Ukraine - Propaganda War

The anti-Ukraine Russian led militants have their martyrs.  The exact details of who did what to whom that led to the deaths of the 30 odd people inside the Trade Union Centre are irrelevant. The anti-Ukraine side are spinning it that the victims were forced inside by the Kyiv led fascists and who then set the building on fire.  This is the version that Russian propaganda will milk and "We will not forget Odessa" will be the "Remember the Alamo" of the terrorists.

The conduct of the Odessa police is certainly called into question.  They were "in-conference" for two hours after the pro-Russian thugs attacked the football fans on their march.  This site has a video showing the riot police protecting the pro-Russian side while from behind them one of the militants is using a Kalashnikov.  It also gives yet another version of events.

Yesterday, a pro-Russian crowd of 1000 to 3000 (depending who you read) attacked the police station forcing the release of prisoners taken after the fight. They were to have been transferred to Kyiv but prosecutor reportedly stopped it.   42 prisoners had been transferred and were not released.

The anti-terrorist operation in the east also seems to have ground to a halt. Dmitry Tymchuk's military blog is a good assessment of what is wrong in all of Kyiv's attempts to maintain control of the situation in Ukraine - lack of leadership in the military, mixed loyalties on the part of the police and total infiltration of all levels of law enforcement by Russian sympathizers.

Considering that until February 20, Ukraine was in many ways under Russian influence, it is understandable impossible to sort out and create a loyal, non-corrupt  law enforcement and judiciary overnight.

Russia appears to be winning not only the war on the ground but more importantly the propaganda war.  They have had quite a number of years advantage in this regard, including 70 years experience in the Soviet system.  Putin controls virtually all media in Russia and new laws mean that the internet is now included.  The Great Firewall of China has become the Iron Curtain of Russia.

Countries with Russian speaking minorities made a gave mistake at independence in not establishing Russian language TV channels. They were so focused on re-establishing their own language after decades of repression that they forgot about the speakers of the colonizer's language.  Russia did not forget about them and Russian TV channels freely available in all of the former USSR and Warsaw pact countries.  Since these were the same channels that Russian speakers were used to, they continued to watch them.

Russia has used this fact with great effect to sow discord and dissatisfaction among ethnic Russians who found themselves on the "wrong side of the border".  In the Baltics and eastern Ukraine they have been constantly telling ethnic Russians how hard done by they are by the governments of the countries in which they live.  And many of them are quite receptive to this.

They are like the Texan with the inferiority complex who didn't think he was any better than anyone else.  The ethnic Russians are finding out that they are no better than anyone else and consider it to be discrimination.  They used to be in charge; their language and the Russian version of history used to be official.  No longer and they are bitter.  (Think about white males in America).

Part of the problem in eastern Ukraine is that they no longer run the country.  Under Yanukovych all cabinet ministers were from eastern or central Ukraine, including 10 from Donetsk, none from western Ukraine.  (They may have been criminals and they may have robbed the East worst of all but they were THEIR criminals). Today the situation is reversed.  Cabinet ministers are all from western or central Ukraine, including 10 from L'viv with none from eastern Ukraine. WELL!!!!

Anyone familiar with the garbage spewed by both left and right wing media in America and Canada which is eagerly gobbled up by the true believers should not be shocked to learn that people actually believe the stuff on Russian TV.

The Fascist regime in Kyiv is building concentration camps in eastern Ukraine for ethnic Russians and anyone opposing their government.  This from the Russian Ministry of Foreign Affairs:
"We are deeply concerned about the information spread by mass media about the construction of large temporary detention centres for thousands of persons in Ukraine, supposedly for illegal immigrants. Ukraine does not have that many illegal immigrants, while the buildings being construct, according to mass media, remind of Nazi concentration camps. It pushes to question if the Kyiv regime is going to use them for locking up the dissenting people of South East Ukraine".

Ukraine has actually been forced to rebut it though of course that doesn't cut much ice with those who believe they are building "death camps".

