Thread by @Montrey82631182

1/ 10.07.2014: Igor Girkin, colonel of the Russian FSB and first defense minister of the Donetsk People's Republic, confirms that the Russian special forces were sent to eastern Ukraine to start an open rebellion against the Ukrainian state as they did in Crimea.

2/ Ukraine gained independence in 1991. In a referendum, a very large proportion of the population voted in favor of independence. Nevertheless, Ukraine was always under Russian influence.

3/ 05.12.1994 CSCE meeting in Budapest. Ukraine agrees to give up its nuclear weapons in return for security guarantees. Yeltsin rejects NATO enlargement. It is not until 1997 that Russia gives up its opposition to NATO's eastward expansion through the NATO-Russia Founding Act.

4/ 11.12.1994 Chechnya had declared its independence in 1991, now Yeltsin sent the Russian army to end the independence of Chechnya. The other neighboring states, such as Ukraine, are following this development with great concern.

5/ 27.05.1997: The path to NATO's eastward expansion is clear. Russia and NATO sign the NATO-Russia Founding Act in Paris and give each other guarantees for the future.

6/ 1999: Several explosions occur in Russia, destroying residential buildings and killing hundreds of people. The traces lead to the FSB. The attacks lead to the second Chechen war.

7/ 11.02.2002: Putin believes that any country can join the organization of its choice.

8/ 17.05.2002: Putin has nothing against Ukraine joining NATO.

9/ 2003: Russia is trying to gain control of the Ukrainian island of Tuzla, where the foundations of the Kerch Bridge now stand.

10/ 02.04.2004: Putin is not very concerned about NATO's eastward expansion, as cooperation with NATO is going well.
dw.com/de/putin-russl…

11/ 02.01.2005: Lavrov: That is their choice. We respect the right of every state - including our neighbors - to choose its own partners, to decide which organization it wants to join.
handelsblatt.com/politik/intern…

12/ 21.04.2005: Russia says it will not stand in the way of the EU foreign ministers' action plan for Ukraine's admission to NATO.
dw.com/de/nato-%C3%B6…

13/ 24.06.2005: Putin praised the extraordinarily good cooperation between NATO and Russia and would like to further expand cooperation in the future.

14/ 31.10.2005: Russia wants to expand its cooperation with NATO.

15/ 2007: Putin authorizes the preparation of a plan for military action against Georgia by the General Staff of the Armed Forces. Putin publicly admits this later in 2012 at a commemorative event to mark the four-year anniversary of the war in Georgia.

16/ 08.03.2008: Merkel is in Moscow. After talks with Putin, she is convinced that Georgia does not belong into NATO. The attack on Georgia had already been authorized at this point. The rejection of NATO membership by GER and France was therefore extremely important for Putin.

17/ 02.09.2008: Putin says that after Georgia he is not planning any military action against Ukraine and that Russia has long recognized Ukraine's borders.

18/ 26.09.2008: John McCain says that the war in Georgia must be seen in the context of Ukraine and Crimea, where Russia will start the next conflict.

19/ 2009: With the ZAPAD 2009 maneuver, a de facto attack on Poland was practiced together with Belarus. These war games also included a simulated nuclear strike on Warsaw.

20/ 16.12.2009 Russia and NATO have common security interests and want to further expand their cooperation.

21/ 31.10.2010 Under pressure from the USA, Ukraine returns its weapons-grade uranium to Russia. Obama wanted to secure all nuclear-capable fissile material in the world by 2014.
welt.de/politik/auslan…

22/ 11.04.2012: Russia offers NATO a base for logistics on Russian soil for its Afghanistan mission, Putin defends this decision after criticism from within.
theguardian.com/world/2012/apr…

23/ Summary from 1991 to August 2013: Ukraine's relationship with Russia was complex, marked by periods of cooperation, tension, and geopolitical maneuvering. After gaining independence in 1991, Ukraine sought to balance ties with both Russia and the West. While economic and political links remained strong—especially due to energy dependence on Russian gas—Kyiv also pursued closer integration with Europe.

