You are right that rising ultra-nationalism Ukraine doesn't exist though, the presidential polls proved that, where the far right only got 2% of the vote.
That's because an ultra-nationalistic Lyashko got most of it (12%). Mind you, that was a presidential poll and many citizens voted for the candidate that they want to win.
Think about what? eyewitness account from both sides - the police, and the protesters were clear that the only ones shooting were the Berkut on the roof tops
Here's an interview with a Berkut serviceman, now fighting on the side of Kiev in ATO: http://korrespondent.net/ukrai... He denies that there were snipers behind the Berkut lines. You might also note that the investigation of the shooting went exactly nowhere.
Also a philosophical observation - the West supports ANYONE who declares support for the West. Without even looking who they are. Are you a cannibal ultra-nazi mass murderer but declaring the support of the West? Fine, you're in! That attitude has already lead us to Libya, Iraq and Syria becoming one big total mess.
1) Anything contradicting your prejudices is propaganda.
2) Propaganda is always false.
3) Rising ultra-nationalism in Ukraine doesn't exist.
4) Everything put out there by blind copying of Ukrainian media is obviously true.
Have I missed anything?
Not really, I just remember what actually happened which is that Western countries were not happy with Yanukovych's Berkut puppets shooting from rooftops at regular police and protesters alike to try and provoke a violent confrontation
You're the one who said 'agent-provocateurs', aren't you? Do you know that the trees with bullet holes from snipers were cut down and burned by the no-longer-protesters 3 days after the shooting? Think about it.
Won't you be just a little bit passionate about the country where you've lived for years? Especially if you think that it is sliding towards a full-scale nazism?
One simple fact remains, EU supported a coup against a democracticaly-elected president.
You're muddling the story. After the Crimea takeover (which I don't support, btw) people in the East started capturing local administrative building. This tactic had been successful with the Maidan protesters, they captured most of the Western administrations (torturing and beating at least one governor) before the fall of Yanukovich.
Just as a note, I think that Yanukovich should be hanged on the same tree branch with Poroshenko, Yatsenuk and Turchinov.
Oh, really? Here's a photo for you: http://news.bbcimg.co.uk/media... ( http://www.bbc.com/news/world-... ). The very first proposed law of the post-Maidan parliament was a repeal of law forbidding the denial of nazi crimes. Then the law removing the special status of the Russian language.
Sorry, but while Maidan was not a classic neo-nazi, by the end it was definitely nationalistic and anti-Russian. I had been there at the very start (and I donated more than $5k to help protesters) but had to leave for two months. When I returned, everything was different.
Dude, do you know that inciting ethnic or racial strife is a _felony_ in Russia? Punishable by up to 8 years in prison, at that. There are also 25 official state languages and something like 200 different ethnicities. Russia is nowhere close to a fascist state.
It IS an authoritarian state with a de-fact dictator and dysfunctional court system. And also with an energe-export economy which is leading to nowhere (you can guess that I don't like Putin). But that's beside the point right now.
Also a thought, the new Ukrainian slogan: "Hail to Ukraine! Hail to Heroes!" is taken DIRECTLY from the WWII. From the nazi-allied Ukrainian forces that had committed multiple war crimes against Poles and had zero effect on the regular USSR army. Kinda fits the situation today.
I'm curious, how can you comment these kinds of videos: https://www.youtube.com/watch?... - the Ukrainian soldiers say that local citizens in the 'liberated' areas call them 'fascists' or 'ukrops'. They are sincerely baffled that they are not, in fact, greeted as heroes by the people in the East.
The maps show important several divergences, like separated Lugansk and Donetsk (in reality they never were). Or the lack of clashes away from the rebel-controlled area.
If the BBC maps are copied from the official military intelligence then it's no wonder that rebels don't have trouble encircling Ukrainian military.
Well both referendums were verifiably rigged, the Crimea one where the real results were accidentally posted publicly coupled with impossible numbers
Oh, who cares. We have a number, after all. It's so obviously true! It's as true as CNN polls!
Yes, absolutely, because the anecdote of a pro-Russian individual does still not somehow override the thoughts and opinions of the majority that are widely publicised.
So basically, it's called Wikireality. Nice. Do you understand that you've just channeled our dear beloved mister Goebbels? "If you repeat a lie often enough, people will believe it, and you will even come to believe it yourself".
