Today it's been 8 ys Ukraine got rid of pro-Russian puppet dictator Yanukovych. I witnessed EuroMaidan, and I remember that after the first deaths of activists, after a fire in Trade Union House, it was not a peaceful protest anymore. Thread⬇️
I remember the EuroMaidan self-defense forces, who were coordinated by some retired officers of the Soviet army, by UNA UNSO. I remember the smell. I remember that I was scared for them as most had only some sticks from shovels, shields they stole from Berkut, and Molotovs⬇️
They were very different. Some of them brought guns and Medieval weapons from some cosplay, others had chains. Right Sector seemed scary and suspicious until you offer them a tangerine. ⬇️
Overall they were angry and ready for everything. That happened after numerous attacks from Berkut and killings of activists. They did not like the three opposition leaders of the EuroMaidan. They wanted to get rid of the guy who ordered police debacle. ⬇️
I was reporting about those guys, who looked like movie heroes, all wearing different clothes, with their sticks. Russia started claiming those brave but very poorly equipped guys were the US-staged coup actors. ⬇️
I could not imagine how "a staged coup" can be so chaotic, so we all laughed and forgot about Russia. Cause EuroMaidan was about choice, about national identity against the corrupt dictator. ⬇️
And when Yanuk fled, there was hope, victory. We all were so distracted by the revolution, we really believed that the EuroMaidan killings were the last blood we paid for our choice. But the Kremlin had other plans.⬇️
Fake news about "a train full of Right Sector" going to Crimea to kill Russians had really scared Crimeans. And that is when the little green men appeared everywhere on the peninsula. Like EuroMaidan activists, they called themselves "self-defense⬇️ of Crimea".
Unlike activists of Kyiv, those guys were armed with really good Russian-made weapons and wore the same camouflage. Putin claimed that one can buy those easily. He admitted those little green men were actually Russian soldiers, blocking the ⬇️Ukrainian army in Crimea, much later.
We did not believe in the 21 century one country can so easily bit off the territory of another country and make many nations believe that the "referendum" with no international watchers, guarded by Russian soldiers, was "a democratic choice". ⬇️
Yet it happened right after Winter Olympics 2014. The irony, right? We were figuring out what to do after Yanuk fled and we discovered financial reserves were soaked to stabilize the currency course many people miss until this day. It was a mess, the ⬇️army was corrupted.
Crimea was gone. And Putin's friend Surkov was actively preparing Russian spring in the south and east of Ukraine. #Surkovleaks will tell you more about that fascinating operation. Not fake but the actual busses with Russians have arrived to Donetsk and Luhansk.⬇️
Soon after Russian nazi and criminal Igor Strelkov, one of the key suspects in the MH17 downing entered Sloviansk with his gang. Dozens of Russian soldiers started coming to Ukraine "for vacation" or just "got lost" kilometers deep into another country, Russian officials said.⬇️
Ukrainian post-EuroMaidan government was disorganized and weak. SBU and police had so many defectors, helping Russians to seize the administrative buildings. So the activists and oligarchs started acting first. that's how the volunteer battalions appeared and went to war.⬇️
Yes, many of them were far-right, hooligans and other marginal crowds. Those people knew how to be violent. Such people as Belorussian nazi/Russian FSB graduate Sergei Korotkikh, were training them. But those were only a small part of the volunteer battalion movement.⬇️
Once a former Azov member told me: "Back then only we knew how to use force. Ukraine needed us. Now, that Ukraine already has a modern army, you will have to deal with us." I understood that every fight for independence that includes force will have backlash.⬇️
But most were just people, who couldn't see the "rebels"( as Western media like to call those proxies) ripping Ukrainian flags and putting Russian flags on our admin buildings. Georgians, Chechens, and other nationals who suffered from Russia joined the fight against Kremlin.⬇️
As it was never a fight against Donbas or civilians of Donbas who had other political opinions. It was a fight against the Kremlin's imperialism. Now many in Donbas are frightened by Russians that if Ukraine comes back it will put them all in jail. But that's a lie. ⬇️
Only Pushilin and other RUSSIANS messing with people's lives, torturing people in Izolatsia prison camp, killing Ukrainians, would be jailed. and they know it. That is why they want to mess things up even more. They earned so much money they bought the property in Dubai.⬇️
If there's war, they keep their power, earn money. And spend them in Russia or elsewhere. If there's no war, people start asking why the "republics" have been doing so poorly. ⬇️
Why did I decide to remind people of those events? As of today Russia really wants to start a full-scale war under the pretext of "Ukraine's attack". Not a single army would decide to attack the region protected by 150,000 Russian soldiers! It is just insane.⬇️
Russians have been even trying to say that Ukraine fired on the territory of the superior army while half of the Russian active forces were there!!! Please inspect the facts. and remember the history of this conflict that happened⬇️ because of the Kremlin propaganda.
Don't let the positive fleur the word "rebels" used by many Eng media to describe the Russian proxies to fool you. They took Donetsk and Luhansk people as hostages. they don't fight for freedom, but they fight to become a part of another state! END
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