YEVGENIY SVERDLIK.
Courtesy photo
Yevgeniy Sverdlik has lived in the United States for most of his life, and he hasn’t seen Ukraine since 1996.
But Sverdlik was born and lived for a time in the region that is now embroiled in political strife, including the recent occupation of Crimea by Russian troops at the direction of Russian President Vladimir Putin.
Sverdlik, The Herald’s staff reporter from 2008 to 2009 before becoming a regional editor for DatacenterDynamics, a business networking firm, said he isn’t a Russian or Ukrainian history buff “by any stretch.” And he sees himself, culturally, as neither American or Ukrainian. “I’m a hybrid,” he said.
But he’s been watching the unfolding developments in the troubled area, and the news makes him “quite anxious.”
“I do still identify with that place to an extent,” Sverdlik, 32, said. “I also have many close relatives who live in Russia.”
While the Tatars, the natives of Crimea, “were deported wholesale out of Crimea by (Josef) Stalin” during World War II, Sverdlik said he has heard that the current Tatar minority in that semi-autonomous republic doesn’t want Crimea to become part of Russia.
“Today’s situation has everything to do with (Nikita) Khrushchev’s decision to ‘gift’ Crimea to Ukraine in 1954,” Sverdlik said.
Khruschev himself was born in a village near Ukraine, and had both Russian and Ukrainian ancestry. In 1954, he was the first secretary of the Communist Party of the Soviet Union and he later became the Soviet Union’s premier.
The Presidium of the Supreme Soviet of the Soviet Union issued a decree Feb. 19, 1954 that transferred Crimea to Ukraine. That document cited “the commonality of the economy (and) the proximity and close economic and cultural relations” between the Crimean region and the Ukrainian Soviet Socialist Republic.
“If that did not happen,” Sverdlik said, “Crimea would have been part of Russia today.”
The situation in that region of the world has been tense for months.
In November, Ukraine’s president, Viktor Yanukovich, rejected a trade agreement with the European Union and instead accepted $15 billion from Russia, sparking protests from those who favored stronger relations with the West.
Demonstrations, especially in Kyiv, Ukraine’s capital, escalated over the winter. Some observers blamed the country’s economy and government corruption for adding fuel to dissidents’ protests.
Sverdlik said the issues are linked. “Ukraine’s economy is in the dumpster because of out-of-control government corruption,” he said. “Yanukovich’s government was corrupt, and that has been the norm for governments that preceded him.”
Some Ukrainians protested in defiance of bans against such demonstrations. As the protests escalated, some people were killed in clashes with police. Police were killed, too.
Finally, Ukraine’s Parliament deposed Yanukovich Feb. 22, a move Russia has refused to acknowledge.
Yanukovich fled to Russia, and days later armed men raised a Russian flag over Crimea’s parliament. On Feb. 28, more armed men gained control of two of Crimea’s airports.
On March 1, Putin was given parliamentary approval to invade the region, a peninsula in Ukraine’s south that juts into the Black Sea. By March 4, Ukraine authorities said the Russian navy had blocked the strait between Crimea and Russia.
The next day, Russian authorities refused to withdraw troops from Crimea, calling them “self-defense forces.”
On Sunday, Crimea went to the polls in a referendum widely expected to result in a resounding vote of support for Russia and to return Crimea to Moscow’s control.
Sverdlik has his own opinion on the matter.
“To me, it simply looks like Putin wants Crimea,” he said.
“Another motivation may be to flex his muscle and show the U.S. and Western Europe who is really ‘running things’ in the territory of the former Soviet Union.”
Sverdlik said Putin is known to have called the unraveling of the Union of Soviet Socialist Republics “one of the world’s most horrible geopolitical disasters.”
But is Putin trying to restore or re-create the USSR? That, Sverdlik said, “is impossible to know for sure.”
On the other hand, he said he has seen no evidence that ethnic Russians in Crimea, “or anywhere else around Ukraine,” are being threatened.
“It is an imaginary threat, made up to justify the invasion,” he said. “Never in my life have I heard that Ukrainians had any hostile feelings toward Russians living there. Culturally speaking, they are the same people.”
He hasn’t been to Ukraine since 1996, so he can’t describe what the country is like today. But he reiterated that there is no difference between Russians and Ukrainians.
“They’re the same people who have the same dishes on the table during celebrations, say the same toasts, tell the same jokes and read the same books.