Ah, so you share Putin's paranoia that the Ukrainian revolution happened because of the West, rather than the actual fact of the matter than for the third fucking time the Ukrainians tried to make it clear to Russia that they do not want to be part of Russia
Yeah, and diplomatic help of the West also helped. Do you remember the shitstorm that the Western countries started when Yanukovich passed the laws banning weapons from demonstrations?
I don't watch RT or any other TV channel. I quite purposefully read only blogs - from both sides. And only one side is sane right now, guess which one. Mind you, these roles were completely reversed in the first months of the Maidan revolution.
About the invasion: "It's quite hard to prove the Russian involvement" - words of OSCE monitor about the "Russian invasion". But don't take my words, look it up: http://www.bbc.co.uk/russian/r...
Let me translate your comment: "LALALALA Russia is bad LALALALA". So if other countries openly celebrate SS members as heroes then it's OK, but Russia pointing that out is fascism?
Does that help? My pro-rebels posts are getting downvoted all the time. Since it's against the groupthink here. Often simply the ones that provide the data for other points of view. So why bother logging in?
Actually, 'vatnik' is originally what the 'exalted' Western parts of Ukraine liked to call the 'unwashed' Eastern citizens. After all, they spend all the time in those ugly vatniks instead of nice designer clothes.
"Kill [ethnic slur for Russians] with knives" and "The ones not jumping are [ethnic slur for Russians]'.
Oh, and they also scream: "Hang Russians on tree branches" (at 0:25). Just to show how Ukraine develops deep mutual appreciation and tolerance in a multi-cultural society from the very young age.
This time around there is no excuse for not knowing the truth. Last time you could claim you did not know because you were lied to. This time you have to actively put the fingers in your ears and shout LALALALA. And that's what you do.
It's so fucking hilarious... One side in this conflict _literally_ has a party with self-confessed anti-Semite, who is supported by people with official "Ukraine for Ukrainians" ideology and the other party is basically a run-of-the-mill rebels simply wishing to live separately. And the latter party are fascists.
What can I say, nice brainwashing job, Western media. Congrats.
So, one has to speak russian to understand this conflict? Really?
Yes. Really. Otherwise you won't get even a part of the context.
Do you know how deep the rift between the West and East of the Ukraine is? Just watch this video: https://www.youtube.com/watch?... - school children in the West of Ukraine are chanting "Kill [ethnic slur for Russians] with knives" and "The ones not jumping are [ethnic slur for Russians]'.
Have you heard about anything like this in the Western media? I bet not. Have you heard about the war crimes of Ukrainian army (a proud tradition, starting from the WWII)? Ditto. Have you heard the "joke" about the "time and inspiration"?
- is a genus of political ideology whose mythic core in its various permutations is a palingenetic form of populist ultranationalism
Check. The official ideology is "Ukraine for Ukrainians".
- is a form of political behavior marked by obsessive preoccupation with community decline, humiliation, or victimhood and by compensatory cults of unity, energy, and purity
Check. The whole Western Ukrainian narrative is filled with it.
- abandons democratic liberties and pursues with redemptive violence and without ethical or legal restraints goals of internal cleansing and external expansion
Check. Ukraine now censors TV and Internet to prevent non-state-controlled news. Mass gatherings are forbidden - if the current laws were in force in January then Yanukovich could have jailed all of the Maidan protesters. Or simply shot them (just last week a new law had been enacted that allows police and army to shoot suspected rebels without warning shots).
Techies who speak English can read news outside of Ukraine or work around the filters. Most people can't. Besides, Internet is not a very popular news source in Ukraine. It even trails the newspapers.
Whereas a handful of protestors standing in front of a Ukrainian APC couldn't possibly be? It's obvious that wide scale polls are fabricated but small scale actions aren't? This is your problem - you have lost all sense of proportionality and rationality.
So how about the overwhelming majority of the citizens choosing independence in a referendum? Is it any more valid than a poll?
You still really struggled with scale don't you? I know humans have an inherent problem imagining large numbers, but most people are capable of telling the difference between tens and hundreds, and hundreds of thousands. It seems you are not.
There are many thousands rebels now fighting the Ukrainian army. And winning. I think it's your sense of proportion that is off.
You love Putin and believe everything he says? Why am I not surprised. Oh wait, you think that posting something in Russian somehow makes your argument more valid
So you don't speak Russian or Ukrainian and you are not in Ukraine. I'd been living in Ukraine since 2004 until June 22 of this year and I still own a company there, its ID number is 36003074. Feel free to check it using any database (like http://www.ua-region.info/3600... ). I've traveled all over the country and I know lots of people there.
