Brutal Conflict in Ukraine

Again, so many things to write about that it's overwhelming, and here's a topic on which the US can't do a great deal about, though certainly more than we're doing now.  But, this video is so shocking and incredible that I became motivated enough to write about it.

In the Ukraine, a deal was in the works to tie Ukraine's economy more closely to the EU's, moving it further out of the 'Soviet' orbit.  The pro-Russian government led by President Viktor Yanukovych nixed the idea, probably both because he was personally against it and also because of pressure from Putin, trying to keep a hold on the old Soviet Republics.  Ukraine is probably one of the most important/strategic ex-Soviet Republic and would be a great loss to Russia for it to fall out of their sphere of influence. 

The cancellation of the economic agreement with the EU provoked a large protest from ethnic Ukrainians (as opposed to Russian-Ukrainians).  As many know, ethnic Ukrainians are primarily in the western part of the country and ethnic Russians are primarily in the eastern part of the country.  Wikipedia has a great article breaking down the demographics of the country.  As can be seen, ethnic Ukrainians still make up 77% of the population. 

I think the government was surprised by the ferocity of the protest against Yanukovych's move.  Protesters claimed central Kiev, taking control of the main square and many government buildings.  In so doing, we see effective use of the shield wall in modern times

Note that the combatants are relatively evenly matched in this photo, with the police having better equipment, but not decisively so.  So, long as the conflict is confined to clubs, shields, Molotov cocktails, and tear gas, the protesters can effectively fight the police.  However, as the video shows above, once firearms are brought into the conflict, the shield wall becomes useless.  But in the video, notice the bravery of the protesters.  They're being shot, their brothers are being maimed and killed, and still they move forward.  Would we have that kind of bravery in America?  I don't know.

NBC news has a good article on what has been happening, though it doesn't talk about the causes of the conflict much.

This morning, Fox news reports Yanukovych has fled Kiev for the Eastern/Russian part of Ukraine. 

This shows that Stalin's brutal ethnic cleansing of Ukrainians from the eastern part of Ukraine has paid off, as we wouldn't even be having this discussion, this conflict wouldn't even be happening, if he hadn't done this, along with displacement of local populations and replacement with Russians all over the Soviet Republics. 

Meanwhile, another brutal conflict is kicking into high gear in the Western Hemisphere, but since it includes Obama's socialist buddies, the bootlicking media is silent.

Addendum:
The excellent website War Is Boring analyzes how this protest movement succeeded.  I think their final paragraph had the main reason:

But if there’s anything that tipped the balance, at least for now, it’s the protesters’ willingness to fight. “I’m ready to fight for my human rights and my country, and the better life of my country,” a women’s brigade fighter told Al Jazeera. “Even to death.”

Not being intimidated and showing the bravery they showed in the video above showed they couldn't be cowed.  That's been the difference, at least so far.