There is a lot of fuss in media about
new
military prowess of Russia and Russian
“polite people”,
succeeded in silent and
bloodless
occupation of the Crimea. There a lot of
explanations how they managed to do this
–
from Russian TV propaganda, what is Russia' a psychological weapon, inducing in
psychoses local population to cutting communications with Kiev and
psychological unpreparedness of the Ukrainian military to kill the Russians.
All of this make sense. But there is one more detail, which was not mentioned.
As the
Russian video report
( made to celebrate Russia's new military prowess) demonstrates there is a reason to consider
that the Russians used the non-lethal chemical weapons while seizing administrative
buildings and Ukrainian military bases. Video shows that while capturing Ukrainian soldiers in their
military barracks some of Russian gunmen were wearing respirators. What for? And why the Ukrainian military were so
passive and easy to manage?
If this happened during their first operation this explains a
psychological shock which was caused by this not only to the Ukrainian military, but to the Ukrainian
authorities as well to prevent them from active measures. Also this should shape the public opinion at
the beginning of intervention about Ukraine as a country, which did not oppose
to the invasion of Crimea and to stifle the criticism of the West.
The video shows that when approaching the building the Russian
spetznaz brought inside some heavy equipment. What kind of equipment this could
be?
Another
video
from teh surveillance cameras at Council of Ministers building shows
that before the capturing of the building the chemical substance was infused
inside. The people on the video are absolutely passive without any sign of
neither shock, nor fear - just apathy.
In such case is this a sign of prowess or just the use of the non-lethal chemical weapons for manipulating of people's minds to incapacitate the
from performing their duties.
Putin's use of non-lethal chemical weapons
Putin has well-known
record of using
non-lethal chemical weapons during the
Moscow theater
hostage crisis for seizure of the
crowded Dubrovka Theater on 23 October 2002:
On October 26, 2002, approximately 50
Chechen separatist guerrillas took over a Moscow theater, holding about 750
people hostage. The hostage-takers were well
armed with automatic weapons and grenades, and the females were wired with high
explosives. They demanded the withdrawal of Russian troops from Chechnya, and
threatened to kill the hostages and themselves if their demand was not met. The
Russian government refused to negotiate. On the 28th, Russian special forces
troops stormed the theater, first
releasing a potent narcotic (a derivative of the opiate anesthetic fentanyl)
into the ventilation system. When the troops burst into the main hall, they
found the hostages and hostage-takers in a coma. The unconscious Chechens were all shot dead at point blank range, and
the hostages were rushed to hospitals. In the end, approximately 125 hostages
died of overdose; the rest--more than 600--survived. A number of the survivors
are likely to have permanent disability. Opiate overdose causes respiratory
depression that can starve the brain of oxygen, causing permanent brain damage
when prolonged.
Last year Russia was accused of
supporting the Syrian ally Bashar Assad, who used imported earlier from Russia
chemical weapons for the massive killing of his own people. This became
damaging for
Putin's
reputation and he produced a U-turn by offering to convince Assad to
scrap the chemical weapons. This rescued Assad from the US attack, promised by
Obama for the chemical weapons use as a “red line” in his Syria politics and
elevated Putin's reputation. Later for this move Putin was
nominated (or
rather orchestrated this nomination) for the Noble Prize.
At the
beginning of April, an Israeli security source confirmed that the Assad regime
had used a non-lethal chemical weapon at the end of March on the outskirts of
Damascus. The source said he could confirm claims made by Syrian rebels and
doctors last month that a substance had been used on rebel fighters in Harasta,
an outlying region of the Syrian capital, adding that the chemical “neutralizes [threats] but does not kill.”
The
ban includes employees who have access to state secrets - parts of the military
and the police, the Federal Drug Control Agency, the Federal Migration Service,
Federal Penalty Service and certain employees of the Foreign Ministry.
According to estimates, they are around 250 000 people.
The goal of the measure, according to
LifeNews.ru is to prevent leaks of secret information to foreign intelligence
agencies who could use it to penetrate Russia.
Exceptions would be made in “exceptional circumstances” and for “good reason”. The duration of the ban is
yet unclear, which for the time being is for an indefinite period.
It seems that the use of the
chemical weapons is the secret. which Russia would like to hide, especially
after Putin's revelation at his press-conference at 17th of April that the silent “polite people”, who seized Crimea without any
shooting in fact were Russian special forces.
