Do We Really Know Whether Russia Invaded Ukraine?
The Ukrainian crisis continues with the latest stories having the Russian military invading the part of the Ukrainian nation known as the Crimea. But how do we know that the Russian military has "invaded" Ukraine?
It turns out that Russian military forces were already stationed in the Crimea. The Ukrainian government allows them to be stationed in and about Sevastopol, a base on the Black Sea. So Russian military being in the area doesn't really mean Russia has invaded. On the other hand, if the Russian government is now steadily sending in more troops and naval personnel, I suspect the Ukrainian government never agreed to their doing this whenever they please. So perhaps we could classify this as an invasion.
The important point here is to be discerning when you read media stories. They're always going to use headlines that stir up emotions: that's how they get us to tune in. And - as we've already seen - they can even write completely slanted stories to further some agenda of the writer or the media organization. While this doesn't mean you should totally ignore reports, you need to first get a hold of yourself before reading or listening, then get your brain cranked up so that you engage with what you take in rather than passively accept or react to it. If you don't engage by using your reason and common sense to evaluate what you're just taken in, you'll just be a puppet jerked this way and that by the media. Who wants or needs that?
What we do know about the situation is that this area of Ukraine is the most "Russified" and, as we pointed out, Russian military are always stationed there, based on an agreement between the two governments, since Russia believes its navy must have access to the Black Sea. We know that some of the Russian-speaking and ethnically Russian people living in the area have expressed a desire to be ruled by the Russian government. But we also know that there are other ethnic groups living in the area, such as the Tartars, and we know that some, perhaps many, perhaps most of the Russian-speaking and ethnically Russian people have now, and in the past, said they do not want to be ruled by Moscow. They consider themselves Ukrainian citizens, and prefer to keep it that way.
We also know that Putin has designs on this part of the world as part of his grand scheme to expand Russian rule and influence, to, in essence, reconstruct the Russian Empire that began in the 17th century, continued under the Soviets and was weakened and greatly dismantled when the Soviet Empire collapsed. Putin wants Russia to be "great" again.
So the greater political forces at work aren't anything new. They won't be stopped or fundamentally changed by anything the U.S. or the EU attempt. I'm not saying some of the attempts to counter the Russians here aren't good for the Ukrainian people who don't want to be sucked back into the Russian Empire, where they've spend to good part of their history over the last 500 years or so. But those attempts will be interpreted and very well may be part of the geopolitical designs of the U.S. and EU. In the end, it really should be the Ukrainian people who weigh in here and decide how things should turn out, not the Russian government, the U.S government or Brussels.
Oh, and in case you don't know it already, Ukrainians are not Russians. They are a distinct nation. It's only the Russian who would have you believe that Ukraine is somehow a "part" of Russia. They even call it their "little sister," or some such nonsense. Yes, Russians and Ukrainians are Slavs. But Frenchmen and Germans are Europeans. Can you imagine the German government referring to France as its "little sister" just because they share a common religious, ethnic and cultural heritage? And, by the way, Ukraine isn't so little either. It's the size of France.
So forget what you hear from the Russians, and be discerning about that the media feeds as well. And if you're so inclined, you may want to pray for those Ukrainian people who just desire peace so they can live their lives free from the Russian government's tentacles. As for the corrupt oligarchs who have exploited their own people, how about the Ukrainians themselves figure out how to deal with that issue?
OK, lesson learned, I hope.
Now, with all this in mind, and awakened (we can only hope) from that unfortunate passivity that dominates so many of our lives these days, we must acknowledge that reports of the increasing presence of Russian military forces do indeed appear to add up to an invasion. In fact, the Russian dictator Putin has declared his "right" to invade Ukraine. So next we need to determine what the objective of such an invasion will be. Will it be partition of Ukraine? Will Ukrainians living in the partitioned area stand for this? Will the rest of the country stand by and watch the country torn apart? The Ukrainian government - its new, perhaps tenuous coalition government - has responded to the dictator Putin and put its military on alert. What's next? We shall certainly find out in the days ahead.
