Ukraine: What Are They Fighting For?

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The 2014 coup in Ukraine that was supposed to align it with the E.U. and away from Russia’s sphere of influence, is still to this day in 2020, deeply divided by civil war, with an economy that has never recovered from an onslaught of trained Nazi thugs who brought the country to its knees. But to Americans who organized this coup with a price tag of $5 billion, Ukraine now has a ‘democracy’, and its people are ‘free’.

The 2014 article I wrote below gives an idea of the nightmare the country and the people were living through. This was not what they wanted, and it serves as a lesson for the rest of the world wherever violent riots and fighting erupt, and buildings begin to burn. It is always a carefully choreographed affair with the aim to create chaos and instability for the political gain of those pulling the strings behind the scenes.

Back in 2014 when Ukraine was on the verge of economic collapse and with government resistance to passing bills to implement the IMF imposed austerity measures, tension broke out into a scuffle in the Ukraine parliament, reportedly because a lawmaker blamed the Ukrainian authorities for failing to adopt a ceasefire in eastern Ukraine and accused them of running a war against the Ukrainian people. (AP)

However in another report by Rachael Jones, the brawl “occurred after ministers voted to approve a presidential decree to call up more military services to combat rebels in Eastern Ukraine. Kiev repeated the decree from 45 days prior to call up more military reserves to fight rebels and to ensure the ranks of what Ukraine calls its ‘anti-terrorist operation’ are filled.” The scuffle was between nationalist politicians and members of the party led by former president, Victor Yanukovych, who was overthrown in February by the coup.

It was not only parliamentarians whose tempers ran short over the need to conscript more men from Western Ukraine to fight the so-called rebels in the east. A mother interviewed in Western Ukraine was very distressed and angry that her son was taken away to fight against his fellow countrymen.

“Why do we send our kids there, if they are mocked as “Banderovtsy”? Why? Why the grown up able-bodied men run to hide here, sending our kids instead?

“Why? Why did they make “Maidan”?  From this very Maidan everything started. This Maidan they made … And they were paid on Maidan. They were paid to be there. Everything was paid for.”

In all its rawness, she reveals the truth about the pain and anger so many people feel right across Ukraine since the coup in February. A transcript is available on the website where this video was posted, and the comments add to the picture she portrays.

Who or what is a “Banderovtsy” the mother was referring to? Another name is “Banderite,” which was more commonly used during the marches in Kiev. Although they are referred to as Neo-Nazis, they were originally Nazis from Western Ukraine who fought with Germany during the Second World War. In 1943 and 1944, the Ukrainian Insurgent Army (UPA) was led by Stepan Bandera (hence Banderites), who set out to ethnically cleanse Ukraine. Bandera, who is now regarded as a national hero, organised massacres that claimed the lives of 90,000 Poles and thousands of Jews. Ukrainian peasants and workers who wanted to join the Soviet Union were brutally terrorised, tortured and executed. The UPA went on to kill some 20,000 Ukrainians before the insurrection was completely crushed in 1953. (1)

In in the lead-up to the U.S. orchestrated February coup, these Banderites marched through Kiev shouting, “Revolution, revolution,” “Ukraine for Ukrainians,” “Death to our enemies,” and, “Death to the Muscovites (meaning, Russians). You may then understand that, in light of this and the pro-Russians killed in Kiev and burned alive in buildings in Odessa and Mariupol, that the Russians in the east are literally fighting for their lives. Thousands have already fled to Russia. Hundreds have already been killed, including women and children.

The RT video (at the end of this post) gives a good overview of the Nazis who have become very powerful in Ukraine, and some of the atrocities they have committed – including the massacre in Odessa on May 02. It also interviews Daniele Ganser, author of NATO’s Secret Armies: Operation GLADIO and Terrorism in Western Europe (Contemporary Security Studies), who urges people to remember the term “strategy of tension.” Essentially it means that you blow up a bomb and say that your enemy did it. Think MH-17.

A powerful example of how the ‘strategy of tension’ works was seen in the three bombings that took place in Italy between 1969 and 1980, killing over 100 civilians. The marginal left-wing elements of society were blamed. However a series of investigations and judicial proceedings revealed that it was the work of right-wing elements in collusion with Italian military intelligence to discredit the Italian left, and encourage support for a corrupt status quo. (2)

From the documentary, Nato’s Secret Armies, comes this chilling description of how the ‘strategy of tension’ worked in Italy.

“The strategy of tension was a complex phenomenon in which the various figures operating didn’t have the same objectives. There were groups from the extreme right who really wanted to destroy the democratic system with a coup. Alongside them were military commanders, parts of the secret services, and conservative forces in general who were using this first group. Rather than a full blown coup, they wanted a stabilisation of the institutions of power…

Destabilise the public order to stabilise the political order and justify a repressive intervention that would be welcomed with relief by the population. People want to live in peace. They don’t to walk into a bank or get on a train and die because of a bomb put there by some unknown killer….

Once fear has been instilled in a population, you can make them do anything.”

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Related

(1) Nationalism and Fascism in Ukraine: A Historical Overview

(2) Systemic Destabilization as “A Strategy of Tension”: 9/11, the JFK Assassination, and the Oklahoma City Bombing