Russia soldiers without insignia have invaded and fought in Ukraine before under the direction of the Kremlin. These were the infamous “little green men” who occupied Crimea. Russia originally denied their involvement, only acknowledging them after Crimea had been fully taken. There’s every reason to think that Russian backed separatists in the Donbass region are likely getting the same sort of help.
Ukraine is losing population, yes. The problem is that, as you can see from your graph, it has been doing so across every government. The post-Euromaiden protests government is far from special in this regard. In fact, the only difference it has from previous governments is that it had a slice of its land cut off by Russia, so in that sense it “lost” extra population.
At least try to make it believable when you make things up. It is true that Russian soldiers came to Crimea, to ensure the safety of the referendum. Most of the population welcomed the soldiers, and even most Ukrainian soldiers ended up switching sides and joining the Russian army.
It is absolute nonsense to call that an invasion, and they were certainly not involved in any fighting.
As for Donbass, Russia can easily obliterate all Ukrainian units in the region using artillery and air strikes, no need to move a single soldier over the border.
What I find curious is that you dont have any problem at all with NATO troops going to Ukraine, and teaching their military how to fight Russia. Is that what you call peaceful behaviour?
It is true that Russian soldiers came to Crimea, to ensure the safety of the referendum.
These were soldiers who occupied airports, military bases, and the parliament building of Crimea. They did it all unmarked. It was only afterwards that Putin publicly acknowledged that they were Russian forces all along.
As for Donbass, Russia can easily obliterate all Ukrainian units in the region using artillery and air strikes, no need to move a single soldier over the border.
They might, but all-out war has drawbacks for Russia. Right now, Russia seeks to divide the West to weaken any response. I’m not blaming it for doing that because it’s smart tactics, but it’s hard to deny when you watch closely. The more they overt they are, the more united the West is against it. The West has many more levers it could pull. If Russian oligarchs start getting their investments in Western countries frozen, words will be had with Putin. That’s why I kind of doubt Russia will follow through with a full scale invasion.
What I find curious is that you dont have any problem at all with NATO troops going to Ukraine, and teaching their military how to fight Russia. Is that what you call peaceful behaviour?
It’s not peaceful behavior, but these are not peaceful times in Ukraine. Areas of Ukraine are active war zones.
Russia soldiers without insignia have invaded and fought in Ukraine before under the direction of the Kremlin. These were the infamous “little green men” who occupied Crimea. Russia originally denied their involvement, only acknowledging them after Crimea had been fully taken. There’s every reason to think that Russian backed separatists in the Donbass region are likely getting the same sort of help.
Ukraine is losing population, yes. The problem is that, as you can see from your graph, it has been doing so across every government. The post-Euromaiden protests government is far from special in this regard. In fact, the only difference it has from previous governments is that it had a slice of its land cut off by Russia, so in that sense it “lost” extra population.
At least try to make it believable when you make things up. It is true that Russian soldiers came to Crimea, to ensure the safety of the referendum. Most of the population welcomed the soldiers, and even most Ukrainian soldiers ended up switching sides and joining the Russian army.
It is absolute nonsense to call that an invasion, and they were certainly not involved in any fighting.
As for Donbass, Russia can easily obliterate all Ukrainian units in the region using artillery and air strikes, no need to move a single soldier over the border.
What I find curious is that you dont have any problem at all with NATO troops going to Ukraine, and teaching their military how to fight Russia. Is that what you call peaceful behaviour?
These were soldiers who occupied airports, military bases, and the parliament building of Crimea. They did it all unmarked. It was only afterwards that Putin publicly acknowledged that they were Russian forces all along.
They might, but all-out war has drawbacks for Russia. Right now, Russia seeks to divide the West to weaken any response. I’m not blaming it for doing that because it’s smart tactics, but it’s hard to deny when you watch closely. The more they overt they are, the more united the West is against it. The West has many more levers it could pull. If Russian oligarchs start getting their investments in Western countries frozen, words will be had with Putin. That’s why I kind of doubt Russia will follow through with a full scale invasion.
It’s not peaceful behavior, but these are not peaceful times in Ukraine. Areas of Ukraine are active war zones.