It turns out that Russian military forces were already stationed in the Crimea. The Ukrainian government allows them to be stationed in and about Sevastopol, a base on the Black Sea. So Russian military being in the area doesn't really mean Russia has invaded. On the other hand, if the Russian government is now steadily sending in more troops and naval personnel, I suspect the Ukrainian government never agreed to their doing this whenever they please. So perhaps we could classify this as an invasion.
The important point here is to be discerning when you read media stories. They're always going to use headlines that stir up emotions: that's how they get us to tune in. And - as we've already seen - they can even write completely slanted stories to further some agenda of the writer or the media organization. While this doesn't mean you should totally ignore reports, you need to first get a hold of yourself before reading or listening, then get your brain cranked up so that you engage with what you take in rather than passively accept or react to it. If you don't engage by using your reason and common sense to evaluate what you're just taken in, you'll just be a puppet jerked this way and that by the media. Who wants or needs that?
What we do know about the situation is that this area of Ukraine is the most "Russified" and, as we pointed out, Russian military are always stationed there, based on an agreement between the two governments, since Russia believes its navy must have access to the Black Sea. We know that some of the Russian-speaking and ethnically Russian people living in the area have expressed a desire to be ruled by the Russian government. But we also know that there are other ethnic groups living in the area, such as the Tartars, and we know that some, perhaps many, perhaps most of the Russian-speaking and ethnically Russian people have now, and in the past, said they do not want to be ruled by Moscow. They consider themselves Ukrainian citizens, and prefer to keep it that way.
We also know that Putin has designs on this part of the world as part of his grand scheme to expand Russian rule and influence, to, in essence, reconstruct the Russian Empire that began in the 17th century, continued under the Soviets and was weakened and greatly dismantled when the Soviet Empire collapsed. Putin wants Russia to be "great" again.
So the greater political forces at work aren't anything new. They won't be stopped or fundamentally changed by anything the U.S. or the EU attempt. I'm not saying some of the attempts to counter the Russians here aren't good for the Ukrainian people who don't want to be sucked back into the Russian Empire, where they've spend to good part of their history over the last 500 years or so. But those attempts will be interpreted and very well may be part of the geopolitical designs of the U.S. and EU. In the end, it really should be the Ukrainian people who weigh in here and decide how things should turn out, not the Russian government, the U.S government or Brussels.
Oh, and in case you don't know it already, Ukrainians are not Russians. They are a distinct nation. It's only the Russian who would have you believe that Ukraine is somehow a "part" of Russia. They even call it their "little sister," or some such nonsense. Yes, Russians and Ukrainians are Slavs. But Frenchmen and Germans are Europeans. Can you imagine the German government referring to France as its "little sister" just because they share a common religious, ethnic and cultural heritage? And, by the way, Ukraine isn't so little either. It's the size of France.
So forget what you hear from the Russians, and be discerning about that the media feeds as well. And if you're so inclined, you may want to pray for those Ukrainian people who just desire peace so they can live their lives free from the Russian government's tentacles. As for the corrupt oligarchs who have exploited their own people, how about the Ukrainians themselves figure out how to deal with that issue?
OK, lesson learned, I hope.
Now, with all this in mind, and awakened (we can only hope) from that unfortunate passivity that dominates so many of our lives these days, we must acknowledge that reports of the increasing presence of Russian military forces do indeed appear to add up to an invasion. In fact, the Russian dictator Putin has declared his "right" to invade Ukraine. So next we need to determine what the objective of such an invasion will be. Will it be partition of Ukraine? Will Ukrainians living in the partitioned area stand for this? Will the rest of the country stand by and watch the country torn apart? The Ukrainian government - its new, perhaps tenuous coalition government - has responded to the dictator Putin and put its military on alert. What's next? We shall certainly find out in the days ahead.
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