Ukraine's European Revolution?

[crazy canuck]

Sigh.

You picked this moment to hold back?

[Ed Anger]

Sigh.

You picked this moment to hold back?

I'm so very tired.

[derspiess]

2134 GMT: Independent media going off the air?

Ayder Muzhdabayev, deputy editor of Moskovsky Komsomolets, reported on Facebook 2 hours ago:

Urgent from Crimea

Armed divisions have seized the state television station (GTRK) of Crimea. All the staff have gathered together at the Crimean Tatar TV channel ATR, hundreds of others have come. They are waiting for the seizure. Several APCs have arrived. For now, they've passed by. They are also expected seizure of the building of the Crimean Tatar's Medjlis [Assembly]. People are already going there. Everyone is afraid of what will happen tonight. There it is.

Friends, colleagues, take care of yourself! Don't resist the military. God save Crimea!

I feel bad for the Tatars.  At least ethnic Ukrainians would have a Ukraine proper to retreat to if things got worse there.

[derspiess]

Sigh.

You picked this moment to hold back?

I'm so very tired.

Crash after too much cherry butter?

[Ed Anger]

Time to work on my nuklear RV some more.

*cue A-TEAM music*

[Queequeg]

I feel bad for the Tatars.  At least ethnic Ukrainians would have a Ukraine proper to retreat to if things got worse there.

Actually the situation for ethnic Tatars in either Russia or Ukraine isn't that bad.  They have religious and linguistic rights in both, and are generally pretty well integrated.  Rinat Akhmetov, maybe the most powerful oligarch in Ukraine, is an ethnic Tatar. 

Probably worth remembering that Muscovy began as an effectively binational Russian-Tatar state. 

[derspiess]

I guess Tatar fears are unsubstantiated, then

Wonder what Stalin Putin will do with the Crimean Tatars this time.

[jimmy olsen]

The Russian military isn't that Soviet Red Army, and the Ukraine isn't Georgia, if they resist it would a much longer more difficult conflict. Furthermore, such a conflict would cut off the flow of gas to Europe. It all comes down to whether they are willing to fight.

[Razgovory]

So is anyone going to do anything to stop the Russians?

[Jacob]

So is anyone going to do anything to stop the Russians?

Doubt it. Maybe the Ukrainians?

I think it mainly comes down to what Putin wants to do. It's his move and his sphere of influence. There'll be repercussions down the line, but they'll be in response to Putin's moves.

[jimmy olsen]

So is anyone going to do anything to stop the Russians?

If the Ukrainians fight it will probably spiral out of control, but they don't seem to want to.

[PDH]

So is anyone going to do anything to stop the Russians?

I'm not.

[DGuller]

So is anyone going to do anything to stop the Russians?

If the Ukrainians fight it will probably spiral out of control, but they don't seem to want to.

I don't know what the state of Ukrainian military preparedness is, but I'm having my doubts.  Countries that are nearly bankrupt tend to not have a very strong military.  Ironically, Ukraine is pretty much in the same position as Berkut was just a few weeks ago:  they either stand by and watch their enemy approach them, which means losing slowly, or they draw the line in the sand, put up a fight, and lose very quickly.

[Kleves]

President Barack Obama said Friday that "there will be costs to any military intervention in Ukraine," after Russian military forces reportedly entered that country's Crimea region.

"Any violation of Ukraine's sovereignty and territorial integrity would be deeply destabilizing," Obama said at the White House, saying the United States is "deeply concerned" about the reports of the Russian presence there.

"The Ukrainian people deserve the opportunity to determine their own future," he said, adding that interference would be "a clear violation of Russia's commitment to respect the independence and sovereignty and borders of Ukraine and international laws."

U.S. officials told NBC News that the costs could include a boycott of a G-8 meeting that Russia is to host and costs to Russia's economy.

U.S. officials confirm to NBC News that uniformed Russian forces are still entering Simferopol in Ukraine's Crimea region. While not able to confirm the numbers used by Ukraine officials -- 2,000 or more -- the officials say they have no reason to doubt the basic information that there are Russians arriving on Russian aircraft.

A U.S. official said that Obama would not have issued the warning if U.S. intelligence wasn't sure Russian forces have moved into Ukraine. But the official said Obama didn't want to be more specific to allow Russian President Vladimir Putin room to back down.

The Obama administration has repeatedly warned Russia not to inflame tensions in Ukraine by intervening in the volatile country.

Obama's remarks come after deposed Ukrainian president Viktor Yanukovych pledged to "keep fighting" the new leaders of the country. Yanukovych, who has resurfaced in Russia, blamed the West for "irresponsible policies" and "pandering to" to protesters who occupied Kiev.

House Speaker John Boehner said in a statement, "Both the administration and the European Union have a responsibility to work together to maximize the economic and political pressure on Russia to withdraw its troops."

Republican Majority Leader Eric Cantor said in a statement that there should be "sanctions against Russian individuals and entities who use force or interfere in Ukraine's domestic affairs."

That'll learn 'em.

[Kleves]

I only wish we had a leader perceptive enough to have reset relations with Russia before it was too late.