The questions about the legitimacy of the new Ukraine government in the eyes of its people grew. The Ukrainian army took control of the Kramatorsk airfield yesterday and proceeded to move into the city. However, it was surrounded by civilian protestors, who engaged the troops in debate. After the debate, six groups of Ukrainian soldiers switched sides to the opposition.
Six Ukrainian military vehicles in Kramatorsk actually switched sides and began flying Russian flags on Wednesday.
Later a report emerged that three more Ukrainian armored vehicles had switched sides in the Donetsk Region. The vehicles came to the center of Slavyansk, took down their Ukrainian flags and handed their weapons to self-defense squads.
“We decided not to be at war with the people and not to defend authorities like this,” members of the crews explained to RIA Novosti.
All of this is documented in video in RT.
This is corroborated by the Kyiv Post and other news organizations covering the developments.
The Kyiv Post's journalists on the ground are reporting that Ukrainian troops, surrounded by civilians and pro-Russian insurgents in Kramatorsk, began flying a Russian flag after speaking with the self-proclaimed mayor of Sloviansk.
After defecting, the troops traveled in armored personnel carriers together with Kremlin-backed soldiers with no military insignia to Sloviansk, which is 15 kilometers north of Kramatorsk. A video shows a tank also in the city of Kramatorsk together with the APCs.
This was also picked up by Expresso TV, Der Spigel, and the Guardian.
From the same Kyiv Post link, NATO has increased its military presence in Eastern Europe in response to the crisis.
NATO Secretary General Anders Fogh Rasmussen announced on April 16 that NATO will bolster its military presence along its eastern border in response to the destabilization of Russian-backed separatist movements in eastern Ukraine.
Rasmussen said in a statement that NATO would begin strengthening its eastern border immediately with "more planes in the air, more ships in the water, more readiness on the land."
He said that "air policing aircraft will fly more sorties over the Baltic region. Allied ships will deploy to the Baltic Sea, the Eastern Mediterranean and elsewhere, as required. Military staff from Allied nations will deploy to enhance our preparedness, training and exercises. Our defence plans will be reviewed and reinforced."
But American expressions of solidarity with Ukraine are premature given the recent developments as well as our own history. Most European powers wanted to weaken England and France wanted to avenge its loss in the French and Indian War in 1763. But they did not want to support our country militarily until we could prove that we had legitimacy in the eyes of our people and we proved the ability to defend ourselves. When the Battle of Saratoga happened, that opened the floodgates for European aid and turned the tide of the war in our favor.
But Ukraine, like the US in 1776, is short of money to pay its troops.
There has been a lot of noise in the social media over lack of food and other products in Ukrainian military units being deployed for anti-terrorist action. Massive criticism led to the previous acting Defense Minister Igor Tenyukh's resignation on March 25.
And investors are reluctant to finance war bonds.
Two-year bonds will be placed twice: Hr 1 billion and Hr 100 million, both with a 7 percent interest rate. State-owned Oshchadbank will sell the securities to both institutional investors and the general public.
However, analysts do not foresee great demand for those bonds as, for instance, government 70-days bonds have 9.95 interest rate and thus provide a substantially greater return. “Money will not be raised,” said Dragon Capital fixed income sales Sergiy Fursa. The local bond market is experiencing some hard times and friendly state-owned banks purchase most of the government securities, he added.
And the people being sent to retake Eastern Ukraine, as the RT story notes, have no military training, are barely 18-20 years old, and yet are being expected to defend their country. Russian special forces may or may not be in East Ukraine stirring up trouble, but the recent developments in East Ukraine have much more popular support than is commonly believed. Two recent polls purported to show massive support for one Ukraine, yet they do not tell the whole story. They did not ask the respondents about federalization, which is one of the key demands of Russia. If the polls had asked that question, they would have gotten a much different response.
Therefore, the Ukrainian government has nothing to gain from blaming Russia for its problems. Their first task has to be to earn the allegiance of all its people, not just the western half. Should they fail, then they would topple and there would be a power vacuum that would lead to civil war. That is in nobody's interest.