Dictating The Message

"We need to use the United Nations Security Council and believe that preserving law and order in today's complex and turbulent world is one of the few ways to keep international relations from sliding into chaos. The law is still the law and we must follow it whether we like it or not. Under current international law, force is permitted only in self-defence or by the decision of the Security Council. Anything else is unacceptable under the United Nations Charter and would constitute an act of aggression."
Russian President Vladimir Putin, September 2013 op-ed, The New York Times

Ivan Sekretarev / The Associated Press -- Russian soldiers in standoff with Colonel Yuri Mamchuk, commander, Ukrainian garrison, Belbek airbase

"Just because I work here, for RT, doesn't mean I don't have editorial independence and I can't stress enough how strongly I am against any military intervention in sovereign nations' affairs. What Russia did is wrong. "
"[Not knowing as] much as I should about Ukraine's history and the cultural dynamics of the region, but I do know that military intervention is never the answer."
Abby Martin, U.S.-born Russia Today anchor, Kremlin-funded RT television station

Russia Today host Abby Martin speaks out against Russian military action in Ukraine. Photo: YouTube

It remains to be seen how long California-born, principled and bold Abby Martin will be working for RT. Soon after her editorial statement, station authorities issued an explanatory press release: "In her comment Ms. Martin also noted that she does not possess a deep knowledge of reality of the situation in Crimea. As such we'll be sending her to Crimea to give her an opportunity to make up her own mind from the epicentre of the story." Sound ominous?

Early on Tuesday morning, the 204th Ukrainian tactical aviation brigade marched behind their chief, Colonel Yuri Mamchuk, hoisting aloft their regimental colours along with a Ukrainian flag. Their purpose: to reclaim the airbase at Belbek from which they had been evicted last week by Russian forces and volunteers sympathetic to Russian possession of a Ukrainian airbase in a show of force and entitlement.

They meant to secure the weapons magazine at the base, for which they were responsible. They are, after all, proud professionals, loyal to their country. Refused entry, they were there for five hours in a standoff, tense and depressing. The Ukrainians were unarmed, patient, waiting for permission to enter their own base, some ten kilometres north of Sevastopol.

They waited. Before that, they sang the national anthem as they approached the Belbek airbase, and they sang as they waited for entry. Russian troops fired warning shots at their initial approach. The Ukrainian airmen waited. The Ukrainian airmen sang patriotic songs. Possibly as much to encourage themselves, as to deliver a message to those within supporting Russian aggression against their country.

Finally Col. Mamchuk was given the opportunity to engage in a round of negotiations with his Russian counterpart. That is to say, a Russian airman who -- according to President Putin, who had chided U.S. President Barack Obama for his unseemly haste intending to mount an offensive against Syrian President Bashar al-Assad's killing machine -- wasn't really present in Ukraine, only "Russian sympathizers".

Then another round of talks meant to lead to an agreement for the Ukrainian airmen to enter their own airbase, courtesy of their 'brothers', the Russians. "They say if we stay 'til after midday they're going to shoot us in the legs. But they haven't yet", Colonel Mamchuk finally revealed to his waiting men.

Finally, at two in the afternoon, the Russian commander  and another man identifying himself as a "self-defence volunteer" emerged, accompanied by yet another seven "self-defence volunteers", in masquerade as balaclava-wearing thugs, to inform Col. Mamchuk his requests were denied. One of the Ukrainian officers spat his own response: "Bloody gopniks" (low-life hooligans).

As the Ukrainians formed up once again, they did an about-face, marching back the way they had come, without singing.

"Why don't you take a look at the post-Soviet states. There are many uniforms there that are similar. You can go to a store and buy any kind of uniform", challenged Vladimir Putin, while denying that any Russian troops were actively present in Crimea.



A Russian soldier armed with a machine gun watches the Ukrainian troop