#Russia is continuing to deny that the massive explosions at a Crimean military base at #Saki that destroyed up to nine of its warplanes were caused by an attack. As the Institute for the Study of #War noted, “the #Kremlin has little incentive to blame Ukraine” since, by doing so, it will admit to serious weaknesses in Russia’s air-defence system. Instead, the Chair of the Crimean Tatar #Mejlis, Refat Chubarov, believes, Russia opted to avenge itself for the humiliation experienced by new mass arrests of Crimean Tatars on fabricated charges One of the motives for the armed searches and arrests of Crimean Tatars has, from the outset, been #propaganda aimed at presenting the main indigenous people of #Crimea, who do not conceal their strong identification with #Ukraine, as a threat. The arrests are also known to bring bonuses or promotion to the #FSB officers and may, therefore, have been planned, but the timing now might well be deliberate.
https://khpg.org/en/1608811021 #repression #Hizb-ut-Tahrir #terror
