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Russia has scored another propaganda victory in the war to re-take eastern Europe for the Russian Empire.
Western Media is repeating this new propaganda message, Nato Generals are repeating this propaganda message, even "senior aide's to President Obama" are using it to explain why Russia may not do what Obama has tried to explain to the Russians they should do.
The message is that the next military move into Ukraine by Russia is going to be for the purpose of protecting ethnic Russians in Moldova.
Washington Post Newspaper wrote:
In Brussels, U.S. Air Force Gen. Philip M. Breedlove, the commander of U.S. and NATO forces in Europe, said Russia had assembled a large force on Ukraine’s eastern border that could be planning to head for Moldova’s separatist Transnistria region, more than 300 miles away.
This propaganda is brilliant. Western government and military sources are actually repeating this propaganda, on and off the record, as if it would actually be the reason Russia would invade Ukraine from the North East.Guardian Newspaper wrote:
“There is absolutely sufficient force postured on the eastern border of Ukraine to run to Trans-Dniester ( region of Moldovia ) if the decision was made to do that,” said Breedlove, “and that is very worrisome.”
If Russia does invade and heads toward Central Ukraine, rather than heads toward the eastern, Russian speaking provinces of Ukraine, western media will be drawing lines on maps showing that Russia is merely trying to get to Northern Moldovia to "protect the Russian" minority there.
The whole idea is preposterous on it's face. Russia already has regular Russian armed forces in Moldova protecting the ethnic Russians there, from anyone who might get a sudden urge to torture ethnic Russians. If Russia really needed to attack Ukraine for the purpose of securing a land supply route to the Russian forces already in Moldova they could simply occupy the strip of Ukraine between the Black Sea and Moldova, which is pro-Russian, and only a few miles wide between the Russian troops already in Moldova and the Black Sea. Russia taking this narrow strip would be easy. Russian forces already ashore, and just north of the strip in Russian occupied Moldova, could attack form the north and Russian marines could attack from the sea on the south side of this narrow strip. The whole battlefield would be under the guns of the Russian Black Sea fleet and Russian aircraft based in Crimea. The Ukrainians would have much less chance of holding onto this narrow strip, than they had holding on to the Crimea. Odds are Ukraine would not even fight over this pro-Russian strip of land, but if they did it would be a short battle, and a decisive loss for the Ukrainians.
But Russia has already won this propaganda battle. If they invade Ukraine from the North East with a tank army and head West deep into Ukraine, rather than southeast toward the Russian speaking eastern provinces of Ukraine, western media will tell everyone it is perfectly understandable, Russia is just trying to save those poor persecuted Russians in Moldova.
So far Russia has been brilliant in their propaganda war. The western media is repeatedly telling everyone that the Ukrainian government came to power via a coup and the people of Crimea actually wanted Russia to invade and annex them.
Russia is truly on a roll.