Moving Forward ... ?

"We have to admit that our life now is almost like ... a war. We have to cope with an aggression that we do not understand."
Ukrainian Foreign Minister Andrii Deschytsya

"[Lawlessness] now rules in eastern regions of Ukraine as a result of the actions of fighters of the so-called 'Right Sector', with the full connivance' of Ukraine's new authorities."
Russian Foreign Ministry

Ukrainians at a rally outside the parliament building in Kiev on the day Viktor Yanukovych reappeared in Russia, saying he was still the nation's president. Photograph: Louisa Gouliamaki/AFP

The Right Sector represents several far-right, nationalist factions. Their actions were the most violently radical and confrontational during the three-month-long demonstrations that took place in Kyiv. Which succeeded eventually in removing president Viktor Yanukovych from power, in a play that had him fleeing the capital for a safer haven in Crimea.

According to the Kremlin, Ukrainian officials at the border between the two countries have been turning back Russian citizens attempting to enter Ukraine. And in a sign of possible further aspirations, Ukrainian concerns that Russia might continue its friendly invasion into a brotherly country to take advantage of Russian sentiment running high in the east of Ukraine; it too might suddenly become incorporated into Russia.

Ukrainians hold a demonstration in support of a unified Ukraine in the Crimean city of Bakhchisaray. Photograph: Spencer Platt/Getty 
 
Purely to rescue the east from succumbing to utter lawlessness. Where the need to protect Russian and Russian-speaking civilians becomes a paramount duty of the Kremlin, responding to the urgency of the situation, in a purely honourable move to prove its reliability as a big brother to a neighbourly country in need of support. If east Ukraine and the Crimean peninsula are too cumbersome for Ukraine to manage, Russia is there to assist.

The United States too, is eager to help the situation mend itself to the satisfaction of all concerned. President Obama picked up his White House telephone to speak with Chinese President Xi Jinping. Bejing, after all, speaks continually of unwillingness to intervene in the affairs of other nations. And here is its veto-wielding Security Council partner playing the heavy in the affairs of a neighbour. President Xi will doubtless be unmoved, concentrating on neutrality. While appreciative of the effort.

Mikhail Khodorkovsky, whose immense wealth Vladimir Putin looted in payment for the insolence of challenging his power by an oligarch who didn't leave well enough alone and threatened to become too political, now freed from prison, speaks his mind: "The question of Crimea's fate is very painful both for Ukrainians and for Russians. It's not just a simple territorial dispute for some extra square kilometres."

As this Ukrainian-language map illustrates, Ukrainian and Russian share overlap with Surzhyk (Yellow – West: Russian: 3.1%, Surzhyk: 2.5%, Ukrainian: 94.4%; Yellow – center Russian: 24.2%; Surzhyk: 14.6%; Ukrainian: 61.2%; Bright green – east-center: Russian: 46.4% Surzhyk: 21.7% Ukrainian: 31.9%; Teal – east Russian: 86.8% Surzhyk: 9.6% Ukrainian: 3.7%; Teal – south Russian: 82.3%; Surzhyk: 12.4%; Ukrainian: 5.2%). Wikimedia 
 
No, it is not. It is fealty, loyalty to the Russian Federation that is at stake here. Along with President Putin's desire to actualize a new federation of states with himself at the helm of a powerful political-economic bloc to challenge the European Union and the United States. Consider this a counterpart to the past when President Kennedy panicked at the thought of the U.S.S.R. placing atomic weapons in the American bailiwick of Cuba.

What's panic for the goose is the same for the gander, with NATO and the U.S. planning missile silos in Ukraine. Vladimir Putin expressed his unease and anger often enough for the message to penetrate. The eagle assured the bear repeatedly that those silos were not pointed toward Moscow, but toward, let's see ... Tehran. It seems the bear withheld credulity. And sulking, nursed its grievance.