Back To Karabakh, Nightmares And Illusions – Part II

Dear Readers:

Continuing with the theme of Nagorno-Karabakh and the consequences of the brief war.  Vladimir Kornilov’s piece in Sputnik is scary, in that it lays out a possible (and even, sadly, highly likely) scenario for war between Russia and the Ukraine.  Although he sees a ray of hope in the fact that Russian peacekeepers are in Nagorno-Karabakh, after all; and this fact may dampen the ardor of some Ukrainian patriots who see their path to victory in emulating Azerbaijan.

Zelensky signed a military deal with his Turkish counterpart.

During the month and a half war between Azerbaijan and Armenia, the Ukrainian blogosphere was lit up like a Christmas tree, with Nationalists rhapsodizing about Turkish Bayraktar drones; imagining that the Ukraine, once possessing this type of hardware, could quickly conquer the lost territories of the Donbass.  Even President Zelensky was inspired by the Azeri-Turkish successes.  He even flew to Istanbul and signed a military “memorandum” between Turkey and the Ukraine.  The deal includes the sale of Bayraktars to the Ukrainian army.  Zelensky was so pleased with his trip that he even bragged about it in his annual report to the Supreme Rada.

Ukraine has been wishing to buy these drones for quite a long time, believing that these flying devices can lead to a military resolution of the frozen Donbass conflict.  Even before Zelensky’s time, the Poroshenko regime purchased 6 Turkish Unpiloted Reconnaissance Flying Apparati (беспилотный летательный аппарат – БПЛА); and even started to deploy them in Spring of last year.  Not on the actual front lines, though, just in the testing polygon in Zhitomir.  Rumors that they were deployed in the Donbass, have not been confirmed.

Miroslav Gai: Wants to cleanse the planet of Russians, leaving only giant-nosed Nazis like himself.

Ukrainian experts do little to conceal their wishes and hopes in regard to these devices.  Ukrainian actor Miroslav Gai, a former hero of the “Anti-Terrorist Operation” (ATO) in the Donbass wrote this:  “Let’s look at how the work of these drones might cleanse the planet of the Muscovite plague.”

Political pundit and Ukrainian Nationalist Kirill Sazonov had this to say:  “In Syria, Assad’s troops and Russian soldiers were very eager to capture these Turkish drones.  Because the drones were a nightmare for them.  This is a very useful experience, we need to borrow it.”

During the military hostilities in Nagorno-Karabakh, the internet was flooded with drone photographs showing Armenian armor being demolished.  The Ukrainian nationalists were driven into a kind of ecstasy by these images.  The emotional ardor of the “war party” increased to the maximum.  Everybody was talking about the “Karabakh scenario” and how it applied to the Donbass:  How easily it might be, to simply return these territories via a military strike, using drones.

Kirill Sazonov: Wants to learn from the Turks, how to do it.

“These conflicts can only be resolved through the conduct of war.  Only by military means,” declared Grigory Perepelitsa, the Director of the Institute of Foreign Studies in the Ukraine.  His colleague Vyacheslav Likhachev agrees:  “A month and a half of effective military operations can, in a fundamental fashion, change a situation which has been frozen for the past 25 years of negotiations.  For many Ukrainians this example is not only impressive, but also inspiring.”

And these guys are the pundits!  The street Nationalists go even further expressing their not-so-secret desires.  Indeed, they have been, all along, calling for a military solution to the Donbass issue.  Andrei Biletsky, leader of the Ukrainian Hurrah-patriots, declared that, “The Baku example, is proof that the question of returning Ukrainian territories can only be solved by use of force.”

Ukrainian Nazi Andrei Biletsky believes that violence is the answer.

Elena Belozerskaya, former sniper affiliated with the Right Sektor Party recorded a videoblog in which she compared the Donetsk city of Gorlovka to the Karabakh town of Shusha:  “You see how correctly Aliyev is behaving here.  He says that he is promising the Armenians complete safety and the preservation of their rights.  The Armenians listen to his speech … and then flee.  So what do you think?  Three days after the Ukrainian army takes Gorlovka (which is our Ukrainian Shusha), how many vata [derogatory word for ethnic Russians and pro-Russians] will remain in Donetsk, and how many will flee?  50 out of 50?  30 out of 70?  20 out of 80?  All of this will resolve itself quite simply and elementarily.  All we need is to have different allies.  Those who give us Bayraktars, and not those who praise us for our peace-loving nature.”  Elena’s rant is, by far, the most honest and sincere call for the total ethnic cleansing of the Donbass, coming from out the mouth of a cadre officer of the Ukrainian armed forces.

Now, a lot of this could be dismissed as just the routine ravings of the Nationalists.  Except for one thing:  Parallel to this, the Ukrainian government actually is working on a project to create internment camps for Russian citizens.  And by “citizens” they mean Donbass residents who have accepted Russian passports, or who have dual citizenship.

[to be continued]

Advertisement