“The city I’m from, Khmelnitskiy, is in the western Ukraine. From what I remember, nearly everybody spoke Russian and being Russian or Ukrainian was a non-issue. Nobody ever spoke about the two as if they were different.”
Sverdlik said his own family “is a perfect example.” His mother was born and raised in Russia. His father is a Ukrainian Jew.
They met when both were working in St. Petersburg, Russia on an internship. “That they decided to live in Ukraine after getting married and not in Russia was a matter of purely practical circumstances,” Sverdlik said.
“I could very well have been born and raised in Russia had there been a slight difference in circumstances. I spent plenty of time in Russia when I was growing up, and it never felt like I was in a different country.”
He said when he sees Ukrainian television and one person speaks Ukrainian and another speaks Russian, “they understand each other, and the conversation is perfectly fluid.
“The idea that there are two kinds of Ukrainians has been completely made up, and is being pushed onto people by government propaganda for very specific purposes,” he said.
In fact, until 20 years ago, Russians and Ukrainians lived “in the same country,” he said.
But that doesn’t mean he believes Putin should send troops to Ukraine.
“Putin is not acting within his rights,” Sverdlik said. “To repeat what has been repeated over and over, Ukraine signed an agreement with Russia, U.S., U.K. (United Kingdom), China and France in 1994, exchanging what was the world’s third-largest nuclear arsenal for guarantees of its territorial integrity.
“Russian troops’ current presence in Crimea violates that agreement directly.”
Nor is he buying claims that the Russian military presence is designed to protect Russians living in Crimea or Ukraine.
“I’ve also not seen anybody produce a gram of evidence that 160,000 ethnic Russians have fled Ukraine to avoid persecution after Maidan,” he continued. Maidan, or Maidan Nezalezhnosti, “Independence Square,” is in the main square of Kyiv.
Since 1990 it has been the traditional place for political rallies, particularly those associated with the country’s independence movement. Beginning Nov. 21, 2013, it was the site of “Euromaidan,” a series of protests and demonstrations against Yanukovich.
Sverdlik said it’s important to remember that under the Soviet Union and until 20 years ago, Crimea, Russia and Ukraine were the same nation. “You could have been born in Kyiv but gone to work and settled in Kazakhstan, Belarus or any other of the 15 Soviet republics,” he said.
“If there was a ‘take-over,’ it was when Stalin shipped the bulk of Crimean Tatars out of Crimea.”
He has no problem with the demonstrations or the deposing of Yanukovich.
“I think a popular uprising that takes down a corrupt government is a great thing,” he said, but added that hard work lies ahead.
“Building a better government as a replacement is a huge and dirty job, and of course there are no guarantees that the new government will be better. After all, simply pushing a small group of people out of a huge government apparatus is not enough.”
Elections were due to take place in Ukraine in May, and Sverdlik said he saw no reason those elections shouldn’t take place.
He said his parents’ friends who still live in Ukraine have expressed hope for governmental stability.
“It’s not easy to work and make a living there, so any kind of big change is not welcome by people who are just trying to feed their families,” he said.
But Sverdlik no longer has any family left in Ukraine, and “I haven’t spoken to my family members in Russia since this started, so I don’t know what their thoughts are right now.”
What does he think the United States and other countries should do about the situation?
“Economic and diplomatic sanctions are all the U.S. can and should do,” Sverdlik said. “Russia’s economy has already taken a nosedive as a result of Putin’s actions.”
He said claims of an improved Russian economy are “supported by nothing more than rich energy resources” and have been one of Putin’s “few brittle pillars of his power.” He explained that sanctions from Western countries “can be a powerful force.”
He said the people of Crimea should decide their own fate, through a “lawful and orderly referendum,” and for that to happen Russia needs to pull its troops out.
“The government would need to give people on all sides of the argument enough time to make their case,” he said, adding that a few weeks is not enough time.
“And, crucially, there should be heavy presence of international observers watching to make sure the results of the referendum are real,” he said. “None of this is the case with the referendum that is currently on the books.”
Sverdlik said he “would never support any military intervention by the U.S.,” but he observed, “Russia is governed by macho madmen who will not hesitate before any level of escalation. It would be a disaster.”
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From the above post:
“And, crucially, there should be heavy presence of international observers watching to make sure the results of the referendum are real,”
Interesting comment, were the same “international observers” present when the duly elected government of Mr. Yanukovich was deposed by Neo-Nazi’s?
