TMR 281: Adeyinka Makinde: On the Ukraine Crisis 2022
For the second
interview in our short series on the Ukraine Crisis we are once again joined by
the lawyer, writer and university lecturer Adeyinka Makinde, who has appeared
on the programme several times in the past to speak on geopolitical matters.
In this
in-depth interview, recorded on 8 April 2022, Adeyinka Makinde draws upon his
considerable knowledge and understanding of military history and international
relations to share with us his perspective on the historical, political and
geographical conditions that he argues have led to the current Crisis.
Adeyinka
Makinde trained for the law as a barrister. He lectures in criminal law and
public law at a university in London and has an academic research interest in
intelligence & security matters. He is a contributor to a number of
websites for which he has written essays and commentaries on international
relations, politics and military history. He has served as a programme
consultant and provided expert commentary for BBC World Service Radio, China
Radio International and the Voice of Russia.
Of his past TMR
appearances, the following interview most helpfully provides further background
to some of the points discussed in this programme:
Canada has a
lot to answer for its role in training members of the neo-Nazi Ukrainian Azov
regiment which took the lead in prosecuting the war against the
Russian-speaking Ukrainians which Russia has labelled a "genocide"
given that between 11,000-14,000 civilians died in the 8 year-long conflict.
The
wolfsangel-insignia bearing military formation is not the only far right unit
to have been "absorbed" into the Ukrainian armed forces. Members of
fascistic, ultranationalist groups such as Pravy Sektor serve in the army and
indeed President Volodymyr Zelensky awarded the "Hero of Ukraine"
medal to a member of that group.
A Canadian
military delegation also trained one Ukrainian soldier who "sported the
crest of a Nazi SS unit from the Second World War".
This was in
2020.
Canada has also
supplied the Ukrainian military with weapons and equipment.
But the
"sins" of Canada do not end there.
Canada has a
blood-stained record in aiding the United States in a number of insalubrious
geostrategic endeavours through the decades.
Canada:
. Played a
significant role in the demise of Prime Minister Patrice Lumumba of Congo. Lt.
Colonel Jean Berthiaume, an infantry corps commander who served in the Congo as
Chief of Staff at ONUC (United Nations Operation in the Congo), helped deliver
Lumumba into the hands of his political enemies.Berthiaume told a journalist three decades
later how he tracked Lumumba after Lumumba escaped house arrest and was heading
for sanctuary in his political stronghold in the east of the Congo. Berthiaume
telephoned Colonel Joseph Mobutu to tell the army chief and future Head of
State that he knew where Lumumba was and where he would be tomorrow. He laid
out a plan to use Canadian-trained paratroopers to arrest Lumumba in a small
village which had a runway. Lumumba was arrested as planned and executed by
firing squad in February 1961.
. Trained many
of the soldiers who participated in the overthrow of President Kwame Nkrumah of
Ghana in February 1966. Soon after Nkrumah's overthrow, C.E. McGaughey, the
Canadian High Commissioner in Accra, wrote “a wonderful thing has happened for
the West in Ghana and Canada has played a worthy part.” McGaughey also noted
that “all the chief participants of the coup" were graduates of the
Canadian-led Junior Staff Officers training program at the Ghanaian Defence
College.
. Utilised
diplomatic manoeuvres and its Special Forces soldiers to bring about the
eventual overthrow of President Jean-Bertrand Aristide of Haiti in February
2004. In January/February of 2003, Canada organised an international gathering
titled the "Ottawa Initiative on Haiti" at which the foundations for
a coup in Haiti were laid. A year later, Canadian forces secured "key
locations" around Haiti including the airport at Port-au-Prince which
Canadian Special Forces occupied while their US counterparts kidnapped Aristide
and spirited him out of the country and into exile.
. Played a role
as part of the NATO member states who devastated Libya during the violent
overthrow of Colonel Muammar Gaddafi in 2011. During what they dubbed "Operation
Mobile", the Canadian air force gave air cover to Islamist proxies in
attacks on the Libyan national army, conducted bombing raids on Libyan
infrastructure and indulged in psychological warfare by broadcasting
anti-Gaddafi propaganda messages from a CP-140 Aurora maritime patrol aircraft.