Do you claim to know situation any better?
How is having plurality of viewpoints as bad as having one viewpoint?
There is no plurality in Ukrainian media. It's all controlled by Kiev. All the opposition channels are blocked. But that's OK, censorship is fine if it's pro-European. Right?
Look I get it, you're from a pro-Russian background, and you love Russia, that's fine. Most Ukrainians no longer do however, most Ukrainians just want to be left the fuck alone to grow their country in a way that all their neighbours except Russia have
And except the EU. And China. And the US. Well, on the plus side, Nigeria probably did leave Ukraine the fuck alone.
Why, because they're inconvenient for your pro-Putin lies? What about the City.am one which stems from a neutral Ukrainian polling outfit before it all kicked off? I guess that was so inconvenient you couldn't even address it?
No, because they are biased and/or simply fabricated.
You know that repeating yourself doesn't make something true right? As I said, hundreds, some of whom are legit, but others who are agent provocateurs does not equate to popular support.
So just like the Maidan uprising?
I was there yesterday and everyone told me they hate Putin and it's all his fault. Last night on the phone Putin even told me it's his fault. See how that works?
Ya ne veru v eto. Seychas Kramatorsk controliruetsa vojakami is kieva, tak chto zhiteli boyatsa za svoi zhizni i govorat to, chto nuzhno. Ili ischezaut. Pokazat video togo, kak pravij sektor izbivaet ludej?
So what was the excuse last time the Ukrainians liberated Mariupol because the populace helped kick the Russian's out?
Nobody kicked rebels out, they simply pulled orderly out. They didn't have strength to hold an extended front line back then.
Why is it a problem if Ukraine blocks Russia today after months of pro-Russian propaganda but the fact that Russia only allows pro-Moscow propaganda?
So the main goal of democratic Ukraine is to be just as bad as Russia? I'm afraid that Ukraine has leapfrogged Russia long ago. If Maidan happened today, then its organizers would have been jailed for 20 years according to current laws. A free country, my ass.
They were NOT staged. Please, go and watch them. Do you even understand Russian or are you simply parroting the shit that the mass media blindly copies from Ukrainian media?
BTW, these protests were even covered by BBC.
And you have the gall to talk about propaganda? The russian media has relentlessly described the Ukrainian government as fascists.
And are they not? They are ultra-nationalists, they do not hesitate to attack civilian targets on purpose (and that's confirmed by the UN), they censor TV and Internet. That definitely look quite fascisty to me.
I was personally in Kramatorsk helping to move my friend's family from there during the start of the conflict. And I certainly know that the reason for the conflict was not Putin.
A counterpoint to yours would be the citizens of Mariupol who are currently helping the Ukrainian military dig trenches against the Russian invaders and who formed a many mile long chain of people to make the point that they don't want Putin's soldiers to take over their territory.
And? Mariupol is fairly far from Donetsk, and after one month or brainwashing by the Ukrainian media, people there believe that the Russian army is coming to kill, rape and eat them (possibly not in that order). Do you know that Ukraine now has no opposition TV channels and jams the Russian TV (using the same jammers that USSR had been using earlier to stop 'The Voice of America')?
Incidentally, if we're talking about the people digging trenches: http://gordonua.com/news/war/P... then it turned out to be a photo-op, staged by Ukrainian media.
Hm... The old USSR anthem was actually quite nice. It had zero references to the USSR being the supreme nation or anything. Unlike the anthems of certain countries (see: "The Star-Spangled Banner" as an example).
Rebels consolidated control over their areas and also won several tactical victories before the 'invasion'. If anything, this 'invasion' can be associated with more aggressive push towards capturing Mariupol. I.e. with offensive operations.
Personally, I have a lot of doubts that the 'invasion' is really real. It looks more like Kiev tries to frantically shift the blame from the extreme stupidity of Ukrainian military commanders who simply use soldiers as cannon fodder.
Slashdot Mirror
You are right that rising ultra-nationalism Ukraine doesn't exist though, the presidential polls proved that, where the far right only got 2% of the vote.
That's because an ultra-nationalistic Lyashko got most of it (12%). Mind you, that was a presidential poll and many citizens voted for the candidate that they want to win.
