[State Of War] § 4. Putin’s End Game of War on Ukraine Putin’s ultimate goal is to install a pro-Kremlin government in Kyiv—Moscow experts 1. Already weakened Ukraine’s defense/security Putin’s ultimate goal is to install a pro-Kremlin government in Kyiv, experts say. He tried doing this in the four years of ex-President Viktor Yanukovych’s rule, observed Marchuk, but failed, and the EuroMaidan squelched his plan altogether. What he has succeeded through Russian spies, said Melnyk, is to weaken Ukraine’s defense and security capabilities. 2. Installing a pro-Kremlin government in Kyiv He pointed to ex-security service chief Oleksandr Yakimenko and ex-Defense Minister Dmytro Salamatin, who are residing in Moscow and giving interviews to Russian television channels. Whether by use of force or through other tactics, Putin’s main goal is to install his own pro-Russian, very cooperative government in power, said Melnyk. 3. Putin’s war crimes: array of brazenly illegal acts Putin’s entire Crimean operation committed an array of brazenly illegal acts and, some would argue, war crimes. Among them, Russia violated the 1994 Budapest Agreement it signed to guarantee Ukraine’s security and territorial integrity, as well as the 1997 Black Sea basing agreement of troop size and movements. 4. Violation of sovereignty, territorial integrity of states Chief among its transgressions was the violation of the United Nations Charter and 1975 Helsinki Final Act. They include respect for the rights in inherent sovereignty, refraining from the threat or use of force, territorial integrity of states, non-intervention in internal affairs, among others. Reports of torture and inhuman treatment have been cited in Crimea. Whole scale plundering of state and private property has begun. 5. Massive military mobilization is act of war Massive military mobilization along Ukraine’s borders itself, says Tymchuk, is an act of war. More heinous, in the view of many, is Putin’s hiding of his troops’ identities and even his denial of their presence, as well as his use of women and children as human shields during the storming of Ukrainian bases, all in violation of Geneva conventions on acceptable warfare. 6. Kiev started to mobilize military, tighten security But should Russia invade the mainland, Ukraine is prepared, according to Marchuk. A Russian assault on Ukraine would not be done as fast as they suppose, he said. Although Kyiv has refrained from declaring a state of war, it has started to mobilize its military and tighten security at its borders. Aside from denying many Russians entry and blacking out four Russian TV channels, it has been forming a national guard of 20,000. 7. Training units, setting up distribution network More needs to be done, said Melnyk, starting with spreading out fighter jets and preparing for a partisan war by training units and setting up a network to distribute its vast cache of small arms. Still, Ukraine’s military, hollowed out by years of corruption and mismanagement, would not be a match for Russia’s, which by all accounts has amassed its best units and hardware around Ukraine’s boundaries. Next ▶ § 5. Ukraine is already in the Stage of War ▶Read in full of Stage of War on KyivPost: kyivpost/content/ukraine/state-of-war-341161.html
Posted on: Fri, 28 Mar 2014 09:05:35 +0000
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