Russian forces storm Ukraine bases in Crimea and residents of Donetsk take to the streets calling for a vote to join Russia; cruise missile threat to USA?

Donetsk Rally (Andrew Butko)

Russia is pushing Ukrainian forces out of Crimea, while many in Donetsk call for chance to vote to join Russia:

March 22, 2014

KYIV — Pro-Russian forces have stormed a Ukrainian air force base in Crimea, firing shots and smashing through gates and walls with armored vehicles.

The troops broke into the Belbek air base facing no apparent resistance from Ukrainian troops, some of whom sang the Ukrainian national anthem during the incident.

Ukrainian defense officials says at least one person was wounded.

Earlier Saturday, Russian forces issued an ultimatum for Ukrainian troops at the base to surrender. The Belbek base outside the Black Sea port city of Sevastopol has been one of the largest holdouts of Ukrainian military forces in Crimea.

The Belbek air base shares facilities with Sevastopol’s international airport. Russia also has a large naval base in Sevastopol.

Also Saturday, Ukrainian troops abandoned a military base in Novofedorovka, north of Sevastopol, after Russian soldiers forced their way into the facility. Witnesses say the Ukrainians tried to repel the Russians with smoke bombs before leaving the base.

Russian forces have been seizing Ukrainian military bases and warships in Crimea as Russia finalizes its annexation of the strategic peninsula. Ukrainian troops have offered minimal resistance thus far.

With Russia’s takeover of Crimea peninsula nearly complete, Reuters is reporting that westernn diplomats are converging on Kyiv, where, a day after the interim government leaders signed a political alignment pact with the European Union, German Foreign Minister Frank-Walter Steinmeir accused Russian of attempting once again to divide Europe between East and West.

“It contradicts what we have experienced for decades,” Steinmeir said. “We cannot accept this situation, cannot allow bloodshed again.”

OSCE mission

Russia’s Foreign Ministry has expressed the hope that dispatching to Ukraine a 200-member team of the Organization for Security and Cooperation in Europe will help ease tensions. However, the ministry rejects any talk of the monitors entering Crimea, the Ukrainian peninsula that Russia has now annexed.

The U.S. chief envoy to the OSCE, Daniel Baer, says the mission should have access to Crimea because the rest of the world still recognizes it as Ukrainian territory.

Three months of anti-government rallies in Ukraine, in which more than 100 people died, prompted President Viktor Yanukovych to flee his country. An interim government has been appointed with elections scheduled for May 25th.

The prime minister of that government, Arseniy Yatsenyuk, won praise Saturday from U.N. Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon for pushing reconciliation at a time many Ukrainians are feeling anger and frustration.

“I’m confident that with such a strong support of international community which you are receiving and under your leadership, as well as courageous people, you will be able to overcome this difficult time,” he said.

The secretary-general added that direct dialogue between Kyiv and Moscow is critical to reducing the current tensions.

However, there is no indication of that occurring any time soon.

In eastern Ukraine, meanwhile, thousands of residents of the city of Donetsk took to the streets Saturday, demanding a chance to vote, as people in Crimea did in a refendum {sic} a week ago (3/16), to break away from Ukraine and become part of Russia.

Among those in the region who want to keep Ukrainian sovereignty, there are fears that at any time the Russian military could move across the border and occupy Ukrainian territory, as it did in Crimea.

Not only is Ukraine losing territory to Russia; its eastward-dependent trade relationship with Moscow also is in danger.

The interim government is moving quickly to work on a trade agreement with the European Union to transform Ukraine’s economy, which has been hobbled by decades of corruption and political upheaval.

If such a pact with the EU is to become a reality, Ukraine’s commissioner for European integration, Valery Pyatnytsky, says there is a need for action on comprehensive economic changes, not just more promises from the country’s political leaders.

“Not to declare the fight with corruption, not to declare the rules of law, not to declare the other values with European Union. Not declare [what] we would like to be, but to be,” said Pyatnytsky.

Ukraine’s 45 million people live on rich agricultural land and the country has a large industrial base, yet the nation is considered the poorest in Eastern Europe.

Russian President Vladimir Putin signed a law Friday completing the annexation of Crimea. The law recognizes parliament’s approval of a referendum by Crimeans on breaking away from Ukraine. http://www.voanews.com/content/russia-backs-osce-in-ukraine-not-crimea/1876873.html

Russia is moving forward with its plans and Vladimir Putin is taking steps to make his hoped for Eurasian Union a reality. I am certain that he would as much of Ukraine as he can get (he wants all of it), and must be pleased that Donetsk wants to vote to join Russia.

The USA still is concerned about what is happening:

March 22, 2014

Obama going to Europe…

White House officials say the situation in Ukraine will be “front and center” during President Barack Obama’s trip to Europe in the coming week…

Also on President Obama’s European schedule is a nuclear security summit with more than 50 other countries, including Russia.

