Putin’s plan to federalize Ukraine

Putin has failed to achieve the federalization of Ukraine through war. Now he wants to achieve it through peace. Putin's crony Viktor Medvedchuk (Vladimir Putin is the godfather of Medvedchuk's daughter Darina--Ed.) in his interview with (the Spanish daily) El Pais did not even attempt to hide Russia's plans regarding the Donbas and Ukraine. He spoke not about the implementation of the Minsk agreements but about the "spirit of Minsk." Of course, it is necessary to figure out what kind of spirit it is. The "spirit of Minsk" is a model for the coexistence of the Russian controlled regions of the Donbas with the rest of Ukraine. It consists of bringing in a new government into the "people's republics" with which (Ukrainians) could talk without being accused of dealing with militants. Medvedchuk calls this proposed new command for the Donbas a "temporary government," but it can turn out to be the first step in the transformation of Ukraine into a real federation. The scheme is very simple. The gangsters depart for Moscow and live there along with Azarov and Yanukovych. "Civilians" agreed to with Kyiv now govern Donetsk and Luhansk and receive their instructions from the FSB. However, the territory is officially Ukrainian and not only local elections take place there but also elections to the Verkhovna Rada. There is no need to fear -- Motorola (notorious Russian terrorist accused of war crimes in the Donbas -- Ed.) will not appear in Ukraine's parliament. The people who do appear will be well-known individuals from the recent past or simply gray inconspicuous clerks who were kept on hand for the next phase of the operation. The Opposition Bloc faction will easily grow to be so numerous that no coalition can be formed without it, and certainly not to change our Constitution. Just do the simple math: add to the existing faction the number of possible majoritarian deputies from the Donbas and the number of possible "proportional" deputies from the region. And keep in mind that against the background of economic problems the influence of the Opposition bloc in the east will grow. And there you have the leading faction of the Ukrainian parliament! After 2005 -- the year when Ukraine's democratic forces split and began their self-destructive fight -- there could easily be a repetition of 2006. And this means that what Putin was not be able to achieve through war he would achieve through peace. And tomorrow the naïve Ukrainian dreamers who believed that after snap parliamentary elections the new prime minister of the country would be no other than Mikheil Saakashvili, will discover with amazement that it is now Viktor Medvedchuk sitting in the the prime minister's chair.