Why Doesn’t Russia Hit Back at Ukraine’s Endless Slaps?

With the anti-ISIL war picking up steam, heinous terror attacks in Paris, Beirut, Bamako and the downing of the Russian planes in Egypt and Syria, global media have put Ukraine on the back burner. But it doesn’t mean the Ukrainian issue is defused. The Kiev regime has found a new joy – teasing the bear and emerging unscathed. Why is the bear so tolerant?

By Alexander Kravtsov

Something very strange happened on Sunday, November 22. Almost 2 million Crimeans woke up without electricity – extremists blew off power transmission line towers in Ukraine’s Kherson region that provided 70 percent of electricity to the peninsula. No one has officially blamed Kiev but this accident weirdly correlates with an economic blockade that was imposed by Ukraine against the breakaway peninsula. Coincidence? Barely!

Then comes Ukraine’s $3-billion debt to Russia. It had to be paid off this year, and inability to fulfill the contract would plunge Ukraine into an economic default, the country’s finance minister Natalie Jaresko admitted. So a couple of days ago Russia made concessions and agreed to postpone the repayment until the next year and suggested Ukraine should pay off each of the three billions over the period of 2016-2018, year by year. Great news for Ukraine? Nope, buddies! Its ‘genius historian’ PM Arseniy Yatsenyuk responded with… a demand that Russia scrap all of Ukraine’s debt once and for all! Otherwise, that “wise” statesman warned, Ukraine would put a moratorium on the repayment. So it simply means that the dude sitting on the Kiev throne since the Maidan coup is unwilling to cooperate in a business-like manner.

I don’t even mention such a “trifle” as Kiev’s ban on Russian airlines.

There’s another slap they have given to Moscow – endless yelps for gas price discounts. And they got them. At the same time both Ukrainian politicians and media have a very restless bee in their bonnet, demonizing Russia and making it look like a monster.

For example, expressing condolences to the victims of the Paris massacre in his Twitter, Yatsenyuk found a place in the tiny message to remind how Ukraine “suffered from Russian imperialism and terrorism.” Actually he devoted only five words to the French tragedy and 17 words to “the Russian aggression.” To put it in a nutshell, he simply exploited the attacks as a news hook to sting Russia again.

Україні болить страшна рана Франції.Саме з таким злом ми зіштовхнулися у2014,коли в наступ проти нас пішов російський імперіалізм і тероризм

— Arseniy Yatsenyuk (@Yatsenyuk_AP) November 15, 2015

And surprisingly for an outsider, Russia is modestly tolerating all these slaps from a EU- and NATO- wannabe.

In fact, Ukraine is dancing on a volcano. But why is Russia grinning and bearing it? Some Russians actually are very angry that the government agreed to help Ukraine out with debt and gas prices in the light of such ingratitude for kind treatment.

There’s a crystal and clear and unambiguous explanation. Nearly 50 percent of Ukrainians have relatives living in Russia, and there are millions of unbreakable family ties. Russia understands that if it responds to provocations and doesn’t make concessions to Ukraine, a lot of relatives of Russian citizens would be starving and freezing to death (as the Kiev ‘emperors’ will drop all economic burden onto their shoulders). So Russia is actually taking care of Ukrainian citizens more that their own regime.

The dogs are barking, but the caravan is moving on.

The approval rating of the Ukrainian leadership is sinking into the abyss, and soon Ukrainians themselves will wipe it out and hurl the Maidan power grab to the most distant, uncharted backwaters of history. Russia’s soft power will save people and preserve cross-border ties. The single Russian-Ukrainian nation, separated by an unnatural, artificial border, will reunite and live in peace again.

Disclaimer: the views and opinions contained in this article are those of the author. They do not necessarily represent the views of Russian Accent. 

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