and Ukraine’s sovereignty,” he stated, adding that Ukraine will never recognize this Russian ruse to subjugate its land and people.

“Let me make it clear: only legitimately and lawfully elected officials can represent the local communities in Donbas, and not the Kremlin’s puppets sent from or appointed by Moscow,” Yelchenko declared.

The Ukrainian ambassador noted that while Russia insists that the Ukrainian government talk directly with the officials in Donetsk and Luhansk, in fact, there are no legitimate representatives freely elected by the people. Yelchenko emphasized that the authorities in Donetsk and Luhansk are “simply Moscow’s puppets, who are installed or removed from their positions at a whim of their Kremlin masters,” while Russia continues to exercise full political and administrative control over this territory.

“Moscow has created and supported the illegal armed formations in Donetsk and Luhansk. It provides them with full-fledged political, military, and social-economic support as well as ideological guidance,” he said. “Their very existence is impossible without Russia’s direct financial aid, which amounts to $1.3 billion. The Russian Armed Forces exercise full command and control over military formations in the occupied areas of Ukraine.”

Yelchenko listed several facts about Russia’s military invasion of Eastern Ukraine and its subsequent occupation of two oblasts.

He said: “Just a few facts from the latest reports of the OSCE Special Monitoring Mission in Ukraine. In August, its UAVs registered convoys of cargo trucks illegally crossing at night the segment of the Ukrainian-Russian state border currently controlled by the Russian side. The convoy then drove to the town of Khrustalnyi, a well-known storage of Russian heavy weapons. Later, in the same Khrustalnyi, the SMM spotted hundreds of ‘ammunition crates (some of which were assessed as new), as well as 118 crates of MLRS rockets.’ As per SMM reports, its monitors also identified four distinct electronic warfare systems (a Leer-3 RB-341V, a 1L269 Krasukha-2, a RB-109A Bylina and an anti-UAV system, Repellent-1) near non-government-controlled Chornukhyne.”

The latest Russian assault against Ukraine is developing in the Sea of Azov, which may soon become the Kremlin’s third front in the nearly five-year Russo-Ukraine War of 2014-18.

“In the last six months, the Russian Federation stopped in an abusive manner over 200 vessels bound for Ukrainian ports of Mariupol and Berdyansk. As confirmed by the OSCE SMM, these interruptions to commercial shipping caused economic and trade disruptions resulting in commercial losses for the ports employing thousands of people. Such actions of Russia are inconsistent with its obligations under the UN Convention on the Law of the Sea and breach the navigational rights of Ukraine and of the flag States of the stopped vessels. Vessels bound for Russian ports in the Sea of Azov have not been subjected to similarly disruptive stoppages,” Yelchenko charged.

In addition to the Kerch Strait Bridge, which was built unlawfully and unilaterally in violation of Ukraine’s rights and has become a major hindrance to international navigation, Yelchenko said Russia “also uses the Sea of Azov as an additional channel to supply its forces in Donbas with weapons from the occupied territory of Crimea. According to our information, Russia has not given up on the idea of having a land corridor to Crimea. Furthermore, the threat of a maritime assault from the Azov direction in case of a large-scale military confrontation remains a source of security destabilization in the Donetsk region.”

And then there is the peninsula of Crimea, the first Ukrainian territory that was invaded and occupied by Russia some two weeks after the conclusion of the 2014 Winter Olympics, which blindsided the world.

“In the occupied Crimea active militarization proceeds at full speed. Russia has more than doubled the strength of its military on the peninsula and continues the preparation of Crimean military infrastructure for deployment of nuclear weapons including refurbishment of Soviet-era nuclear warheads storage facilities,” he said.

“The situation with human rights in the peninsula also remains highly alarming. The OHCHR findings confirm ‘the continuing failure of the Russian Federation authorities, as the occupying power, to adequately guarantee and protect a wide range of human rights in Crimea.’”

Yelchenko also reminded the council members that more than 70 Ukrainian citizens have been detained and incarcerated in Russian Arctic penal colonies and occupied Crimea by Russian authorities under trumped-up politically motivated charges.

