Stephen Lendman

Israel Backs Far-Right Coup in Ukraine. The
government of Israeli prime minister Benjamin
Netanyahu is backing the fascist-led putsch that
ousted Ukraines elected pro-Russian president,
Viktor Yanukovych...

On Tuesday, Simferopol snipers shot and killed a Crimean self-defense member and Ukrainian soldier. Another self-defense member and Ukrainian soldier were wounded. Gunfire came from a building under construction. It's near a military research center. What happened resembled Euromaidan sniper killings. Fascist thugs bore full responsibility. Kiev putschists apparently target Crimea. Expect similar incidents to follow. More on what happened below.

On Monday, Putin endorsed Crimean independence. He did so by decree. On Tuesday, he signed the Crimean reunification treaty. Expect overwhelming State Duma and Federation Council approval. On March 19, Russia's Constitutional Court chairman Valery Zorkin said: "The Constitutional Court recognizes that the Treaty corresponds to the Russian Constitution." Crimeans are going home.

Washington and rogue EU partners responded as expected. Slap-on-the-wrist sanctions were imposed. Russian and Crimean officials were targeted. So was Ukraine's legitimate president, Viktor Yanukovych.

Russian Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov denounced Western sanctions. He called them "unacceptable." A Russian Foreign Ministry statement said: Republic of Crimea "residents made their democratic choice in line with the international law and the UN charter, which Russia accepts and respects." "The sanctions introduced by the United States and the European Union are unacceptable and will not remain without consequences." White House press secretary Jay Carney warned "(m)ore (are) coming." He left unexplained what's intended.

Daily Beast contributor Josh Rogan suggested Russia intends sanctioning high-profile US senators, congressmen and administration officials. Perhaps Assistant Secretary of State for European and Eurasian Affairs Victoria Nuland is targeted. She's a neocon hardliner. She was Obama's point person in charge of ousting democratically elected Viktor Yanukovych. She helped replace him with illegitimate fascist, ultranationalist putschist governance. Vice President Joe Biden wrongfully accused Russia of a "brazen military incursion." None whatever occurred.

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Mahdi Darius Nazemroaya

Why does Western media ignore critical information about the snipers that killed Euromaidan protesters in Ukraine?

Support it or oppose it, a coup d’état took place in Kiev after an EU-brokered agreement was signed by the Ukrainian government and the mainstream opposition on Feb. 21. The agreement called for power sharing between both sides through the formation of a national unity government and for an end to the opposition-led street protests in Kiev. President Viktor Yanukovych ordered the Ukrainian police and security forces to withdraw from their positions, and even earlier, he had made multiple concessions to the opposition leadership.

Instead of keeping its end of the bargain, the Ukrainian mainstream opposition executed a coup through the use of violence by organized ultra-nationalist gangs, which some analysts have compared to stay-behinds or secretive militias that were created by NATO during the Cold War.

These armed ultra-nationalist groups took over administrative bodies in Ukraine and fought until they managed to oust the Ukrainian government and opened the path for opposition leaders to take power on Feb. 25. The Ukrainian mainstream opposition used the EU-brokered agreement, which the Brussels-based European Commission deliberately refused to enforce, as a means of justifying the formation of a coup-imposed government.

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