Tensions surfaced over issues like the Black Sea Fleet in Crimea, gas disputes, and Ukraine’s gradual shift towards EU association. In 2004, during the Orange Revolution, Russia allegedly attempted to assassinate pro-European candidate Viktor Yushchenko through dioxin poisoning, further straining relations. Pro-Russian and pro-European factions within Ukraine led to internal political struggles, particularly as Ukraine oscillated between the West and Moscow. Under President Viktor Yanukovych (2010–2014), Ukraine leaned more towards Russia, securing economic deals and extending Russia’s naval lease in Crimea. However, by mid-2013, Ukraine faced mounting pressure over its EU aspirations, setting the stage for future conflicts

24/ 24.08.2013: Putin says that Ukraine's striving for Europe is sheer suicide for Ukraine. According to Putin, Ukraine's rapprochement with the EU must be prevented because the latter wants to establish a customs union on the territory of the former SU. faz.net/aktuell/politi…

25/ 04.10.2013: Putin predicts Ukraine's downfall if it signs the association agreement with the EU. Russian politicians have been bombarding Ukraine with criticism for weeks. Putin warned Ukraine twice in September, Medvedev even four times.
dw.com/de/wie-russlan…

26/ 21.11.2013: First demonstration begins in Kiev. Between 14.11 - 20.11.2013, Putin spoke personally with Yanukovych on several occasions and explicitly warned him not to move any closer to Europe.

27/ 27.11.2013: Yanukovych does not want to sign EU agreement. Yanukovych's refusal will further fuel the protests in Ukraine, particularly in the capital. The police crack down on the demonstrators. The vast majority of the demonstrators come from the democratic center, but there are also small violent minorities made up of ultra-nationalists and from the right-wing sector.
sueddeutsche.de/politik/praesi…

28/ 12.12.2013 Putin offers Ukraine a partnership in the form of a customs union on the scale of the former Soviet Union. Today we know that the violent takeover of Ukraine was already a done deal at this point.
faz.net/aktuell/politi…

29/ 17.12.2013: Moscow published the tender for the production of the medals to be awarded for the planned successful annexation of Crimea. The MoD had never issued such a tender before. Hacked emails from a Putin advisor later confirm that it was the Crimean medals.

30/ 19.02.2014 Snipers shoot at demonstrators and police during the Maidan demonstrations in Kiev.

31/ February 2014: Russian elite soldiers were involved in the 2014 Maidan protests in Kiev.
In March 2022, the Russian soldier Rakhmet Dzhubanov dies in Ukraine. His hometown commemorates him and states that he was awarded the Medal of Suvorov for his actions on the Maidan in 2014.
“The residents of the village of Khosheutovo in the Kharabala district bid farewell to Sergeant Major Rakhmet Khadyrzhanovich Dzhubanov of the Russian armed forces. He died during a special operation in Ukraine. He was 40 years old, of which Rakhmet Khadyrzhanovich spent 22 years in military service. He served in special units, in the intelligence service and in the commandant's office. In 2014, he took part in the events in Ukraine (Maidan) and was awarded the Suvorov Medal. Sergeant Major Rakhmet Chubanov took part in special operations in Syria and was awarded the Zhukov Medal. In 2020 he was transferred to the Marine Corps (Shali, Chechen Republic). Together with his relatives, we share the pain of the loss - the head of the department for interaction with military units and law enforcement agencies of the administration of the governor of the Astrakhan region Sergey Yatskov, the head of the administration of the municipality "Kharabalinsky district" Aleksey Shtonda, the head of the administration of the municipality "Kharabalinsky district". Aleksey Shtonda, head of the administration of the "Khosheutovo Village Council" Ahon Umbetov, military commissar of the Kharabala district Leonid Bradu, resident of the village of Khosheutovo, comrade, non-commissioned officer Azamat Dzhumanov. He left behind two children, wife and parents. We mourn together with you! For his courage and heroism, Staff Sergeant Rakhmet Dzhubanov was (posthumously) awarded the Order of Valor. Eternal glory to the hero!“

32/ 20.02.2014 Russian special forces appear in Crimea. Igor Girkin, a Russian colonel of the FSB and future defense minister of the Donetsk People's Republic, will be in Crimea from 21 February 2014. His mission is to force the people to vote at gunpoint.

33/ 21.02.2014 President Viktor Yanukovych signed a deal with opposition leaders—brokered by the European Union—aimed at ending the violence that had escalated over the previous months. The agreement included:
· A return to the 2004 constitution, limiting presidential powers.
· The formation of a coalition government.
· Early presidential elections by the end of the year.
· The withdrawal of security forces from Kyiv.
However, the agreement failed to pacify the protesters, who demanded Yanukovych’s immediate resignation.

34/ 22.02.2014: Parliament ousted Yanukovych by a large majority - even many of his supporters voted against him. In the morning, Yanukovych had tried to flee to the Russia via Donetsk but failed. From Crimea, the Russian military brought him to Russia a few days later.

35/ 27.02.2014 Russian soldiers appear in Crimea and become famous as "little green men". Putin denies that they are Russian soldiers. Around two months later, Putin admits that they were of course Russian soldiers.

