The next Ukrainian President? The hysterical Savchenko.
Savchenko, who joined the Ukrainian Army at the age of 16, served as a volunteer for the notorious Aidar battalion in the war in the Donbass. Aidar is funded by the oligarch Ihor Kolomoyskyi and stands accused by Amnesty International of being involved in widespread abuses, including abductions, unlawful detention, ill-treatment, theft, extortion, and possible executions. Amnesty accused the Aidar battalion of committing war crimes.
The fact Savchenko actively sought out violent ultra-nationalists who have terrorised people in the Donbass gives us a sense of this woman's character and some insight into her bizarre behaviour, from the day she was captured, until the day she strode back into Kiev, promising to kill again.
Savchenko was found guilty of providing coordinates for shelling which killed the journalists, along with several civilians. In the media spectacle covering her release, two innocent journalists, whose murders left families heartbroken, seem to have been forgotten. Certainly Savchenko with her deranged and obnoxious antics mocks their memory.
In a typical display of selective outrage, top European diplomats and politicians and US officials ridiculed the trial, calling it politically motivated. The facts are she was tried in a legitimate court under Russian law and sentenced accordingly.
The person who actually treated justice with contempt is Savchenko herself. During the trial she made obscene gestures to judges, ranted and raved in the dock, pulled faces, slouched around, laughed and giggled and then as the judge was reading out the verdict, broke into a raucous rendition of the Ukrainian national anthem. Is she insane, or so full of hate she can't control herself? She treated the court with a contempt that was only surpassed by her obvious irrational hatred of Russia.
One may think her bizarre courtroom antics were designed to bring into question her sanity, although she objected to psychological examination. Perhaps it was designed to embarrass Russia and draw focus to the allegations of this being a show trial.
Her nutty, over the top behaviour after her release and the intensity of her hatred shows that her courtroom behaviour was par for the course. She is the real deal: a modern day Ukrainian Nazi of the type supported by Western powers, with hatred running through every fiber of her being.
Back in Kiev and greeted like a hero, Ukraine's version of Joan of Arc put on a performance for the spellbound media befitting a rabid Russian-hating ultra-nationalist.
Standing before the assembled media, Savchenko ranted like a lunatic, virtually frothing at the mouth, jumping out of her skin to return to the front lines and embark on a killing spree.
One would think that Savchenko would show some dignity, exercise restraint, and make conciliatory gestures to peace, knowing full well she is idolized and thus a voice of influence (but not reason) in Ukraine.
The war in the Donbass is entering its third year, fighting is escalating, people in Donbass are experiencing a humanitarian crisis, Ukraine is in disarray, Europe fumbles around for a solution and the conflict is a major driver of Russia/US tensions which have led to US-imposed anti-Russia sanctions, unjust, unwarranted and hurting all of Europe. So what does Savchenko do? Throw some fuel on the fire.
If Savchenko's behaviour in the Russian court was disturbing in its overt manifestation, at her press conference with Petro Poroshenko she really came into her own. Standing next to the chocolate king himself, Savchenko looked totally unhinged, and in good company. The Saker has already commented, saying "she looks like a rabid pit-bull on a mix [of] LSD and crack cocaine."
Savchenko looks like a woman with hatred infesting her soul. Even watching from a computer screen many miles away in total anonymity, one felt a slight churning of the stomach.
Watching this woman internally visualising her unbridled lust for violence, I wondered, who does she have in mind? Is she thinking about her hatred of Putin, plotting and relishing revenge? Or was she focused closer to home, at Ukraine's president, standing just a few metres away?
Poroshenko, looking to be on his last legs, may be having ideas of exploiting Savchenko in an effort to lift his sagging fortunes on the back of her ridiculous 'war heroine' status. However, her extremism is far more likely to find kindred spirits in the neo-Nazi Right Sector and their extremist allies than any phony Western-imposed neoliberal democracy. Savchenko is a product of the violent nationalist element in Ukraine, and it seems she has returned intent on causing mayhem.
Only two years after the farce of the Maidan protests that opened the way for the looting of Ukraine by the West and the rise of the fascists, we now have the threat of Maidan 2. Poroshenko's miserably low popularity figures will hardly insulate him from a fresh wave of neo-Nazi-led violence. He may find himself running from the neo-Nazi mobs next, if not Savchenko herself.
So stand by for Savchenko to be held up as a symbol of what is great about Ukraine: a nationalist, a patriot, proudly striking down Russian "invaders" in 2016, just as in their deluded world the patriots resisted Russian "invaders" in WWll. Savchenko is now a symbol of the far right. Her agenda will be to lead the charge to tear Minsk 2 to shreds and mount a huge concerted assault on the Donbass. She has already been elected a member of parliament in 2014 while bunking in her Russian prison bed, and now she is back in Ukraine there is talk of her running for the presidency. Be still my beating heart! What a hoot that would be!
What will happen if the neo-Nazis have their way and Minsk 2 is abandoned in favor of a full-on assault to destroy the people, then retake the Donbass? As they say, they want the land not the people. Could this provoke Russia to intervene to save ethnic Russians in the east, a real humanitarian intervention, unlike the fake US ones?
For your sake, Ukraine, I would advise against pushing Russia to the point of having to intervene. Because if Russia did, it would be very short, very bloody, very humiliating and very quickly Russian tanks would be cruising across Maidan square, a sight that would send any Banderite scurrying for cover. Pavel Shipilin, quoting the expert opinion of military observer Andrei Vadzhra, says Russia would occupy Kiev in 24 hours if it launched an actual invasion.
That this woman is held in high esteem in the West illustrates the West is rotten to the core, fast approaching the point of no return. It is Russia, once again excelling in diplomacy and promoting peace, that we may have to rely on to pull us back from the brink.
Som think there is the possibility Savchenko will go or be sent to the front on purpose" "Zakharchenko: Kiev Can Send Savchenko to Donbass Specifically to Kill Her " [Link]
Savchenko is one indication coming from Kiev in recent days, and here is another:
"Poroshenko Pick of Ex-NATO Chief as Adviser Likely to Inflame Ukraine" [Link] And another article:
"Ex-NATO Chief Rasmussen is now Poroshenko's new advisor"
[Link] Reading the comments on the last page gives an indication of the steering of the situation.
Here is another article:
"Poroshenko appoints former NATO chief Rasmussen ‘non-staff adviser’"
[Link]
The last article has a list of foreign advisers working in Ukraine, the latest appointment is just one of many.
And news from the front line which will probably be warmly supported by the new advisor to the president: "Thousands of Right Sector’s foreign mercenaries pulled to borders with Lugansk People Republic" [Link] [Link]