Think about what? eyewitness account from both sides - the police, and the protesters were clear that the only ones shooting were the Berkut on the roof tops
Here's an interview with a Berkut serviceman, now fighting on the side of Kiev in ATO: http://korrespondent.net/ukrai... He denies that there were snipers behind the Berkut lines. You might also note that the investigation of the shooting went exactly nowhere.
Also a philosophical observation - the West supports ANYONE who declares support for the West. Without even looking who they are. Are you a cannibal ultra-nazi mass murderer but declaring the support of the West? Fine, you're in! That attitude has already lead us to Libya, Iraq and Syria becoming one big total mess.
1) Anything contradicting your prejudices is propaganda.
2) Propaganda is always false.
3) Rising ultra-nationalism in Ukraine doesn't exist.
4) Everything put out there by blind copying of Ukrainian media is obviously true.
Have I missed anything?
Not really, I just remember what actually happened which is that Western countries were not happy with Yanukovych's Berkut puppets shooting from rooftops at regular police and protesters alike to try and provoke a violent confrontation
You're the one who said 'agent-provocateurs', aren't you? Do you know that the trees with bullet holes from snipers were cut down and burned by the no-longer-protesters 3 days after the shooting? Think about it.
Won't you be just a little bit passionate about the country where you've lived for years? Especially if you think that it is sliding towards a full-scale nazism?
One simple fact remains, EU supported a coup against a democracticaly-elected president.
You're muddling the story. After the Crimea takeover (which I don't support, btw) people in the East started capturing local administrative building. This tactic had been successful with the Maidan protesters, they captured most of the Western administrations (torturing and beating at least one governor) before the fall of Yanukovich.
Just as a note, I think that Yanukovich should be hanged on the same tree branch with Poroshenko, Yatsenuk and Turchinov.
Oh, really? Here's a photo for you: http://news.bbcimg.co.uk/media... ( http://www.bbc.com/news/world-... ). The very first proposed law of the post-Maidan parliament was a repeal of law forbidding the denial of nazi crimes. Then the law removing the special status of the Russian language.
Sorry, but while Maidan was not a classic neo-nazi, by the end it was definitely nationalistic and anti-Russian. I had been there at the very start (and I donated more than $5k to help protesters) but had to leave for two months. When I returned, everything was different.
Dude, do you know that inciting ethnic or racial strife is a _felony_ in Russia? Punishable by up to 8 years in prison, at that. There are also 25 official state languages and something like 200 different ethnicities. Russia is nowhere close to a fascist state.
It IS an authoritarian state with a de-fact dictator and dysfunctional court system. And also with an energe-export economy which is leading to nowhere (you can guess that I don't like Putin). But that's beside the point right now.
Also a thought, the new Ukrainian slogan: "Hail to Ukraine! Hail to Heroes!" is taken DIRECTLY from the WWII. From the nazi-allied Ukrainian forces that had committed multiple war crimes against Poles and had zero effect on the regular USSR army. Kinda fits the situation today.
I'm curious, how can you comment these kinds of videos: https://www.youtube.com/watch?... - the Ukrainian soldiers say that local citizens in the 'liberated' areas call them 'fascists' or 'ukrops'. They are sincerely baffled that they are not, in fact, greeted as heroes by the people in the East.
The maps show important several divergences, like separated Lugansk and Donetsk (in reality they never were). Or the lack of clashes away from the rebel-controlled area.
If the BBC maps are copied from the official military intelligence then it's no wonder that rebels don't have trouble encircling Ukrainian military.
Well both referendums were verifiably rigged, the Crimea one where the real results were accidentally posted publicly coupled with impossible numbers
Oh, who cares. We have a number, after all. It's so obviously true! It's as true as CNN polls!
Yes, absolutely, because the anecdote of a pro-Russian individual does still not somehow override the thoughts and opinions of the majority that are widely publicised.
So basically, it's called Wikireality. Nice. Do you understand that you've just channeled our dear beloved mister Goebbels? "If you repeat a lie often enough, people will believe it, and you will even come to believe it yourself".
Ah, so you share Putin's paranoia that the Ukrainian revolution happened because of the West, rather than the actual fact of the matter than for the third fucking time the Ukrainians tried to make it clear to Russia that they do not want to be part of Russia
Yeah, and diplomatic help of the West also helped. Do you remember the shitstorm that the Western countries started when Yanukovich passed the laws banning weapons from demonstrations?
