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Death and the Maidan

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Just when you thought it was safe to go back to the movie theater, Uncle Ollie is planning another hard hitting mockumentary on an alleged CIA coup in Ukraine, which led to the downfall of Viktor Yanukovych.  Remember him?

Ollie was in Moscow interviewing the former president for a documentary allegedly produced by "Ukranians."  One can only assume these Ukranians are based in Donetsk, as Yanukovych is generally seen as persona non grata after fleeing the country in the wake of the protests in the Maidan Nezalezhnosti back in February, 2014.  One look at all the portraits to himself is reason to understand why he is held in such low regard.

He's been hiding out in Moscow, believing himself to be the president in exile.  Apparently, Viktor wasn't Ollie's first choice in subject matter, as he initially wanted to build his new documentary around Vladimir Putin.  You might remember from his Untold History of the United States, which was aired on Showtime, that Stone has a soft spot for Soviet and Russian leaders, long believing that the US pushed the Soviet Union into a corner and that American presidents should be held accountable for the Cold War, not Soviet and Russian leaders.

It all becomes quite amusing after awhile.  It is hard to believe there are many persons left who take Oliver Stone seriously.  He has been pushing conspiracy theories for decades, notably his take on the assassination of JFK.  He upped the ante ten fold (literally) in his ten-part series on the "Untold History" of America, which gave us the bleakest view imaginable of the country in the wake of World War II.  In his addled mind, the US with the aid of Britain has been undermining the free world for decades.  Our last best hope for salvation came with the ascension of Mikhail Gorbachev in the 1980s, who could have brought world peace, had not the Soviet Union splintered apart despite his well meaning Perestroika and Glasnost.

Accordiing to Uncle Ollie, "CIA fingerprints" were all over the sniper shootings in the Maidan that left protesters, cops and innocent bystanders dead.  The order to fire never came from Yanukovych, according to Yanukovych, and he fled the country because he felt he would have never gotten a fair trial.

One certainly can suspect the US had a role in the uprising, as Ukraine has been a post-Cold War battleground since the collapse of the Soviet Union.  Russia, the EU and the United States have been vying for the affections of the country, as it represents a major strategic position in this geopolitical world.  However, the main reason for the uprising back in the winter of 2013-14 was Yanukovych's decision to back out of a comprehensive trade agreement with the EU.

Vladimir Putin was too busy with Sochi at the time, staging the most expensive Winter Olympic Games ever held in an effort to showcase the economic and athletic might of Russia.  He pumped some $50 billion in the resort town, massively upgrading the infrastructure as well as building beautiful new venues for the games.  The last thing he wanted to deal with was an unruly Ukraine, but events in the Maidan forced his hand.

It would be interesting to get a non-biased account of what has transpired in Ukraine since November, 2013, when Yanukovych chose to back out of a trade agreement he had previously agreed to in principle, but it is doubtful that such a documentary will come from Oliver Stone.  Instead, you can expect the same overblown conspiracy theories that have long been his hallmark as a filmmaker.

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