If that weren’t enough, Yelchenko said “this whole bleak picture would be incomplete without mentioning a massive campaign of propaganda and incitement of hatred against Ukraine and Ukrainians launched in by the Russian government. Russian state-owned media and public figures are spending hours in a prime time on the television to promote insinuations about the Ukrainian people. This has already played a significant role in the occupation of Crimea and fueling the conflict in Donbas.”

Since Russia controls the war against Ukraine, Yelchenko said the solution can only be found in Moscow. Ukraine is ready to enter into serious discussions with Russian authorities, but “Alas, such readiness is not present yet in Russia,” he pointed out disappointedly.

“As regrettable as it may be, until there is a tangible change in the Russian policy towards building genuine neighborly relations with countries around its borders based on respect of sovereignty and territorial integrity instead of creating areas of instability and waging wars, the Council will continue gathering around this table to discuss never ending follies of the Russian expansionist and aggressive policies.”

The Ukrainian ambassador concluded his remarks by echoing observations by other sage world leaders, who has said “One thing is for sure, appeasing the Kremlin and playing along will not contribute to building a more stable and safer world.”

Appeasing Russia will only lead to its bolder aggression against other countries.

The Security Council session did not only hear the Ukrainian official but it was privy to Russian clashes with the United States and European powers over the illegality of elections in Russian-occupied regions of eastern Ukraine. The UN’s political chief concurred with Ukraine and Western states that the vote would violate a 2015 accord laying out steps for settling the conflict in eastern Ukraine.

The position taken by UN political chief Rosemary DiCarlo left Russia isolated at the Security Council meeting. Western allies also blocked Russia from bringing a Luhansk separatist criminal, Olena Kravchenko, before the council to provide a briefing on the elections.

“The conflict in eastern Ukraine, now in its fifth year, remains an active threat to international peace and security,” DiCarlo said, reinforcing comments by Ukraine that Russia’s aggression in Donbas is a threat to regional and global peace and security.

Before the meeting began, a joint statement from France, the Netherlands, Poland, Sweden, the United Kingdom, Italy, Belgium and Germany was read outside the council chamber condemning what they called “the illegitimate ‘elections’ planned for November 11.”

The US deputy ambassador to the UN, Jonathan Cohen, later also claimed the “sham elections staged by Russia” violated the Minsk agreement, which states that elections must be held in accordance with Ukrainian law and be supervised by the Organization for Security and Cooperation in Europe.

This was not the first occasion that Russia has been diplomatically reprimanded and justifiably isolated for its criminal behavior in Ukraine and elsewhere. Furthermore, the United Nations earlier had declared Russia to be an aggressor state that has invaded and occupied regions of Ukraine.

These public admonishments against Russia are worthwhile but they shouldn’t end on that note. While they serve to remind the free countries that their peace, freedom and existence are credibly endangered, they must also sound the clarion for their serious steps to subdue Russia’s wilful aggression and force it to evacuate its army and mercenaries from Ukraine.

What? US Expresses Sympathy to Russia for Kerch Killings!

The senseless killing of 21 people, mostly teenagers, a week ago at the Kerch technical college in Russian-occupied Crimea demonstrates the globalization of wanton murder.

An 18-year-old student Vladislav Roslyakov, ran from room to room firing at fellow students before killing himself.

It was an unspeakable shock for the families and friends of the victims and for the Crimean people, which have been suffering since the peninsula was invaded and occupied by Russian forces in February 2014.

Indeed, this was a crime against Ukrainians on Ukrainian territory and many news outlets pointed out that Crimea was seized, annexed or occupied by Russia.

Social media posts since then have painted a diabolical picture of Roslyakov. Apparently he was enamored of the “weaponized” culture that Russia is fostering in the Ukrainian peninsula. Photographs abound of elementary school children in Crimea toting all types of weapons. With such a deadly mentality all around them it’s no wonder kids are fond of guns.

Russia’s invasion and occupation of Crimea has been condemned by the free world. The United Nations denounced Russia’s aggression as did the European Union and instituted sanctions against Moscow. The United States has been one of the most stalwart critics of the Kremlin’s invasion of Ukraine’s peninsula and declared that sanctions against Russia will not be lifted until Russia withdraws from Crimea. That means Washington doesn’t recognize Moscow’s occupation of Crimea.