I don't watch RT or any other TV channel. I quite purposefully read only blogs - from both sides. And only one side is sane right now, guess which one. Mind you, these roles were completely reversed in the first months of the Maidan revolution.
About the invasion: "It's quite hard to prove the Russian involvement" - words of OSCE monitor about the "Russian invasion". But don't take my words, look it up: http://www.bbc.co.uk/russian/r...
Let me translate your comment: "LALALALA Russia is bad LALALALA". So if other countries openly celebrate SS members as heroes then it's OK, but Russia pointing that out is fascism?
Does that help? My pro-rebels posts are getting downvoted all the time. Since it's against the groupthink here. Often simply the ones that provide the data for other points of view. So why bother logging in?
Actually, 'vatnik' is originally what the 'exalted' Western parts of Ukraine liked to call the 'unwashed' Eastern citizens. After all, they spend all the time in those ugly vatniks instead of nice designer clothes.
"Kill [ethnic slur for Russians] with knives" and "The ones not jumping are [ethnic slur for Russians]'.
Oh, and they also scream: "Hang Russians on tree branches" (at 0:25). Just to show how Ukraine develops deep mutual appreciation and tolerance in a multi-cultural society from the very young age.
This time around there is no excuse for not knowing the truth. Last time you could claim you did not know because you were lied to. This time you have to actively put the fingers in your ears and shout LALALALA. And that's what you do.
It's so fucking hilarious... One side in this conflict _literally_ has a party with self-confessed anti-Semite, who is supported by people with official "Ukraine for Ukrainians" ideology and the other party is basically a run-of-the-mill rebels simply wishing to live separately. And the latter party are fascists.
What can I say, nice brainwashing job, Western media. Congrats.
So, one has to speak russian to understand this conflict? Really?
Yes. Really. Otherwise you won't get even a part of the context.
Do you know how deep the rift between the West and East of the Ukraine is? Just watch this video: https://www.youtube.com/watch?... - school children in the West of Ukraine are chanting "Kill [ethnic slur for Russians] with knives" and "The ones not jumping are [ethnic slur for Russians]'.
Have you heard about anything like this in the Western media? I bet not. Have you heard about the war crimes of Ukrainian army (a proud tradition, starting from the WWII)? Ditto. Have you heard the "joke" about the "time and inspiration"?
- is a genus of political ideology whose mythic core in its various permutations is a palingenetic form of populist ultranationalism
Check. The official ideology is "Ukraine for Ukrainians".
- is a form of political behavior marked by obsessive preoccupation with community decline, humiliation, or victimhood and by compensatory cults of unity, energy, and purity
Check. The whole Western Ukrainian narrative is filled with it.
- abandons democratic liberties and pursues with redemptive violence and without ethical or legal restraints goals of internal cleansing and external expansion
Check. Ukraine now censors TV and Internet to prevent non-state-controlled news. Mass gatherings are forbidden - if the current laws were in force in January then Yanukovich could have jailed all of the Maidan protesters. Or simply shot them (just last week a new law had been enacted that allows police and army to shoot suspected rebels without warning shots).
So yes, Ukraine is becoming fascist.
Techies who speak English can read news outside of Ukraine or work around the filters. Most people can't. Besides, Internet is not a very popular news source in Ukraine. It even trails the newspapers.
Whereas a handful of protestors standing in front of a Ukrainian APC couldn't possibly be? It's obvious that wide scale polls are fabricated but small scale actions aren't? This is your problem - you have lost all sense of proportionality and rationality.
So how about the overwhelming majority of the citizens choosing independence in a referendum? Is it any more valid than a poll?
You still really struggled with scale don't you? I know humans have an inherent problem imagining large numbers, but most people are capable of telling the difference between tens and hundreds, and hundreds of thousands. It seems you are not.
There are many thousands rebels now fighting the Ukrainian army. And winning. I think it's your sense of proportion that is off.
You love Putin and believe everything he says? Why am I not surprised. Oh wait, you think that posting something in Russian somehow makes your argument more valid
So you don't speak Russian or Ukrainian and you are not in Ukraine. I'd been living in Ukraine since 2004 until June 22 of this year and I still own a company there, its ID number is 36003074. Feel free to check it using any database (like http://www.ua-region.info/3600... ). I've traveled all over the country and I know lots of people there.
Do you claim to know situation any better?
How is having plurality of viewpoints as bad as having one viewpoint?