"The Ministry for Foreign Affairs and the Department of Immigration and Citizenship consider it necessary to officially clarify that in September 2009 Ukraine and EU started a collaborative project «Re-admit », which involves construction of two temporary detention centres for illegal immigrants — in Donetsk and Mykolayiv Regions. Each of the centres will be able to host up to 100 illegal immigrants at a time. Currently the Department of Immigration and Citizenship has two facilities to host illegal immigrants: in Volyn and Chernihiv Regions. These facilities can host up to 165 and 208 persons and are situated near western and northern borders of Ukraine Construction of similar centres in Donetsk and Mykolayiv Regions will allow reducing the cost of delivering the illegal immigrants caught in eastern and southern regions of Ukraine to the detention facilities. It should also be noted that these facilities are only for aliens and stateless persons who broke migration laws and are subjects to compulsory deportation from Ukraine."

For other goofy things swallowed whole in eastern Ukraine read HERE.

Update: http://ersieesist.livejournal.com/813.html
Do not read this if extremely gruesome pictures bother you.  This is how the fire in Odessa is being spun by Russian propaganda.  If you only see Russian, there is a link at the top to English as well.  There must be an independent investigation.

Ukraine - More on Odessa

The NY times has this article.
"Everything that happened was like in a horror movie," said Nadiya Yashan, a Chornomorets supporter who accused pro-Russian militants among the away fans of launching a ferocious attack. 

 According to the article, there had been a football match between Kharkiv and Odessa.  Since the Russian sponsored provocations began it has become the custom of to put aside differences and join to support Unkraine.  suporters of the two teams had been walking together to the stadium. When they got to Gretska Street, they were jumped by armed men, wearing masks, in black attacked them, some shooting pistols...

 Many say Kiev supporters heard that shots had been fired at a square called Kulikovo Polye, or Kulikovo field, and ran there to find out what had happened. Others say they went there to torch the tent city that pro-Russian supporters had built in protest against Kiev.... 

The attackers were driven back and took refuge in the Union Centre, barricading themselves in and then going to the roof where they began throwing petrol bombs and shooting at the pro-Ukraine side who were throwing their own petrol bombs. 

"The fire engines came very late. The fire was raging. Those who hadn't been overcome by smoke, just started jumping out of windows. It's a tall building so you can imagine what happened," said an eyewitness. 

Who these pro-Russian armed attackers were is open to question as police identified among the dead and arrested Russian citizens and Moldovian citizens as I said yesterday.

 The Telegraph has probable the clearest article HERE. 

According to the Telegraph, the trouble started ahead of a Kharkiv-Odessa football match as rival fans marched together, joining a Ukrainian Unity march which had been organized for before the game.  The crowd, which included public, Maidan Self Defense Forces, and some members of Pravy Sector (Right Sector),  gathered on Cathedral Square.  (as I reported yesterday, they had been tipped off through Social Media that pro-Russian Thugs were intending to break up the march).

The pro-Russian activists wearing the orange and black ribbons (which is why they are called Colorado Beetles after the scourge of Ukrainian potato and tomato plants) were well armed for a street battle but so were the marchers, with bricks, clubs, petrol bombs and firearms (it is not clear if both sides had pistols or just the pro-Russians as I read conflicting reports, with some suggestion that the shooters were ex-Berkut). (The thugs must not have expected the level of resistance as they were outnumber 4 to 1).

A local news reporter who credited the police with trying to intervene said that as soon as they tried to separate the side, the shooting started and he saw several go down, including a police captain with injuries to liver and kidneys.  The reporter himself ended up in hospital with several wounds from "shrapnel).  Hospitals reported treating many gunshot wounds but couldn't say if they were from rubber or live bullets (???).  The first casualty died of a severed artery from a gunshot wound.

The battle lasted into the evening, when a group of pro-Russians, heavily outnumbered, managed to break away. Some witnesses say they melted through the police lines without being stopped. 

At this point, an enraged crowd decided to march on the House of Trade Unions, located beside a park where pro-Russians had set up a small protest camp some weeks ago. ”They decided to clear them out. They were angry after what had happened on the streets,” said Alexandra, a local resident who was among the crowd that day.