From the article below: more information for the community to consider…
LATEST REPORT: Crimea Referendum: 95 percent Vote for Union with Russia
Reports confirm that the referendum was conducted without incidents.
Foreign observers from several Western countries were present.
The head of the referendum commission, Mikhail Malyshev, confirmed at a news conference that the voting proceeded smoothly.
No complaints were filed suggesting voting irregularities. The counting of the vote has commenced at the level of district commissions.
The referendum does not in itself establish a union with Russia. It provides a mandate for the conduct of negotiations pertaining to the union between the Crimean government and the Russian Federation.
Fifty percent of the votes have already been counted [8.51 GMT]. The mood is one of celebration late into the night.
Public opinion in Crimea consider the government in Kiev as illegal, integrated by Ultra Right Wing Neo-Nazi elements. It should be mentioned that one of the first actions of the interim Ukrainian government was to abolish Russian as an official language.”
http://www.globalresearch.ca/latest-report-crimea-referendum-93-percent-of-exit-polls-confirm-vote-for-union-with-russia/5373711
How surprising that the vote turned out the way it did. Oh wait …
http://www.bbc.com/news/world-europe-26601487
More information on the voting process in the Crimea for the community to consider…
‘What the Western Media Won’t Tell You: Crimean Tatars and Ukrainians Also Voted to Join Russia’
‘According to the Washington Post, “a vote in favor of seceding” was inevitable because “ethnic Russians make up 60 percent of Crimea’s population”. But the result was not 60 percent in favor, it was 97 percent in favor, indicating that all major ethnic groups in the Crimea voted in favor of seceding from Ukraine.’
The figures do not add up: The Russians constitute 58 percent of Crimea’s population, yet 97 percent of the vote was in favor of joining Russia. If Ukrainians and Tatars had refused to participate in the referendum, voter participation would have been substantially less that 83.1.
The referendum was also a vote against the US-EU sponsored Coup d’etat.
http://www.globalresearch.ca/what-the-western-media-wont-tell-you-crimean-tatars-and-ukrainians-also-voted-to-join-russia/5373989
Accurate information for the community to consider …
http://www.theguardian.com/world/2014/mar/13/ukraine-uprising-fascist-coup-grassroots-movement
Beyond the media propaganda
From the above post:
Tension in Ukraine: Former Herald staffer: Russia invaded Crimea on flimsy pretext
Really? More information for the community to consider…
“In fact, for FY 2013, the State Department, for Ukraine alone, budgeted $54 million for “An Economic Support Fund,” $7.9 million for USAID, $4.1 million for “International Narcotics Control and Law Enforcement,” $1.9 million for “International Military Education and Training,” and $7 million for “Foreign Military Financing.” This is in addition to the $9.5 million that the NED budgeted for its “Central & Eastern Europe” programs in 2013, of which Ukraine is the number one priority. This amounts to at least $75 million of U.S. involvement in Ukraine, where the head of state was just overthrown as explicitly supported by the United States.”
Suppose also that you wake up one morning, say Wednesday (March 12, 2013), to the following headline in the New York Times: “Obama Team Debates How to Punish Russia.” This headline and story applies, bizarrely, to a situation where Team Obama was almost certainly involved on one level or another in the destabilization and overthrow of the democratically elected president of Ukraine, Viktor Yanukovych, and in the placement of the post-coup, de-facto head of state, Arseniy Yatsenyuk. In addition, President Obama, ahead of any country in Europe, invited the unelected post-coup head of state to the White House for consultations about matters which, for the most part, will no doubt remain secret. Under the circumstances, who should be threatening to punish whom? Yet the Russian government has refrained from issuing any such threats.”
http://www.commondreams.org/view/2014/03/14-6
http://nymag.com/daily/intelligencer/2014/03/pathetic-lives-of-putins-american-dupes.html
As always, our Will is totally wrong. A minor addition to the list of dupes.
Beyond the fawning corporate media–
Who Benefits From Ukraine’s Economic Crisis?
“The Neocons and Republicans have maneuvered the Obama administration into a box over the Ukraine crisis. If Obama comes down too strongly in terms of a military response, he loses the support of his liberal wing for the elections which already has turned against him in large part for his pro-corporate and pro-war policies to date. If he doesn’t come down hard with big financial commitments to the Ukraine, and is unwilling to implement significant economic sanctions, then the Republicans and political sociopaths like Senator John McCain in Congress will attack him severely. Based on his past history, Obama will likely try to ‘waffle’ between the two poles of pressure, satisfying neither before the November elections.”