Rice says the United States has every interest in continuing to cooperate with Russia on this issue, which she calls a pillar of the Obama national security policy – making it harder for terrorists to get their hands on nuclear materials. http://www.voanews.com/content/russia-backs-osce-in-ukraine-not-crimea/1876873.html

As far as USA national security, notice the following that a reader sent me:

The United States is puzzling over how to block cruise missiles that theoretically could be launched from the Gulf of Mexico, even after throwing some of its most advanced technologies at the problem. Russia and Iran have been cited as possible threats that might, at some point, lurk in the waters just off U.S. shores…

But none of these systems were designed for cruise-missile defense,” Kingston Reif, an analyst with the Center for Arms Control and Nonproliferation, said in an e-mail. Cruise missiles can be particularly challenging to defend against, as they can be more difficult than aircraft to detect on radar and are sometimes tricky to shoot down, according to military experts. http://www.nationaljournal.com/global-security-newswire/could-the-u-s-face-a-cruise-missile-threat-from-the-gulf-of-mexico-20140321

While I do not consider that Russia itself would want to launch one or cruise missiles against the USA, Russia has dropped a fairly public hint that it could turn the USA into ashes (see Russian nuclear threat against USA, Crimea, EU, and WWIII). But that is mainly ‘bravado’ for show.

A more likely scenario would be for Iran (an ally of Russia) to directly or indirectly launch a cruise missile with an electromagnetic pulse (emp) weapon and greatly affect the USA. While Iran would not win an all-out war against the USA, the USA could be affected more than most seem to understand. Iran, itself, would not do well (see also Iran in Prophecy).

Getting back to Ukraine, the current crisis is dramatically showing the Europeans that the USA does not want to militarily engage Russia. This also is showing that the Europeans that if they want to defend hoped for European Union countries like Ukraine, and even actual European Union countries, that Europe needs to have a stronger, more independent, military. Europe has taken some steps and will take more steps in the future (see, for example, Revelation 13:4, Daniel 11:39-43, and European Technology and the Beast of Revelation).

Many in Ukraine are scared and frightened and need our prayers. While many seem to be placing their hope in the European Union, that will not turn out well according to many biblical prophecies (e.g. Revelation 18-19).

Some items of possibly related interest may include:

Russia and Ukraine: Their Origins and Prophesied Future Where do the Russians come from? What about those in the Ukraine? What is prophesied for Russia and its allies? What will they do to the Europeans that supported the Beast in the end?
Ukraine in Prophecy? What is happening in Ukraine? What is known and what is unsure about its future? What is the origin of those who live in Ukraine? What does the Bible teach about the role of the Medes in the end times? Will Ukraine split? Why might part of Ukraine end up in the European Union? Why might part of Ukraine end up in the Eurasian Union? Is war in the prophesied future for Ukraine? What is the ultimate destiny for nearly all Ukrainians?
The Eurasian Union, the Kings of the East, and Bible Prophecy Is there a Eurasian union that will be formed? Is one being formed right now? Are any leaders working on that in the 21st century? Does the Bible teach that there will be a Eurasian union? If some type of Eurasian union is formed, who might it benefit and who will it destroy? A related video would be Is The Eurasian Union Rising?
Is Russia the King of the North? Some claim it is. But what does the Bible teach? Here is a link to a video, also titled Is Russia the King of the North?
Europa, the Beast, and Revelation Where did Europe get its name? What might Europe have to do with the Book of Revelation? What about “the Beast”? Is an emerging European power “the daughter of Babylon”? What is ahead for Europe? Here is a link to a video titled: Can You Prove that the Beast to Come is European?
Who is the King of the North? Is there one? Do biblical and Roman Catholic prophecies for the Great Monarch point to the same leader? Should he be followed? Who will be the King of the North discussed in Daniel 11? Is a nuclear attack prophesied to happen to the English-speaking peoples of the United States, Great Britain, Canada, Australia, and New Zealand? When do the 1335 days, 1290 days, and 1260 days (the time, times, and half a time) of Daniel 12 begin? When does the Bible show that economic collapse will affect the United States? In the Spanish language check out ¿Quién es el Rey del Norte? Here is a link to a video titled: The Future King of the North.
Iran in Prophecy Is Iran in Bible prophecy? If so, what does the Bible teach? What names, other than Persia, may be used to describe Iran? There is also a YouTube video titled Iran in Prophecy. Here is a related video Iran In Prophecy.
Prophecies of Barack Obama? Reasons why Barack Obama is apocalyptic and reasons why Barack Obama is not the Antichrist. This article includes many biblical and non-biblical prophecies, from around the world, that seem to discuss Barack Obama. Did Nostradamus predict Barack Obama dealing with the Antichrist? Might Barack Obama set the stage for the kings of the North and South as at least one Shiite prophecy suggests? Read it and decide for yourself if President Obama seems to be fulfilling various prophecies. Watch also the YouTube Barack Obama and the State of the Apocalypse.