The pro-Maidan football fans and self-defence units quickly destroyed the camp, setting fire to the tents. The pro-Russians tried to make a last stand on the steps of the House of Trade Unions, throwing up barricades around the great stone pillars in front of the doors. Finally, they were forced to retreat inside.

Molotov cocktails were thrown by both sides.  Whose petrol bomb started the fire they may never know.  Videos seem to show the fire starting behind an unbroken window on the third floor.  An investigation will determine where the fire started. According to TCH (TSN, see link below) the fire started on the upper floors which were too far for people on the ground to throw petrol bombs, so it seems it may have been started by the pro-Russian side accidentally.  Part of the investigation will include determination of exactly what gas killed most of the dead inside the building as reports were that they were overcome very quickly.

I am guessing that the campsite was of more or less peaceful demonstrators and certainly not the instigators of the fight, nor the shooters.  There were several stories on TCH (TSN) website (http://tsn.ua/politika) which I read using Google Translate.

An Odessa city council member died about 4:00 am after the riots. Cause of death not released.  A child was among the victims of the violence in which 43 people were killed.  Of 214 injured including 13 soldiers of the Ukrainian National Guard, 88 were hospitalized with 27 in serious condition.  The Ukrainian Security Force report that of the 172 arrests, many were Russians or Moldovians and the SBU has begun criminal proceedings against 10.  The SBU has passed on to the Ministry of Foreign Affairs documents taken from those arrested proving Russian citizenship. The pro-Kremlin activists are "hunting" for those involved on the pro-Maidan side and are distributing photos and addresses on social media. I mentioned this threat yesterday).  Odessa is bracing for extreme violence on May 9th which is Soviet VE Day.

In other news, Kazakhstan is initiating a referendum on leaving the Russia-Belarus-Kazakhstan Eurasian customs union as they have received no benefit from it.  Watch Putin start to move in on the primarily Russian north of Kazakhstan if that happens.

Ukraine - Fighting Back

The government of Ukraine seems to have found some cojones and is fighting back against the rebels in the east. They must have come to the conclusion that Putin will order in the troops regardless so they are simply not going to put up with the crap anymore.   Putin claims he is getting "thousands" of calls for them to intervene.  I wonder if they re from the "700,000 Ukrainian refugees" they reported a couple of months ago along with pictures of a line up of cars at The Polish border.

Keep in mind that Russia has never invaded another country, even when they were collaborating with Hitler from the beginning of WWII in Sept 1939.  They ONLY go there to help out their brothers in trouble.

Ukrainian military has apparently recaptured some of the rebel held towns and the TV transmission tower and have squeezed the rebel stronghold of Slaviansk though retaking it would require basic house to house street fighting and high civilian casualties.

There were reports that armed rebels hiding behind civilians killed four Ukrainian soldiers and wounded 12 others.  Two Ukrainian helicopters were shot down with some kind of shoulder launched missiles killing two and wounding one.  Rebels have been killed but the number is of course disputed.

There are also "little black men" in eastern Ukraine who are officially or unofficially going after the rebels, in particular the Russian leaders.  Hard to track that one down but I do not doubt it.  People are starting to get fed up with the BS.

Some good news.  The OSCE officials have been released and a few journalists but there are still 31 people either held or unaccounted for, including several journalists.

Odessa is a tragedy.  Over 40 dead and the count keeps rising.  Several killed in street fighting (some shot) and a great many died in a fire in the Union Building.  Trying to sort out the time lines of the action is difficult but THIS SITE from an eyewitness seems to have it best.

A pro-Ukraine march had been planned but via social media, they learned that the anti-Maidan faction as it is called there, was going to waylay it and break it up violently.  So they were ready for them when it happened.  Not sure when the shooting occurred but it was pro-Ukraine people who were murdered.  The pro-Ukraine side drove the thugs back into the Union Building where they barricaded themselves in and began shooting and throwing Molotov cocktails.

Russian TV reported that Ukrainian Right Sector Nazis attacked a counter march and drove the peaceful demonstrators into the building then set it on fire, so we know that isn't what happened.  Police say that the thugs accidentally set the building on fire with their own Molotov cocktails but since both sides were throwing them, it is hard to say.  Most of the deaths were from smoke inhalation.  The pro-Ukrainian side then went and burned the protesters camp site.

