kla.TV March 24, 2023
February 24th marked the anniversary of the invasion of Ukraine
by Russian troops. One year of war and no end in sight! zdf.de
wrote, The Kremlin had a lightning bolt victory in mind when it
attacked Ukraine a year ago. Twelve months later, there is a
stalemate between Kiev and Moscow Neither Moscow nor Kiev is
willing to negotiate on the basis of the status quo. Well, a
blitzkrieg was supposedly planned but there has now been more than
a year of war. More and more people in Europe, but also in the
Ukraine itself, are asking the question, Is Russia really not
capable of achieving a military victory?
If, however, you compare the military strength of Russia and the
Ukraine in 2022, the Russian army should be far superior.
(https://de.statista.com/statistik/daten/studie/292788/umfrage/vergleich-der-militaerstaerke-von-russland-und-der-ukraine/)
Are there ultimately other goals behind this war than Moscow is
ostensibly communicating? Could it therefore even be a matter of
design that there is no end in sight? This program tries to find
possible answers to these questions.
First of all, we have to look at the motives and intentions
Moscow put forward for the war. Purported motives for the war:
- Eastward expansion of NATO and the threat of the Ukraines entry
into NATO
- Aid to the Donbass Peoples Republics
- Denazification of the Ukraine.
The eastward expansion of NATO, as Putin calls it, right up to
Russias borders has taken place in five steps since 1999. Other
candidates would include Georgia, Azerbaijan, Armenia, Kazakhstan
and the Ukraine. That this does not please Russia is hard to
deny.
The conflict in the eastern Ukraine, which has been ongoing
since 2014, had by the end of 2018 alone cost the lives of 13,000
people, including some 3,300 civilians, according to UN figures.
Attacks by Ukrainian troops on the population in the Donbass
increased dramatically from mid-February 2022, before Russian
troops had entered the country. OSCE neutral observers counted up
to 1,400 explosions per day from February 17, 2022. 100,000
civilians were reportedly evacuated to the interior or to Russia
for protection. The Azov Regiment is a volunteer battalion that
became part of the National Guard of the Ministry of Internal
Affairs of the Ukraine in 2014. According to Wikipedia, the unit is
controversial because of links to far-right groups and Nazi
symbolism.
Taking stock after one year
After one year of war, we are now taking stock of the extent to
which Russia has pursued or achieved its stated goals.
A group discussion on the Internet portal NuoViso with Billy Six
provides some pointers on this. Billy Six is...