“The response to the growing economic problems by the post-Coup government in Kiev will also prove critical. With its security forces now being led by proto-fascist elements that want above all a military conflict between the EU/USA and Russia, the great danger is that those proto-fascist forces may provoke a military conflict in an attempt to draw in NATO forces. Should that occur, then Ukraine’s economic crisis will be the least of its problems.”
http://www.counterpunch.org/2014/03/17/who-benefits-from-ukraines-economic-crisis/
Some reality for the community to consider …
http://www.theguardian.com/world/2014/mar/13/ukraine-uprising-fascist-coup-grassroots-movement
Will, you impugn reporting by the “corporate media” while citing official talking points of the Russian government. Globalresearch.ca, who?
Will is what a certain former Russian leader would call a “useful idiot.”
Beyond the corporate media propaganda–
From the above post:
Tension in Ukraine: Former Herald staffer: Russia invaded Crimea on flimsy pretext
Really? More information for the community to consider…
“Hey U.S. mass media journalists: A large number of you writing in outlets like CNN, Fox News, New York Times, and Washington Post have blood on your hands. It may initially sound exagerative, but you are complicit in mass murder. In the Nuremberg trial of the Nazi war criminals at the end of WW II, the prosecution powerfully argued that those journalists who use propaganda to prepare the public to accept war crimes are themselves also guilty of those crimes.”
“As the Nuremberg prosecutor stated: “The use made by the Nazi conspirators of psychological warfare is well known. Before each major aggression, with some few exceptions based on expediency, they initiated a press campaign calculated to weaken their victims and to prepare the German people psychologically for the attack….In the propaganda system of the Hitler State it was the daily press and the radio that were the most important weapons.¡±”
http://www.counterpunch.org/2014/03/19/why-us-journalists-have-blood-on-their-hands/
“It may initially sound exagerative (sic) … ”
Understatement of the century.
By the way, define “corporate media.” It seems to me the outlets you impugn are comprised of actual journalists, as opposed to angry and ill-informed dissidents in their pajamas in mom’s basement.
http://abcnews.go.com/International/wireStory/russian-propaganda-war-full-swing-ukraine-22923561
This is written by someone on the ground in the country in question. It is a reporter with years of experience, working for a highly respected, legitimate news organization. You insult him and readers with your blanket claims of some kind of agenda, simply because the AP is well known and “Counterpunch” eschews actual journalism. What do you say to that, Will?
Beyond the blowhards and the corporate media propaganda–
The above blogger believes the –Associated Press and its reporter Mr. Peter Leonard are reliable sources of information on the current crisis in the Ukraine.
The post below gives the above blogger and the community more to consider about these “reliable sources.”
“Herding the Media Sheep”
“AP Blasts “Russian Propaganda War” Over Ukraine”
” (Mr.)Leonard” ” …. is clearly not interested in engaging all the facts.”He wants to dismiss the serious accusations of neo-fascist involvement in the regime change and in the new cabinet as a “smear campaign.”
“Leonard is asking, in effect: how can anybody imagine that the government of Barack Obama would support a government in Ukraine including serious neo-Nazis? How can imagine that the shocking incidences of sniper fire preceding the transfer of power last month were in fact probably organized by the anti-Yanukovich opposition?”
“But the fact is: there are anti-Semitic neofascists in the group that seized power suddenly on Feb. 22, including four cabinet members in the Svoboda Party, to whom Leonard makes no reference. Instead Leonard pooh-poohs Russian concern about Right Sector storm troops aligned to the Svoboda neo-Nazis. (For what it’s worth, the World Jewish Congress designated Svoboda a “neo-Nazi” organization last May. They are probably not engaging in a mere “smear campaign.”)
Leonard states “For all the attention it has received, the [Right Sector] group has not been granted any posts in the new government and observers say it has little actual clout.”
“Pardon me? Two top members of the Right Sector—Andry Parubiy and Dmytro Yarosh—now hold the posts of director and deputy director of the National Security Council of Ukraine. They control the police.”
Read the rest of the article by professor Gary Leupp.
http://www.counterpunch.org/2014/03/19/ap-blasts-russian-propaganda-war-over-ukraine/
I knew you would post that piece of tripe. Also, I’m not a blogger.
http://www.pri.org/stories/2014-03-17/russia-claims-fascists-are-taking-control-ukraine-why-its-not-true
Again, you can believe the people on the ground — experts — or you can believe the ignorant grenade throwers.