There were over 200 injured, mostly from the pro-Ukrainian side.  There is concern for their safety and the need to provide security in case the pro-Russian side come looking for them in the hospitals, as happened in Kyiv during EuroMaidan

Most of the dead and many of those arrested were Russian citizens from Transdniestria, Moldova, which is quite close and serves as a staging ground for Russian supported disruption in the Odessa region.

Russia blames Right Sector for everything as they are the most extreme of the parties in Ukraine and played an active role in the fighting on EuroMaidan.  They seem them everywhere and behind everything.  Russian tactics are a great recruiting mechanism for Right Sector and there were some involved in the fighting in Odessa though they were not necessarily wearing armbands but identified themselves to journalists.  As the civilian population begins to also fight back, Right Sector are the obvious leaders and the group to join, regardless of their ideology.  When moderation fails the radicals take over.

This article from the NY Times on the rebel combatants in Slaviansk is worth reading.  Assuming they are telling the truth, there is currently no Russian leadership in this small group of fighters, who are all ex-special forces of one kind or another but Ukrainian citizens.  They are however not united in their views of why they are doing what they are doing.

Ukraine - The east may be lost

8:30 coffee made, dishes washed, cats outside
10:30 emails and Facebook all caught up
11:30 read all important looking links and articles on Kyiv Post
12:00 make lunch, ready to go to work.

Thanks to whomever I stole the idea from.

There has been not much to blog about these past few days.  I expect the 11:00 pm news covers most of it and the junkies like myself have found sites they follow to get the latest and the analysis.

Violence increases steadily in eastern Ukraine as the Russian backed and led terrorists, armed with automatic weapons, grenades and tear gas continue to attack and take over public buildings in communities throughout Donetsk and now Luhansk Oblast with the intent of moving into Kharkiv as well.  These are men in their 20s to 40s, well organized, wearing unmarked uniforms and balaklavas and carrying Kalashnikovs.  The leaders carry AK100s which are Russian weapons while the locals carry Ukrainian AK70s models. They are apparently receiving training in Crimea's Feodosia.

The mayor of Kharviv, a neutral in all this (he hates both sides) narrowly escaped an assassination attempt and is in critical condition in an Israeli hospital.  Another tortured body has reportedly been found near where the first two were discovered, close to Sloviansk which seems to be the separatist stronghold.  About 40 people including seven OSCE observers arrested as "spies".  These people are held as hostages for future considerations.  A pro-Ukrainian demonstration of about 1000 people in Donetsk was attacked by pro-Russian thugs armed with bats and truncheons.

Of course that is not how Russian TV reports it.  They reported the grenade attack near Odessa as the pro-Ukrainian guards at the check point were playing with the grenade when it exploded.  Since the Russian people have no idea what is going on in Ukraine they are quite convinced that Putin is right.  Polls show 82% confidence in his leadership.  Right.  I am sure the 18% who were brave enough to disagree will be well marked for future considerations.

Kyiv is highly unlikely to regain control in the east as they are damned if they do and damned if they don't. One suspects the anti-terrorist operation is under orders not to use weapons.  An impossible situation to say the least.  Any deaths attributable to Kyiv military action will immediately bring the Russian army across the border.  If they do nothing, they may lose three oblasts in the east.  If Russia invades, they may lose all of southern Ukraine clear to the Dniester River.

Part of the problem with Kyiv is that the SBU (CIA/FBI) is riddled with informers and the local police are less than useless as a group since half of them seem to side with the terrorists and either collaborate or simply do nothing as was the case in Donetsk with the thugs beating up the pro-Ukraine demonstration.  In a sense you can't blame them.  They live there and will have to deal with the winners whom they judge will not likely be the government in Kyiv.

If Kyiv gets serious they will need to bring in police from western Ukraine.  this is how Yanukovych did it; his killer cops, the Berkut, were mainly Russians from the Donbass or Crimea who has no compunction whatsoever about dealing with Ukrainian protesters.

