Tuesday, February 25, 2014

The Russian Stronghold in Ukraine Preparing to Fight the Revolution

Embedded image permalink UKRAINE-POLITICS-UNRESTRussian-APC-In-Sevastopol
                                                          
 The busload of officers only began to feel safe when they entered the Crimean peninsula. Through the night on Friday, they drove the length of Ukraine from north to south, having abandoned the capital city of Kiev to the revolution. Along the way the protesters in several towns pelted their bus with eggs, rocks and, at one point, what looked to be blood before the retreating officers realized it was only ketchup. “People were screaming, cursing at us,” recalls one of the policemen, Vlad Roditelev.

Finally, on Saturday morning, the bus reached the refuge of Crimea, the only chunk of Ukraine where the revolution has failed to take hold. Connected to the mainland by two narrow passes, this huge peninsula on the Black Sea has long been a land apart, an island of Russian nationalism in a nation drifting toward Europe. One of its biggest cities, Sevastopol, is home to a Russian naval base that houses around 25,000 troops, and most Crimean residents identify themselves as Russians, not Ukrainians.

More @ Time

2 comments:

  1. And why is it so important that they be forced to live as one country? If they have different languages, goals, and cultural affiliations, wouldn't the humane solution be to allow the country to peacefully divide into two parts, each then choosing their own path? It grieves me to see all this strife and suffering for naught.

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    Replies
    1. Precisely, but we have these control freaks who aren't happy without bothering normal people who wish to be left alone. :)

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