Secretary of Defense James Mattis must not have received the email.

According to the Ukrainian television network TSN – “ТСН” in Ukraine – reported that Mattis personally extended condolences to Russian Defense Minister Sergei Shoigu on the tragedy. Quoting the Minister’s press service, Mattis said these kinds of killings also take place in the United States and the American people can sympathize with Russians.

Excuse and explain Mattis’ faux pas anyway you want to but a US government official just recognized Russian dominance over Crimea. He extended condolences to a foreign occupying power. That’s an offense against Crimean Tatars and all Ukrainians. Expression of condolences are appropriate at this time but they should have been directed to the President Petro Poroshenko of Ukraine and Mustafa Dzhemilev, former chairman of the Mejlis of the Crimean Tatar People, and Refat Chubarov, the current Mejlis chairman.

This is another example of the White House’s disjointed policy toward Ukraine.

At United Nations, Poroshenko Offers Blistering

Condemnation of Russian Crimes against Ukraine

With the Russo-Ukraine War of 2014-18 still raging in Ukraine, President Petro Poroshenko in his annual address to the UN General Assembly on Wednesday, September 26, reminded the international community that Ukrainians belong to a portion of the world’s population that is still suffering the horrors of war.

The Ukrainian leader didn’t hesitate to reveal the identity of the perpetrator, saying at the top of his presentation that Ukrainian families daily are struck by grief “as their loved ones perished under Russia's hostile attacks.”

Before recapping the toll of Russian war against Ukraine, Poroshenko reminded the United Nations that despite its lofty, universal ideals and declarations, wars and armed conflicts remain the world’s reality. “We shall never forget that the raison d'être of this Organization is to ‘save succeeding generations from the scourge of war,’” he noted.

While devoting his address to a blistering condemnation of Russian crimes against Ukraine and the horrors of its war against Ukraine, Poroshenko also implored the United Nations and the free world to stand up and subdue invaders whether they’re Russian or other nations. Otherwise, evil will prevail.

Citing the existence of the UN Sustainable Development Goals, of which peace is an underlying principle, Poroshenko said global conflicts have created an unprecedented 65 million refugees, of which Ukrainians constitute one-fifth, and hundreds of million are doomed to live without peace, he continued, and for them that means no development.

The Ukrainian president also pointed out that as Ukrainians are fighting and dying for their homeland against Russian invaders, they are also defending the free world.

Poroshenko eloquently detailed the pain and suffering that Ukrainians experience at the hands of Russian aggressors:

Unfortunately, my fellow citizens have become a part of that one-fifth of the world population who is experiencing the horrors of war.

As I deliver my speech, reports have brought a sad news about another human life just lost on the frontlines of the war inflicted upon my country by the permanent member of the UN Security Council.

Yesterday, and the day before, several families, again, were struck by grief, as their loved ones perished under Russia's hostile attacks.

Moscow turns Ukrainian to orphans.

It tortures our patriots in its prisons.

Over 1.5 million people became internally displaced persons.

They still can't return to their homes.

Russia constantly multiplies the human tragedy, which lately received a new dimension: ecological.

It poisons the Ukrainian soil and causes an environmental disaster not only in the occupied Crimea, but in Donbas as well.

This has been a daily reality for Ukrainians for four years now. Thousands of deaths, destruction, displacement and human suffering.

For my fellow citizens, these years have become a tremendous challenge – a test for their determination and solidarity, resilience and faith.

Let us not forget what this war is about.

Ukraine made a sovereign decision to live its way and promote the free world based on democratic values and rules

Russia punishes Ukraine for this decision.

It kills. It ruins homes. It lies on industrial scale.

It pretends that Ukraine, as well as Georgia attacked themselves.

Do we know which neighbor of Russia will attack itself next?

Or will the world be “comfortably numb” in a hope that “the next one won’t be me”?

As we defend Ukraine's land and our free choice, as we counter the resurging neo-imperialist power willing to divide the world anew - we defend the free world.

Poroshenko also challenged the United Nations to shed is inactive policies and take an active role in subduing Russian aggression:

“The UN shall not be silent, when the values and principles rooted in its Charter and the entire body of international law are being violated by a veto country. This is not just a challenge, but our chance to make the United Nations relevant and to make the motto of this Assembly session work.”