There is no plurality in Ukrainian media. It's all controlled by Kiev. All the opposition channels are blocked. But that's OK, censorship is fine if it's pro-European. Right?
Look I get it, you're from a pro-Russian background, and you love Russia, that's fine. Most Ukrainians no longer do however, most Ukrainians just want to be left the fuck alone to grow their country in a way that all their neighbours except Russia have
And except the EU. And China. And the US. Well, on the plus side, Nigeria probably did leave Ukraine the fuck alone.
Why, because they're inconvenient for your pro-Putin lies? What about the City.am one which stems from a neutral Ukrainian polling outfit before it all kicked off? I guess that was so inconvenient you couldn't even address it?
No, because they are biased and/or simply fabricated.
You know that repeating yourself doesn't make something true right? As I said, hundreds, some of whom are legit, but others who are agent provocateurs does not equate to popular support.
So just like the Maidan uprising?
I was there yesterday and everyone told me they hate Putin and it's all his fault. Last night on the phone Putin even told me it's his fault. See how that works?
Ya ne veru v eto. Seychas Kramatorsk controliruetsa vojakami is kieva, tak chto zhiteli boyatsa za svoi zhizni i govorat to, chto nuzhno. Ili ischezaut. Pokazat video togo, kak pravij sektor izbivaet ludej?
So what was the excuse last time the Ukrainians liberated Mariupol because the populace helped kick the Russian's out?
Nobody kicked rebels out, they simply pulled orderly out. They didn't have strength to hold an extended front line back then.
Why is it a problem if Ukraine blocks Russia today after months of pro-Russian propaganda but the fact that Russia only allows pro-Moscow propaganda?
So the main goal of democratic Ukraine is to be just as bad as Russia? I'm afraid that Ukraine has leapfrogged Russia long ago. If Maidan happened today, then its organizers would have been jailed for 20 years according to current laws. A free country, my ass.
BTW, these protests were even covered by BBC.
And you have the gall to talk about propaganda? The russian media has relentlessly described the Ukrainian government as fascists.
And are they not? They are ultra-nationalists, they do not hesitate to attack civilian targets on purpose (and that's confirmed by the UN), they censor TV and Internet. That definitely look quite fascisty to me.
Oh, puhlease. BBC simply relays Ukrainian media. And as we all know, Ukrainian media can now outdo Goebbels in bending the truth.
This site http://voicesevas.ru/ has been providing pretty reliable information since the start of the conflict. They have a pretty up-to-date interactive map: http://cassad.net/?do=warmarke... , and here's their map for Aug 10-17: http://voicesevas.ru/img/66833... ( http://voicesevas.ru/news/yugo... ). As you can see, they were conducting several offences, including the ongoing destruction of an encircled Ukrainian army division.
Here's a video of locals stopping a tank: https://www.youtube.com/watch?... Here is an iconic picture of Putin's agent provocateurs blocking a railroad crossing to stop Ukrainian tanks: http://www.rbc.ua/rus/news/acc... and another one http://crisisua.net/zhiteli-sl...
I was personally in Kramatorsk helping to move my friend's family from there during the start of the conflict. And I certainly know that the reason for the conflict was not Putin.
A counterpoint to yours would be the citizens of Mariupol who are currently helping the Ukrainian military dig trenches against the Russian invaders and who formed a many mile long chain of people to make the point that they don't want Putin's soldiers to take over their territory.
And? Mariupol is fairly far from Donetsk, and after one month or brainwashing by the Ukrainian media, people there believe that the Russian army is coming to kill, rape and eat them (possibly not in that order). Do you know that Ukraine now has no opposition TV channels and jams the Russian TV (using the same jammers that USSR had been using earlier to stop 'The Voice of America')?
Incidentally, if we're talking about the people digging trenches: http://gordonua.com/news/war/P... then it turned out to be a photo-op, staged by Ukrainian media.
Hm... The old USSR anthem was actually quite nice. It had zero references to the USSR being the supreme nation or anything. Unlike the anthems of certain countries (see: "The Star-Spangled Banner" as an example).
Rebels consolidated control over their areas and also won several tactical victories before the 'invasion'. If anything, this 'invasion' can be associated with more aggressive push towards capturing Mariupol. I.e. with offensive operations.
Personally, I have a lot of doubts that the 'invasion' is really real. It looks more like Kiev tries to frantically shift the blame from the extreme stupidity of Ukrainian military commanders who simply use soldiers as cannon fodder.