When the US/NATO interests back in 2013-2014, specifically the CIA, attempted the Ukraine Orange Revolution 2.0 (version 1.0 being back in 2004-2005), it became obvious rather fast that not unlike Syria (2011-?), this discontent was manufactured by US foreign policy interests. The US/NATO would love to have Ukraine (all of it) firmly in NATO and pressed up firmly on Russian’s border.
In a previous post, I talked a bit about the promises made in 1991-1994 to Russia that NATO would not enter any power vacuum that followed the split up of the USSR into many republics. The US, never the upholder of treaties when violations of such ink and paper can offer something more for this anxious empire, accomplished things behind the scenes like Ukraine’s Color / Orange Revolution in 2004 that triggered the masses to overthrow their government (which the US/NATO did not approve of) to tip the scales toward something more aligned with the US Empire’s mission and vision for the globe.
As noted in this Lew Rockwell article, version 1.0 became the template used elsewhere:
The Orange Revolution, as it was known at the time, was a classic CIA-engineered plot to impose their political outcome on the Ukrainian people. And they succeeded with flying colors.
That CIA-sponsored coup d’etat was so successful that it has since been used as a model for every other CIA-manufactured scheme that has toppled governments and reversed fair election outcomes the world over. In fact, the Ukraine is where the various social network utilities were used so effectively that the new MO has become known as the digital blitzkrieg. Never in human history have so many citizens been stampeded in the direction of overthrowing their government while being completely ignorant of the real forces manipulating the cattle prods.
Russia, when faced with foreign sponsored revolution directly on its border (how would the US react if this were happening in Canada or Mexico?), patiently assisted mainly to preserve life of Russian people in the region and ended up with Crimea asking to be annexed inside Russia itself. As far as the other Ukraine provinces that hold many Russians:
.. there was an effort to declare some type of separatist movement, whether absorbed by Russia OR independent along side Ukraine.
As it is many times when cultures overlap, there are never clear majorities or agendas in any given province, so a path forward is never clean and without disagreement, violence, or war.
Eight provinces emerged in 2014 full of ambition to federate into a New Russia:
.. with a flag that might look a little familiar in the United States, the original anti-tyranny flag based on the Christian St. Andrews cross:
… proposed confederation of the self-proclaimed Donetsk People’s Republic (DPR) and Luhansk People’s Republic (LPR) in eastern Ukraine, both of which share a border with Russia. Ukraine has designated the confederation as lying within an Anti-Terrorist Operation Zone.
Notice how this proposed federation would cut the rest of Ukraine from the Black Sea and the oceans and trade beyond. This is similar to how the Western (now Midwest region) states felt when the Confederate States of America was formed from seven seceded states. A panic would ensue when one thinks about the financial implications of such a change.
So in the last four years, there has been an uneasy state of “pause” in this movement as Russia sends these areas $1B USD annually, which is the SAME amount they also support the on-going Syrian defensive operations with. (NOTE: Iran supports the Syrian defenses to the tune of $10B USD annually, ten TIMES that of the Russians)
What are the thoughts now in these provinces toward the future? From this recent Russian Insider article:
According to a 2017 poll carried out by Germans, 45% want to join Russia, 35% want an autonomous status within the Ukraine, while only 21% want to return to the status quo.
The path forward and the timing of any Russian moves to solidify any path for these regions is unclear in the face of US sanctions and threats in the Syrian theater of operations. Russia is too smart to desire a two-front revolution/war of any kind.
As typical in an area that desperately wants to return to some normality in their lives and some security in their and their kid’s futures, some remain defiant, choosing an uncomfortable freedom instead of a stable slavery. People from the left as well as the communist side of the political spectum are aligned when it comes to Novorossiya:
Novorossiya is a core issue for almost all nationalists. Almost all of them can be expected to move from their current ambivalent position on Putin to outright opposition. [should Putin abandon the New Russia effort in Ukraine, which is highly doubtful]
While the nationalist response goes without saving, many Communists will also be quite unhappy. For instance, Zakhar Prilepin (famous author and chief editor of Svobodnaya Pressa, Russia’s best major leftist resource) and leftist activist Sergey Udaltsov (whom Western journalists called a political prisoner for leading the 2011-12 anti-Putin protests along with Navalny, before he revealed himself to be unhandshakeworthy in 2014) are Novorossiya supporters.
This is another region in which “stay tuned” is still a thing. Do your own research and learn more about other regions in this world that value liberty and freedom!
-SF1