Silence in the face of war’s brutality is the evil that keeps the aggressor on his destructive path, Poroshenko said.

Addressing the UN member-states, he pointedly said “Your silence is exactly what the Kremlin weaponizes against Ukraine and ultimately, against all of us! It’s naïve to believe that safe shores will always be around.”

Without a strong and united reaction, the wrongdoer will pursue further escalation, creating new crises, raising the states, blackmailing other countries and even the entire international organizations.

“All in an effort to get away with murder,” he declared.

What is the cure: responsibility.

“The international community’s ability to ensure systemic and inevitable responsibility for each and every violation of international laws - first and foremost norms and principles of the UN Charter - is the benchmark indicating how successful we, as the family of nations, can be in achieving common goals.

“Ensuring responsibility is never an easy feat.

“Let me be clear on this point: Nothing will stop Moscow from continuing its aggressive expansionist policies if it does not face a united stand of the international community, if punishment for its actions does not become inevitable,” he elaborated.

The absence of an appropriate punishment for Russia led it to attack Georgia and then Ukraine, and later poison Lytvinenko and the Skrypals, and gas attack Aleppo. And where will Moscow’s criminal behavior end?

“Kremlin has no intention to stop. After occupation of Crimea, it aims now at occupation of the Sea of Azov between Ukraine and Russia,” Poroshenko said.

In order to build peaceful, equitable and sustainable societies, Poroshenko said the world community must protect the UN Charter, “uphold its norms and principles, take resolute action to restore justice.”

He added that the “beautiful language of the UN Charter” is worth nothing if its principles aren’t enforced – “No more words, time for deeds!”

Turning to Security Council reforms, Poroshenko warned veto-holding countries that using this right not to help international peace and stability but rather help itself escape from responsibility is an abuse that does not allow UN to really act.

“We believe that the progress on the Security Council reform will be an important contribution to the ongoing UN-wide change,” he said.

Poroshenko reiterated his appeal for peacekeepers first articulated in April 2015, saying a mission, with a strong mandate and broad responsibilities” can bring peace to Ukraine. “Rather that freeze the conflict or cement the presence of the aggressor and its proxies in Donbas. We firmly count on further progress on this important issue,” he said.

While Ukraine favors legal and diplomatic means of conflict first, Poroshenko said the country will not be intimidated into passivity.

“We remain as determined as ever to keep defending every inch of our territory against the aggression. At the same time, we will continue exploring all available means to end the conflict peacefully and restore the territorial integrity of Ukraine,” he said.

Ukraine initiated several legal cases against Russia in international courts so that “Moscow feels that strength of the rule of international law,” pointed out the Ukrainian president.

In early 2017 the International Court of Justice (ICJ) ordered Russia to lift the ban on activities on Mejlis - representative body of Crimean Tatars in the occupied Crimea.  However, Russia continues to ignore the ruling demonstrating its disregard not only to its international obligations but to the Court as well.

“Another important element of our case in the ICJ it is the downing of MH17 in 2014 and the role of the Russian Federation in this tragedy. It is important that Australia and the Netherlands recently joined Ukraine in its efforts to bring Russia to account,” he relate.

Four years after Russia’s invasion and illegal occupation of Crimea and Sevastopol, Poroshenko said the Ukrainian peninsula has been turned into a military stronghold that threatens security and stability in the greater Black Sea region.

“We believe that increasing militarization of Crimea deserves the General Assembly’s close attention and prompt reaction,” he urged. Russia s aggressive policies as well as its arrogance in using lethal weapons multiply the threat. In this regard, Ukraine counts on your active support for the relevant resolution during this session.”

At the same time, the number of hostages and victims of the Russian occupation regime in Crimea is growing almost every day as Ukrainian and Crimean Tatar identities are criminal offences.

“Crimean farmer Volodymyr Balukh was arrested and sentenced to 5 years in prison for raising a Ukrainian flag upon his private residence. Crimean film director Oleh Sentsov remains behind the bars in a remote penal colony in northern Russia serving a 20-years prison term on fabricated charges. Both Oleh and Volodymyr are balancing between life and death as they remain on a hunger strike,” Poroshenko said.