The whole purpose of the insurrection in eastern Ukraine is really to disrupt the presidential elections slated for May 25th which would give undisputed legitimacy to the government in Kyiv and also put paid to the notion that the country was run by Fascists as the right wing candidates are unlikely to get a combined 2% of the vote.  This was in fact stated by the self proclaimed "mayor" of Slaviansk.

The IMF have approved $17 billion in loans to Ukraine with the admission that it is highly risky both from implementation and geopolitical perspectives.  Obama is taking heat for the wussy additional sanctions this last round.  He made the right choice though, saving the heavies for when they are really needed.  Basically that will be all banks and the energy sector.  Putin has said if the energy sector is sanctioned the western oil companies invested in Russia will be made to pay dearly.

Today is a holiday in Ukraine, and the next two days too.  In fact no one does anything useful until May 10th, meaning May 12th with is Monday.  I think the same holidays apply in Russia too so I hope the troops on our border get the next two weeks off.  Bwahahahaha.

Ukraine - Unsanctified Sanctions

Wars are started by and for the benefit of the rich and powerful.  They are fought by the children of the poor and if civilians suffer it is usually the poor again who bear the brunt of it.  Wars are paid for by taxes (direct or indirect) on the general public and if infrastructure is destroyed hopefully it is in the enemy's country and not yours.  America has fought three such wars in the past 25 years plus all kinds of little adventures.  A great deal of blood has been shed by combatants and by civilians (collateral damage as it is known) and the rich and powerful in America have become more rich and powerful.  However the general public are tired of body bags and especially tired of paying for these imperial wars from which they get no benefit, only costs.

Economic and related sanctions on the other hand are a way to damage the enemy without physical harm to one's own country, without high expenses, without body bags.  Seems safe enough...BUT.  It only works cost free to the perpetrators of the sanctions if the country is poor and under developed, like Iraq or Iran.  The "but" is when in a globally integrated economy of a reasonably sized country, the sanctions bite back.  They don't hurt the general public but horror of horrors, they hurt the rich and powerful who have invested in the enemy country, who trade with the enemy country.  We can't have that.  Better to send the offspring of the poor to their deaths in their thousands and have the public pay than the rich and powerful should suffer.

The big oil companies have already reassured Putin they are with him all the way.  The notion that the West wanted Ukraine in their camp so the hydrocarbon companies could profit is not true as they will get theirs anyway.  Can you imagine the fuss if Obama sanctions oil companies working in Russia?

London is THE banking centre for the offshore billions of the Russian Oligarchs. Do you think Britain will do anything foolish?  And every two-bit company in Europe is lobbying the EU fiercely against sanctions as it might affect their bottom line.  Steal skim milk from a sick kitten, they would, and sell it to their blind grandmother for cream.

The war of words over Ukraine continues, though I haven't checked in a couple hours so if someone started shooting, I missed it.  Russia has its military on the border with Ukraine to back up its words; America has some pretty stiff sanctions they can apply to back up theirs (IF). I do not want to talk about the EU.

All the articles I read today were about sanctions. This one is worth passing on as it advocates more effort to defeat Russian subversion. Window on Eurasia: Western Sanctions versus Russian Subversion

Ukraine - The Brzezinski Factor

Kerry and Lavrov are still hurling threats.  Which is better than shooting, unless it were at each other.  Lavrov's face affects me much like W's. Nausea.  You can tell when Putin and Lavrov lie about Russian involvement in Ukraine; their lips move.

Ukraine's security apparatus is in an unenviable position.  Thoroughly infiltrated by Russia, after 20 odd years of full cooperation, they find it hard to know whom to trust.  Compounding the difficulty is that the Russian backed terrorist activities in eastern Ukraine have more of a partisan aspect as locals actively participate. Shooting unarmed locals is bad press so they are really trying hard not to do that but it makes it difficult to shoot the armed ones who hide behind them.

Apparently using the military on your own people is OK as long as it is Chechens, Syrians or Ukrainians by a pro-Russian government, but not against imported Russian terrorists and their local accomplices.

All well and good, until I ran into an article a few days back that made me realize just how nasty and cruel realpolitik is. Forget the Spin, Putin Is Holding a Losing Hand compares the current situation in Ukraine with the Russian invasion of Afghanistan(1). The Soviet Union was in the process of turning Afghanistan into a secular nation with a strong central government which raised the ire of the War Lords and Imams who saw their authority diminishing.

