Russia’s bloodless takeover of Ukraine
“Ukraine is being transformed into a Russian protectorate,” wrote Jeffrey Kuhner in the Washington Times on Thursday, warning that “Mr. Putin is erecting a Great Russian Empire.” He wrote,
Russia has become a rogue state. Mr. Putin’s aim is to make Moscow the center of an anti-American, anti-Western axis. Russia has waged a genocidal war in Chechnya. It has de facto annexed the Georgian provinces of South Ossetia and Abkhazia. It has reduced Belarus to an economic vassal. It menaces the Baltic States. Moscow asserts a sphere of influence in Central Asia and the Caucasus. It has sold vital missile and nuclear technology to Iran’s mullahs. It has close ties with Hugo Chavez’s Venezuela. Yet the Russian bear seeks an even bigger prize: Ukraine. … Mr. Putin understands that his imperial ambitions ultimately can be achieved only if Ukraine is subjugated.
Russia has feverishly worked to strengthen its influence over Ukraine in recent years, as the Trumpet has pointed out. The two nations have drawn closer with increased trade, an integrated transportation plan and talk of a merger between Russia’s gas giant Gazprom and Ukraine’s Naftogas. In April, Russia extended the lease on its naval base in Sevastopol for another 25 years. And Russia has also sought to win over the hearts of Ukrainian people using the influence of the Russian Orthodox Church and popular culture, such as the $20 million film adaptation of the novel Taras Bulba.
In April 2008, the Kommersant newspaper reported on a nato meeting during which Mr. Putin told former U.S. President George W. Bush: “You don’t understand, George, that Ukraine is not even a state. What is Ukraine? Part of its territories is Eastern Europe, but the greater part is a gift from us.” Clearly Mr. Putin sees Ukraine as already a part of Russia and even openly refers to it as “Little Russia.”
Since the election of President Viktor Yanukovych, Mr. Putin has had an even easier time solidifying his influence over Ukraine. Kuhner called Yanukovych “a Russophile thug” and “Mr. Putin’s poodle.” Last year, the Trumpetpredicted, “If Yanukovych wins the elections, it would amount to a bloodless takeover by Russia.”
We are now watching that come to pass.
“Ukraine is a sovereign country in name only,” wrote Kuhner. He called on America to take action and not turn a blind eye to the situation. “Ukraine’s descent into Putinism would be a tragedy of historical proportions,” he wrote.
Unfortunately for Ukraine, the U.S. will not take action because, as we’ve written before, the pride of its power has been broken! World events clearly reveal that we have entered into the terrifying period known in the Bible as the “times of the Gentiles” (Luke 21:24). Request our booklet Russia and China in Prophecy for more information.
