In the 30's Moscow starved Ukraine of food, in 2006 Moscow shuts off the gas

By Aussiegirl

This editorial brings up an interesting point about a proposed Baltic pipeline, which Russia hopes to build in order to bypass transit through Ukrainian pipelines. This bears watching, although I have read in other sources that there may be a glitch in the plans as the pipeline must go through the Gulf of Finland, which is very narrow. Several of the Baltic countries and Finland are considering extending their territorial waters to 12 miles from the present 3 miles. In the narrow strait this would effectively prohibit the pipeline as it would be encroaching on sovereign territory. We'll keep an eye on this development. However, Germany appears chastened by the recent display of Putin's raw threats and appears unwilling to put all its energy eggs in the Russian basket.

KGB Tightens Screws on Ukraine The Brussels Journal

In the 1930s Russia robbed Ukraine of its food supplies. The Kremlin deliberately created a food shortage. Ukrainian grain was collected and stored in grain elevators that were guarded by the Soviet army and secret police units (the NKVD, the predecessor of the KGB) while Ukrainians were starving in the immediate area. The result of the man-made famine of 1932-33 was the death of 7 million people. The famine was instigated by the Russians to break the spirit of the Ukrainians and force them into collectivisation and submission to Moscow. “Let us do it again,” Vladimir Putin, a former officer of the KGB, the Soviet Gestapo, and a worthy successor to Josef Stalin, said today.

The criminals who ruled Russia under the Soviet regime, and who bankrupted not only their own country but the whole of Eastern Europe, are still in charge in Moscow.

It is easy to see what would have happened today if the gas pipeline that the Russians and Germans are planning to build on the Baltic seabed had already been completed. This pipeline, which is to be ready by 2010, will enable the Russians to deliver gas directly to Germany, bypassing all countries in between. It will allow Mr Putin to reassert Russian dominance over the whole of Eastern and Central Europe. It is time that the West sees Putin for what he really is: the new Stalin. If the Baltic pipeline gets built it will mean the end of freedom and democracy in Eastern Europe. Again the West, as it did earlier in Yalta, will have sold out the East to the Russian bear.

Today, January 1, 2006, Russia also takes over the chairmanship of the G8 group of industrial nations for the first time in history. This provides Mr Putin, the executioner of Ukraine, with an opportunity to emphasise Russia’s role in international affairs. Though the Russian economy is peanuts compared to those of the US, Canada, Japan, Germany, France, Britain and Italy, it has been admitted into the club of developed democracies because Russia has enough oil and gas to keep Western Europe supplied for years to come. Some US Senators have argued that Russia should not have been allowed in as a member. What is happening today shows that they are right.