Today has been the last full day of competition at the games. Normally the combination of a relatively light events schedule and everyone getting excited about going home means that on this day hardcore politics are replaced by sporting excellence and some good natured mucking about in things like the Ice Dancing gala.
Unfortunately in Sochi the poisonous cloud of Ukraine has continued to hang over the games. So in the Alpine events (skiing, snowboarding) there were lots and lots of stupid mistakes and people falling over for no particular reason. Although I can't speak for everyone this struck me as the athletes collectively refusing to put in their best performance for an organisation that is still refusing to punish the USA for its role in the Ukraine violence.
Similarly in the speed skating arena everyone seemed happy to simply wave the Netherlands team through. The Netherlands compete in the colours of its Royal House of Orange meaning that they perfectly represent the European old guard which along side the USA has been fuelling the violence in Ukraine which has its roots in the 'Orange Revolution'. Therefore the idea was to let the Netherlands win in order to highlight this fact. To the Netherlands credit they did take this criticism on the chin setting Olympic records in the process of winning gold in both the men's and women's Team Pursuit events.
Sadly the same can't be said for the USA who spectacularly threw their bronze medal men's Ice Hockey match against Finland 5-0. As a result Team USA will not appear in either the official list of medal winners or tomorrow's medal ceremony. So it seems that not only is the USA refusing to apologise for its role in Ukraine's violence it is also unable to take any criticism of its actions.
As for events in Ukraine today they really went beyond satire. Yesterday (21/2/14) both the Ukrainian government and the political leaders of the opposition signed a, for want of better word, peace agreement. This set out a transitional roadmap that would have seen the reinstatement of the 2004 constitution, an unelected government of national unity formed within 12 days and elections to be held in December 2014. All of this is pretty standard stuff but the agreement also required that Ukraine's police withdraw from the streets and do not attempt to uphold the law. That was simply a ridiculous demand that wouldn't be tolerated in any developed nation on earth.
As with Wednesday's (19/2/14) truce this agreement lasted about nine hours before the opposition decided to break it using the absence of the police to storm the Presidential compound. Fortunately bloodshed was avoided because the President had already left and had rather helpfully left the doors unlocked. This allowed people to wander freely around the compound in scenes that were remarkably similar to those seen at Libya's Presidential compound following the fall of Tripoli. Libya is of course still effectively a failed state almost three years after its 'popular revolution' that NATO were in absolutely no way involved in.
With the Presidential compound stormed and the President absent the Ukrainian Parliament which was occupied exclusively by members of the opposition went a bit mental making all sorts of wild declarations. The most notable of these was the announcement that Parliament had sacked the President - something that neither the 2004 constitution nor more recent versions allows it to do. The 'Parliament' also decided to release Yulia Tymoshenko from prison where she was being held for her part in an absolutely epic financial fraud. Despite having been expelled by public vote in the 2010 General Election from the post of Prime Minister she'd been appointed to in 2007 upon release Tymoshenko has pretty much appointed herself as Ukraine's President. Tymoshenko's supporters are now rushing to quickly hold an election before the current hysteria dies down and people actually start questioning her record. For example they can't allow the people time to realise that the reason why Ukraine is caught between choosing a bailout from the European Union (EU) or a bailout from Russia is because Tymoshenko bankrupted the country by personally embezzling around USD188million.
Also today the USA's main reason for stoking unrest in Ukraine has been revealed. As this recent burst of violence began on Tuesday (18/2/14) the United Nations Security Council (UNSC) started work on a resolution that compels the Syrian government to throw open its borders to anyone and everyone. Officially the reason for this is to allow humanitarian assistance. In reality it is to make it easier for foreign powers to supply the Saudi and Qatari Irregular Army (SQIA). Due to the turmoil in Ukraine this resolution wasn't properly debated and was today waved through with the US, the UK and others celebrating it as a great victory in their war against the Syrian government.
With all this going on and them rapidly losing control of the situation the International Olympic Committee (IOC) had to do something to deescalate calls from the USA to be expelled from the games. So this morning it was announced that Ukrainian cross-country skier Marina Lisogor has tested positive for a banned stimulant and is to be expelled. This was intended to convey the message that the Ukrainian insurgency has indeed been receiving illegal support/stimulation from the US. It also draws attention to the general consensus that if anyone in Ukraine or the wider international community thinks what it currently going on in Ukraine is a good thing for the country then they must be under the influence of some sort of mind altering drug.
20:55 on 22/2/14 (UK date).
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