By Terrell Jermaine
Starr
Not only is
Russian President Vladimir Putin stealing land from Ukraine, he’s kidnapped a
Ukrainian from that stolen territory and is prosecuting her — in Russia — for
daring to challenge his theft.
Ukrainian pilot Nadiya Savchenko is the latest
demonstration of just how far Putin will go to humiliate Ukraine in his quest
to pull former Soviet states into his “sphere of influence.” While it’s
doubtful Savchenko’s trial will motivate the West to punish the Kremlin,
Putin’s actions show the world that there is no limit to how low he will go to
flex his geopolitical will over weaker nations he feels should buck to his “near abroad” foreign
policy.
Savchenko stands accused of murder after allegedly targeting two Russian
journalists during a military operation in eastern Ukraine in June 2014.
Russian authorities claim Savchenko illegally crossed the border after
committing the alleged murders. Savchenko denies killing the men. And she says
she has an alibi that Putin’s allies ought to be aware of: She alleges that she
was kidnapped in Ukraine before the reporters were killed and transported into
Russian territory by force. Ukraine, along with the United States and several
other nations, has accused Russia of politicizing the two journalists’ deaths
to punish Ukraine for refusing to accept its illegal occupation.
Which is exactly what it’s doing. Savchenko’s trial is
just another form of bullying a weaker foe into submission.
What is particularly concerning about her case is that
it was Putin’s aggression that placed her in legal jeopardy in the first place.
In 2013, former Ukrainian president Viktor Yanukovych backed out of signing a critical
European Union trade pact, at the last minute, after the Kremlin threatened to cut off gas supplies to Kiev if the
deal went through. Instead, Moscow pressed Kiev to join its Eurasian
Union, an economic pact of other post-Soviet nations it hoped could compete
with the E.U. Ukrainians protested in response, eventually forcing Yanukovych
to flee to Russia. Rebels in eastern Ukraine responded to Kiev’s new leadership
with armed resistance that was soon backed by Russian arms and troops, who
crossed the border in large numbers but without any official insignia on their uniforms.
Volunteer paramilitary regiments formed to support Ukraine’s under-resourced
and outmanned military. Savchenko was one of the thousands of Ukrainians who joined them.
Though Savchenko’s prosecution portrays her as a murderer, she is nothing more
than the victim of Putin’s latest version of a show trial — yet another
throwback to the Soviet era for the former KGB officer. Then, show trials were
used to evoke fear in the population in case anyone ever thought of challenging
the regime. The crime, which was usually made up, was never the point. Soviet
authorities simply needed faces to plaster across their state-owned newspapers
so that citizens could be reminded of what happens to people who are accused of
defying them — even if it was widely believed the accused were innocent.
Savchenko’s case is no different. She’s an object
lesson designed to evoke fear in any Ukrainian who dares to fight against the
Russian-dominated reality in their country. This particular show trial is even
more fraught, because Savchenko is viewed in Ukraine as a symbol of Russian
resistance; Ukrainian president Petro Poroshenko awarded her the title
“Hero of Ukraine” last year. What better way to deal a psychological blow to
Ukraine than by humiliating her?
Putin is no less brutal to his own people.
Ask Mikhail Khodorkovsky, a former Russian billionaire
and oil tycoon who was jailed for 10 years in what many believed was a show trial after
the businessman started financing Putin’s political opponents. Then there is
Alexei Navalny, who has been jailed countless times on trumped-up charges after challenging Putin’s power. After Russian liberals protested
the 2011 parliamentary elections for nearly two years, the Duma, dominated by
Putin’s United Russia Party, passed stiff anti-protest laws that fine violators more than
$28,000 and up to five years of forced labor.
Ukrainians are calling on leaders in the West to
maintain pressure on Moscow. Some countries seem to be listening. At least 57
European Union lawmakers have called for personal sanctions against
Russian officials — including Putin — over Savchenko’s trial, including
property forfeitures, asset freezes and visa bans. Such a move would finally
show Putin that his attempts at playing de facto president over sovereign
nations whose internal conflicts he starts and then manipulates don’t go
unnoticed.
Savchenko is not unique. Anyone could have ended up in
her predicament, which makes her case even more terrifying. When Putin uses hybrid warfare like he does
in Ukraine, it is easy to pluck random people out of the chaos that results and
use them as propaganda tools. This time, it just happened to be Savchenko.
Putin took advantage of decades-old ethnic tensions in eastern Ukraine, where a
Russian majority has long felt marginalized, simply to advance his political
agenda; he pulled an already struggling nation down to near-collapse in the
process.
But shaming the Kremlin likely wouldn’t do much good
anyway, as Putin seems incorrigible. He is even attempting to threaten the
Baltic states, which are NATO members and could, unlike Ukraine, respond with
the force of the world’s leading military alliance. Lithuania reports that
Russian fighter jet incursions in Baltic airspace increased by 14 percent
last year. Putin is fear-mongering there, but his actions reveal how petulantly
he reacts to neighbors whom, unlike Ukraine, he can’t invade for fear of
military retribution.
Nadiya Savchenko’s verdict is expected to be announced
any day now. Russia’s faux legal system and propaganda-driven media will likely
declare her inevitable guilty verdict as a sign of justice. But everyone will
still know the true purpose: utter psychological terror. He wants Ukrainians to
feel that anyone who dares to challenge him could end up in a cage just like
Savchenko. Such behavior should be a clear sign to the rest of the world of how
Putin would treat others if he had the chance.
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