Returning to his maxim of responsibility, Poroshenko described Russia in this manner:

“This is the thing about today s Russia: they don't care.

“They don’t care about suffering.

“They don’t care about truth.

“They don’t care about law.

“They think that their military might and status in the UN give them this right.

“It’s up to us to prove them wrong.

“It’s up to us to make them care.”

Poroshenko pointed out that Ukraine is delivering on its commitments under the 2030 Agenda for Sustainable Development and the Sustainable Development Goals while welcoming the hunger principle of the UN 17 SDGs.

“Ukraine, like nobody, knows the price of this tragedy. This November we will mark 85th Anniversary of one of the deadliest crimes of the 20th century - the crime of Holodomor, mass starvation in Ukraine artificially organized by the Stalinist regime. It took lives of several millions of Ukrainians,” he said.

“In this regard, I would like to renew my appeal to the Assembly to mark one of the biggest tragedies in human history by adopting a dedicated declaration.”

Tension on the High Seas: Russia

Readies Third Front vs. Ukraine

Despite warnings, threats, condemnations and sanctions, Russia has turned a deaf ear and is escalating apace its war against Ukraine and by association Europe and the free world.

Moscow’s third front against Ukraine – after Crimea and eastern Ukraine – is in the Sea of Azov, a 15,000-square-mile body of water north of the Black Sea and southeast of Ukraine – where it is interfering with maritime shipping lanes and raising tensions between itself and Kyiv. Russia set its eyes on what is called in Ukrainian Ozivske More ever since the World Cup tournament in Russia concluded this summer. The Russian navy has blocked commercial vessels from docking in Ukrainian ports and engaged in dangerous cat-and-mouse games with Ukrainian ships.

This latest Russian intensification of its military intent does not bode well for a restoration of regional peace and stability while simultaneously underscoring Moscow’s desire to widen its military campaign beyond the borders of Ukraine.

In May, Russia opened a bridge across the Kerch Strait connecting mainland Russia to the Crimean Peninsula—the Ukrainian territory Russia invaded and seized in 2014, obnoxiously declaring its sovereignty over territory it seized from Ukraine.

The Kerch Strait is the only water passageway from the Black Sea to the Sea of Oziv. Consequently, all maritime traffic now has to pass under Russia’s new bridge. Maritime traffic in the Ukrainian port city of Mariupol has dropped by 15 percent, and the port of Berdyansk has decreased by one-third, Ukrainian officials report.

Russia has effectively taken control of the sea-lanes in the Sea of Oziv—a move tantamount to a military blockade, Ukrainian military experts have pointed out.

With its new bridge complete, western pundits have observed, Russian officials swiftly moved to limit the tonnage of ships passing through the Kerch Strait. That paralleled a spike in activity by Russian naval forces this summer—comprising mostly gunboats, corvettes, and submarines—to board and harass Ukrainian merchant ships in the sea.

Russia has stopped at least 16 vessels bound for Ukrainian ports in recent weeks, and delayed hundreds of others since April. Some Ukrainian officials warn the Russian move this summer could escalate the ongoing land war.

“We see this being done to block the Ukrainian ports in the Sea of Oziv, to escalate tension, and possibly to conduct a military operation, attack Mariupol that exports ferrous metals, as well as attack other ports of the Sea of Azov,” Ukrainian President Petro Poroshenko said in July.

The United States made note of this latest Russian provocation against Ukraine on Thursday, August 30, when it called on Russia to cease what it called “harassment of international shipping” in the Sea of Oziv and Kerch Strait, accusing Moscow of trying to destabilize Ukraine.

“Russia’s actions to impede maritime transit are further examples of its ongoing campaign to undermine and destabilize Ukraine, as well as its disregard for international norms,” the department’s spokeswoman Heather Nauert said in a statement.

“The United States supports Ukraine’s sovereignty and territorial integrity within its internationally recognized borders, extending to its territorial waters,” she said.

Strong statement, indeed. Hopefully, the United States will have the temerity to stand side-by-side with Ukraine if and when Russia opens begins bombarding Ukrainian ships and ports.

