Quote Originally Posted by Crocodile View Post
I think you missed the point Strelkov was trying to convey. He said that the government was pro-Ukrainian and not the pro-people, so to speak. Nothing surprizing in that, eh? Prior to the referendum taking place, the government had to vote to make it legitimate. That is when the 'pro-people' militia had to virtually force the government to come and vote for the referendum. And the fact that the people were 'listened to' was due to the Russian military presence. So, the people were finally able to cast their vote for something they could not for 20 years. It is very important what was asked. If the referendum was to either to stay with Ukraine or to stay with Ukraine, the turn about would be somewhat 30% as usual.

So, what is so outrageous in what Strelkov had 'admitted'? The only fact he admitted was that the Crimean government was as anti-people as in the rest of Ukraine. And if the Ukrainian government would have dared to ask the very same question in the other Russian-speaking regions, the people's answer would most likely be the same. But, unfortunately, Ukrainian government backed up by the police and the army made sure the people would not be asked. Why are you so surprised?
"His latest appearance was on the Neuromir.tv network ‘Political Ring’ talkshow debating another extreme nationalist, Nikolai Starikov, co-chair of the Great Fatherland Party. When Starikov claimed that all the security organs and government in Crimea supported the people there in breaking away from Ukraine and joining Russia, Girkin laughed a bit and said ‘Have you actually been to Crimea during the referendum? Well I have. I have been there since 21 February. What you are describing here is absolute nonsense. There were no policemen who supported our side at that time. The only law enforcement unit that joined our ranks back then was Berkut. The rest of the law enforcement agencies remained under control of Ukrainian Ministry of Internal Affairs, and kept carrying out their orders. Yes, sometimes they were sabotaging these orders, but all in all they were under Ukrainian control. I didn’t see any support from official government representatives in Simferopol. Our troops had to force the deputies into the Oblast Council hall so that these representatives would vote in favor of our initiatives. I know this because I was at the time commanding one such militant teams and I saw it all from the inside. We had absolutely no support from the people, not to mention the army. The Ukrainian army units remained loyal to Kyiv as they were. Furthermore, most of the army remained that way. The only thing that made what we have accomplished in Crimea possible was the presence of Russian army.’

You distort the facts. He conceded they forced opposition to vote for their initiatives. They used guns to get their own way, more or less. They got rid of any pro-Ukrainian media and only had pro-Kremlin media. They had media that fabricated stories and used disinfo. This was not a just and democratic referendum. I'm against the current Kiev government (I hope they vote in someone else and NOT any of the more known names and parties.). But, to be perfectly honest, the 'referendum' in Crimea was a farce and just like Girkin conceded 'he fired the first shot' previously, he's also saying that they forced the referendum to obtain their objective. Whether the previous government didn't want to vote or vote for them or not, the point is that they held people up at gun point to get their desired goal. Yet, they claimed everyone wanted to be part of Russia. Well, we'll see for how long as Russia's running out of funds.