It looks like Putin was so proud for himself that he couldn't wait to
identify those legendary “green men” as the Russian spetznaz.
This means that the same chemical
weapons are used at the East of Ukraine – in Donetsk and other places,
where the same Russian spetznaz has seized and continue to seize administrative
buildings in the same “silent and polite” way.
“Doping of Hitler” for separatists
This is not the only use of
psycho-chemicals in Putin's
“hybrid warfare
” against Ukraine. There is
an information that inside Donetsk state administration building there
is a
laboratory,
where a special substance - pervetin is produced every day and night. Later it
is served to the rebels
– many of whom
are criminals and drug addicts. This substance
is known as a
“power drug”, which
“reduces fatigue, heighten aggression, and diminish human
warmth and empathy
”.
As pervitin was used by Nazi's troops for
making soldiers to fight longer and more fiercely it is styled the
“doping of
Hitler”. A pharmacologist
from the German Doctors' Association explains :
"The
blitzkrieg was fueled by Pervitin. The idea was to turn ordinary soldiers,
sailors and airmen into automatons capable of superhuman performance."
It seems Putin decided to actualize
Hitler's secret weapon. It is not surprising that Hodorkovsky, visiting
recently Ukraine, was not allowed to enter the Donetsk state administration
building. As one of higher ups of the
rebels
informed him:
“There are patriots there and
they are attuned for everything
”.
In February there was the
information on the Russian spetsnaz, which lived in a resort near Kiev during the Maidan, was getting some
special tea from their higher ups, not from resort as mentioned those, who
worked there. Some observers consider that this was the same spetznaz, who
killed Maidan activists later in February.
One of captured in Donetsk separatists recognized that he was working in
Kiev during the deadly shootings of Maidan.
Diplomatic dopings and incapacitants
Every result achieved in a war
should be consolidated in diplomatic agreements. This is just another
battlefield in Putin's hybrid war. One could notice that Sergey Lavrov does
whatever he can to prolong the talks.
And it seems at the end of the talks he is not exhausted like other
participants, but an opposite
– he looks even more refreshed
than at the beginning. Journalists noticed that Lavrov often leaves the
negotiations room for a smoke. - as
often as some journalists
suggested that it is damaging for the superpower status,
for wh ich Russia aspires. This could
be just a sign of extra-agitation. Otherwise nobody knows what Lavrov smokes. It is known the result: super diplomat always obtains what
he wants, leaving the opponents confused.
Supposedly Lavrov is using a kind of
power drug, designed or adjusted in the Kremlin's secret laboratories.
Nanotechnologies have got a special boost in Russia lately, but without visible
results. Also Moscow made its policy to invite the
scientists, whose
experiments are prohibited in their own countries or to use the results of
their work.
The wearing-out strategy itself is
enough to win over the exhausted partners during the talks. But after the
latest diplomatic victories it seems that Lavrov could use not only a doping
drug for himself, but a kind of sedative for his partners, what should make
them more understanding. Just a capsule in his pocket is enough to achieve the
result. The challenge here is to not overdo with the final result of the talks
to remain credible.
The diplomatic practice shows that
Putin himself used to utilize some
special effects
during the negotiations and doesn't have any psychological barriers to this.
Moreover, such practice makes part of his basic skills as a former KGB
agent. Putin not only doesn't downplay
his FSB affiliation, but emphasizes how proud he is about it.
Hostages and enemies
The use of such psycho-chemicals can
not only break a resistance, but make people more prone to manipulation. We
could see that just a couple of days
spent as a hostage in Sloveansk made
mayor Shtepa to change her mind from accusing
separatists to thanking them and Putin for annexing Crimea.
International military observers,
captured lately by the Russian terrorists, also pointed out that they are not
hostages, but guests of the“new Mayor of Slovensk”.
With the help of his straw men Putin
can use any special substances against his opponents like the Ukrainian power,
which behaves very strangely lately.
It's behavior is far from rational, rather it could be rationalized
later.
The
sane technology can be used against the border patrols to
access the country
despite the introduced earlier ban etc.
It seems that this war advanced new
and not experienced before challenges, which should be acknowledged and faced.
If the world is to survive. This challenges demonstrate also how far Putin is
prepared to go to achieve his goal for world domination.
Irina Severin