According to an international relations expert, with its military adventurism growing in the Sea of Oziv, Russia is apparently working out the algorithm of further aggression against Ukraine’s interests in the Black Sea. Russia could repeat in the Black Sea its scenario of the blockade of Ukrainian seaports, now being worked out by Russian coast guard vessels in the Sea of Oziv, according to Andriy Karakuts, He believes such a step by the Kremlin would entail serious consequences, according to Obozrevatel. “Russia in the Sea of Oziv is in many ways working out options for blocking the Black Sea, precisely the part controlled by Ukraine. Unlike in the Sea of Oziv, where large warships can't enter because of its status, and because it’s a small sea, such scenario unfolding in the Black Sea would cause much more serious consequences,” he pointed out.

With Russia dead set to escalate its invasion of Ukraine and consequently threaten Europe, it is encouraging that the United States is ready to widen arms supplies to Ukraine to help build up the country’s naval and air defense forces in the face of continuing Russian support for eastern separatists, Kurt Volker, the US special envoy for Ukraine was quoted as saying in Britain’s The Guardian.

Volker said in an interview published on September 1 that pro-Western, anti-Russian sentiment was growing in Ukraine and that the Trump Administration was “absolutely” prepared to go further in supplying weaponry to Ukrainian forces than the antitank missiles it delivered in April.

“They are losing soldiers every week defending their own country,” Volker, a former US ambassador to NATO, said in the interview.

“And so in that context it’s natural for Ukraine to build up its military, engage in self-defense, and it’s natural to seek assistance and is natural that other countries should help them. And of course they need lethal assistance because they’re being shot at,” he added.

Fortunately, the Trump Administration’s absolute support to send Ukraine more arms is definitely sustained by the Senate and Congress.

“We can have a conversation with Ukraine like we would with any other country about what do they need,” Volker told the Guardian. Considering Russia’s threating incursions in the Sea of Oziv, he added:

“I think that there’s going to be some discussion about naval capability because as you know their navy was basically taken by Russia. And so they need to rebuild a navy and they have very limited air capability as well. I think we’ll have to look at air defense.”

At a time of Russia’s dangerous sabre rattling, it is noteworthy to hear increasing American support for Ukraine. A day after the funeral of Senator John McCain, Samantha Power, former US permanent representative to the United Nations, and a recognized vehement supporter of Ukraine and detractor of Russia, observed in a tweet “Surely [it is] no coincidence that John McCain – who planned every detail of today’s memorial – invited Ukraine’s President Petro Poroshenko and seated him beside Jens Stoltenberg, head of NATO. A parting message to Vladimir Putin and Donald Trump: America stands with our friends & allies.”

Indeed, today Ukraine and the other former captive nations depend on America and the free world for their independence and sovereignty. Despite the shortcomings of sanctions and condemnations, Washington and other capitals must maintain them until Russia evacuates from Ukraine.

A dependable political solution to the Russo-Ukraine War of 2014-18 would be welcome compared with a bilateral escalation of hostilities. However, even in face of that unwanted eventuality Ukraine can stand its own ground. According to DefenseNews.com, Ukrainian state-run defense firm Ukroboronprom has announced a successful test of the new Neptun cruise missile. The anti-ship missile struck a maritime target 100 kilometers away from its launch point in the south of the Odesa region on August 17.

Locally developed by the Kyiv-based state design bureau Luch, the Neptun reportedly is a subsonic anti-ship cruise missile with a reported maximum range between 280 and 300 kilometers. More significantly, ground- and air-launched variants that could be used to strike targets as far away as Moscow are reportedly in development. Thus the Russian war against Ukraine could be brought to the source.

Following the test, Ukrainian Secretary of the National Security and Defense Council Oleksandr Turchynov observed: “Ukrainian cruise missiles are capable of providing reliable defense of the Black Sea and Oziv coast, affecting enemy vessels at distances up to 300 kilometers, if necessary, even in the ports they are based.”

Therefore, the alternative is obvious: the United States and the free world must now steadfastly join ranks with Ukraine to subdue and expel Russia from Ukraine and save mankind from the scourge of Russian aggression and imperialism.