tokachinter

Thanks for your forthright reply. I'll let you get back to your research on TV.

Interesting theory you wrote there. No, I'm not being paid by anyone to type on a Sunday (or even on week days!). Seriously, my motivation to counter the narrative of MSM about the Ukraine conflict comes from independent research and listening to heart-breaking interviews with the people of Donbass who have suffered from eight years of warfare. I stand against ethnic cleansing. Anyway, please do your own research outside of MSM. Situation reports from UNHCR and OSCE prior to 24 February are a good basis to start with.

Thanks for your comment. I did some more research on the language ban, which started in 2018 and expanded after that to ban all Russian language print and electronic media. The 2018 Bill banned its use in public included its use by doctors, bank employees as well as the playing of Russian music or reading of it in public (reference The Guardian 25/04/19). This is in addition to the areas you noted. Of course, during their reign of terror in the Donbass that started with the burning alive of protesters in Odessa in 2014, The N@zi Azov Battalion has frequently used a difficult-to-pronounce Ukrainian word as a means test to catch so-called Russian sympathisers. Those apprehended faced fines, imprisonment or worse.

Re: MH17, it is certainly up to you whether you believe the Netherlands' investigation (where Russian evidence was suppressed) or the Russian one. Patrick Lancaster's pro-Russian (he's married to a Ukrainian, by the way) stance could certainly influence his decision as to what interviews he chooses to publish, however it can't alter the content unless you believe the interviewees are all crisis actors! Please watch one or two of his videos and then let me know whether you believe the people interviewed are genuine or fake.

The Nuland coup came about because President Yanukovich had second thoughts about signing up to a debt inducing IMF loan after Russia had rejected extra loans to the most corrupt country in Europe. He had won a majority in the last internationally observed election in 2010. The Ukraine identity you cite began to dissolve after the U.S. nominated Poroshenko (remember the leaked Nuland phone call & video?) post coup. Previously apolitical citizens objected to the banning of their native language (51% of Ukrainians speak Russian), TV stations and religion. Before labelling one side 'war criminals' you may care to watch Patrick Lancaster's many interviews with citizens of Mariupol (I advise you to skip the most gruesome video where he is shown a murdered woman in a basement with a swastika carved in her chest). Like many, you misinterpret Putin's comments where he laments the breakup of the Soviet Union as implying he wants to see it reformed. His statement was taken out of context as he continued to say that it brought about one of the worst periods of Russian history due to the lawlessness that allowed the Russian mafia oligarchs and carpetbaggers from outside the country to plunder it. His first decade in power was dedicated to stabilising the country and removing most, but not all of, the criminal oligarchs.

It has been since before the 2014 coup d'etat made it an open secret.