36/ 04.03.2014: Explosion in the number of messages with the content "Ukraine" and "Nazi" in the social media. Prigozhin's bot farms are running at full speed in the background to discredit Ukraine. hackmd.io/@Hoaxlines/aug…

37/ 18.03.2014: Putin says publicly that he does not want to divide Ukraine, while he says this the Russian special forces are already preparing for their deployment.

38/ 12.04.2014: Igor Girkin, Russian colonel of the FSB and later the first defense minister of the so-called Donetsk People's Republic, appears in Sloviansk in eastern Ukraine.

39/ 14.04.2014: Igor Bezler, a colonel in Russian military intelligence (GRU) takes control of the police in Horlivka (Donetsk Oblast). Bezler moved to Ukraine in 2002 and was retired in early 2012. In February 2014, Bezler was reactivated by the GRU.

40/ 17.04.2014: In a live TV broadcast, Putin confirms that the "little green men" in Crimea were of course Russian soldiers. Putin assures that no Russian units are involved in the fighting in eastern Ukraine. tagesspiegel.de/politik/putin-…

41/ 25.04.2014: Russia's army begins exercises on the border with Ukraine - according to the Russian defense minister. These Russian army units will actively engage in combat from the beginning of July.

42/ 28.04.2014: The last major peaceful pro-Ukrainian protest in Donetsk.

43/ 02.05.2014 Severe riots in Odessa. Vitaly Budko (the man with the rifle at the ready) and Dmytro Fuchedzhi (deputy head of the Odessa headquarters of the Ukrainian Ministry of the Interior) escape to Russia after the fighting in Odessa. During the clashes between pro-Russian and pro-Ukrainian supporters, the trade union building is set on fire and 40 people lose their lives.

44/ 18.05.2014 Igor Girkin, colonel of the Russian FSB and first "defense minister" of the self-proclaimed Donetsk People's Republic, complains that not even 1,000 people can be found in the entire region who are willing to fight for Russia.

45/ 21.05.2014 Ukraine has voted: The result of the presidential election is that Petro Poroshenko will be the next president of Ukraine. For the first time in Ukrainian history, there will be no second round of voting - 54.7% of voters supported Poroshenko. Former Prime Minister Yulia Tymoshenko follows at a considerable distance (12.81%). The right-wing sector won only 0.70 % of the vote. With the exception of the Donetsk and Luhansk regions, the election observers described the elections as free and fair.

46/ In the period from 20.05.2014 to 15.07.2014, the Ukrainian army carried out successful counter-offensives as part of an anti-terrorist operation against the so-called separatists.

47/ From mid-July 2014, Moscow deployed regular units of the Russian army to Ukraine to prevent the collapse of the so-called People's Republics. Despite fierce fighting, the Ukrainian army manages to capture some of these soldiers.

48/ A Russian train driver reports on how Russia has supported the so-called Russian separatists in Ukraine with weapons from the very beginning (2014). He describes how the vast majority of the pro-Russian fighters did not come from the region itself, but directly from Russia.

49/ 17.17.2014 Igor Girkin, colonel of the Russian FSB and first defense minister of the Donetsk People's Republic, reports the shooting down of a Ukrainian military aircraft. In reality it was MH17, when it becomes known that it was a civilian airplane, all entries are deleted.

50/ August 2014 Russian tank soldiers film themselves in Ukraine near Lyse (48.469797 39.596891). At the time, the Ukrainian positions were in Novosvitlivka, around 6 km away from the filming location. These state-of-the-art T-90A tanks belong to the 136th separate motorized rifle brigade, unit 63354 (Buinaksk, Russia (Dagestan)). Ukraine was only able to capture some T-90A vehicles from 2022. The video itself was uploaded to the "Russian Facebook" VK by a Russian soldier in early August 2014.

51/ The vast majority of the so-called Russian separatists in eastern Ukraine in 2014 were Russian special forces, supported by regular Russian army units and volunteers from Russia.

52/ 2014 - today: Moscow repeatedly published new horror stories about alleged crimes committed by Ukrainian units. Coincidentally, the same witnesses to these crimes always appeared.

53/ 2014 - today: Russian propaganda repeatedly falsifies reports from the Donbass, for example documenting Ukrainian shelling of cities.

54/54 Without the intervention of the regular Russian army in the summer of 2014, the war in eastern Ukraine would have ended quickly in 2014 with a victory for the Ukrainian armed forces. The issue of Crimea should have been resolved further.

threadreaderapp.com/thread/1899873…

10.07.2014: Igor Girkin, colonnello dell'FSB russo e ministro della Difesa della Repubblica Popolare di Donetsk, conferma che le forze speciali russe sono state inviate nell'Ucraina orientale per iniziare una ribellione aperta contro lo Stato ucraino, come hanno fatto in Crimea.

@falcio23

@guffanti_marco Italian version.