It is an
unenviable record of which a great many people, even Canadian nationals, remain
unaware.
I had no idea that Jean-Paul Belmondo, the legendary
French actor, passed away last September at the age of eighty-eight.
The son of an Algerian Pied-Noir of Italian descent, he
had a brief but undefeated spell as an amateur boxer from 1949 to 1950.
I understand that he never lost his passion for the
sport. When he attended boxing events, he watched everything from the preliminaries
to the main event. He was friendly with boxers and gave them advice and
encouragement.
Belmondo played the role of a boxer in the 1963 movie
"Magnet of Doom". He also played a boxer turned World War I aviator
in "L'as des as", a fictionalised version of events in the life of
Georges Carpentier.
He was a prominent part of what came to be known as the
New Wave of French Cinema but was also a mainstream actor who imprinted his
unique screen persona into the consciousness of French film fans and international
audiences.
Belmondo was born on April 9th, 1933 and died on
September 6th, 2021.
Wreckage of a Ukrainian Mi8 helicopter shot
down by air defence systems manned by militiamen of the Russian-speaking
separatist Donetsk People's Republic (DPR)
The Russian
armed forces have essentially defeated the Ukrainian forces in this city on the
Azov Sea.
The battles
have been ferocious, but the Ukrainian forces which were led by the neo-Nazi
Azov Battalion have now retreated to a stronghold, the Steel Works Industrial
centre known as the Azovstal Iron and Steel Works where they are making a last
stand.
It is a massive
complex of great economic importance to Mariupol. I am sure that the Russians
will want to leave the plant intact rather than bomb it to ruins in order to
kill the Azov members. Therefore, they may opt to lay siege until the occupants
run out of food and supplies. Or they may enter the plant and destroy the
occupants via hand-to-hand fighting.
The Russians
are basically "mopping up" in Mariupol using a large-sized contingent
of Chechen forces. I have no doubt that the Azov soldiers are being ruthlessly
liquidated.
Please note
that although the Azov personnel are fanatical and dedicated fighters, they
have also used citizens of Mariupol as "human shields". They have
placed military equipment on top of buildings such as hospitals and they did
their utmost to prevent civilians from leaving the city. This has been
corroborated by audio-visual footage and in the Greek press by ethnic Greek
Ukrainian nationals.
Now, the
interesting thing is that a series of helicopter missions have headed to
Mariupol in recent days. These Mi8 helicopters have flown during the night at
low altitude in an attempt to evade radar.
In one incident
an approaching helicopter was shot down, and in another more recent incident,
two helicopters actually landed at the steelworks but were shot down when they
took off. One was destroyed while the other crash landed and two prisoners were
taken.
The downings of
the helicopters are reportedly the work of militiamen of the Russian-speaking
separatist Donetsk People's Republic (DPR).
There are
uncorroborated rumours that among those trapped at the steel works are NATO
military advisers. Different reports mention different nationalities such as
British, American, Polish and French.
It is worth
noting that military instructors from NATO countries including Britain were
among the dead after Russian precision missile strikes on military training
establishments in western Ukraine were carried out.
Another
uncorroborated rumour claims that French President Emmanuel Macron telephoned
President Vladimir Putin to "beg" Putin to allow French military
advisors "safe passage".
None of this
can presently be corroborated but the shooting down of helicopters headed to
the steelworks is true. There are gruesome photographs of the aftermath.
Among those
allegedly killed are the Azov Commander, Major Denys Prokopenko and the Deputy
Commander Lieutenant Svyatoslav Palamar (call sign Kalina).
The first
reports were that the helicopters were sent to evacuate the Azov military
leadership, which of course is plausible. In fact, it is the most likely
explanation.
However, the
uncorroborated rumours of attempts to rescue NATO military advisors adds a
fascinating dimension to a quite compelling war story.