Zbigniew Brzezinski (2), President Jimmy Carter's National Security Advisor, saw this as an opportunity to give the Soviet Union its own Vietnam.  Consequently America began covertly supporting the Mujaheddin against the Afghan government, hoping to draw the Soviet Union into armed support of its protégé.  If they didn't fall for it, at least America would be rid of a government aligned with the USSR and if they did fall for it, they were doomed.  Win-win.

When the Red Army invaded, the Soviet leadership claimed that they were entering Afghanistan to defend the existing Afghan government against a covert war initiated by the United States. The Carter administration adamantly denied the Soviet claims, and the Soviet complaints were ridiculed in the national media -- like Medvedev's words this week -- as nothing more than self-serving propaganda...  Except, as it turns out, it would appear that the Soviet claims were true.

The people of Afghanistan were simply pawns in the game  as was obvious when America abandoned Afghanistan immediately after the Soviets left in 1989. Something similar happened in Iraq after Desert Storm.  Iraqis were encouraged to revolt against Saddam Hussein but the Shias and Kurds who believed they would get American support were left to their fate as the desired revolt was within Saddam's Party to replace him with another dictator but more amenable to American policy. 

So the author argues that America put relentless pressure on Russia, forcing her to react which brought us to today's crisis: 

The post-Cold War strategy of encirclement was more aggressive in design than simple containment. America's goal, in Brzezinski's words, was to "shape a political context that is congenial to Russia's assimilation into a larger framework of European cooperation." That is to say, Russia would be pushed toward the right choice -- democratization and decentralization -- and pay a price if it chose poorly...  On the one hand, steadily tightening a military noose around Russia -- ultimately to include Ukraine and Georgia -- would constrain its imperial ambitions, the integration of democracies along the Russian periphery into the European community would push Russia toward political and economic reform. 

On the other hand, should Russia ultimately push back against the West's broken commitments and military encirclement...it would demonstrate to the world that Russia continued to harbor imperial ambitions and remained a threat to the rest of the world, justifying punitive measures to further isolate Russia economically and politically. It was a win-win strategy: Either outcome would serve America's interests in the region...

 ...Despite the talk of partnership, the fact is that the United States has consistently pursued aggressive and hostile policies designed to contain Russia, and -- if Brzezinski has his way -- ultimately see Russia broken up into a confederation of smaller states. Yet, by and large, the American media has bought into the dominant narrative, and ignored the deeper strategy at play. America's core strategy remains intact, and from the Brzezinski perspective everything is on track. Vladimir Putin has not been the master strategist of the media's imagination, the puppetmaster who has outfoxed American at every turn. Instead, he has long been caught in a trap, his actions manipulated in a game of power and strategy that goes back decades and in which he is playing a role, not writing the script.

Ukraine and the people of Ukraine are merely pawns in the Great Game according to this theory. Perhaps but there are major flaws in the comparison. According to Foreign Policy "NATO Expansion Didn't Set Off the Ukrainian Crisis". Russia hasn't been "encircled" by the West -- Vladimir Putin simply wants to be able to invade his neighbors at will.

First off, it took no pressure at all to draw the former Warsaw Pact countries into NATO.  They had been under Moscow's heel in times past and wanted no more of it.  NATO was their guarantee.  And Russia made it even easier by continuing to bully her former colonies even after the breakup of the USSR before the first round of NATO expansion occurred when the Czech Republic, Hungary, and Poland joined in 1999.

In 1992 and 1993 -- after Russia formally recognized the independence of Estonia, Latvia, and Lithuania -- Moscow cut off energy supplies to these small, reborn democracies in an attempt to pressure them into keeping Russian military forces and intelligence officers on their sovereign territory. From 1997 to 2000, according to former U.S. Ambassador to Lithuania Keith C. Smith, Russia cut off oil shipments to the country no less than nine times after it refused to sell refineries to a Russian state company. To this day, the Russian Foreign Ministry maintains that the Baltic republics -- which Russia militarily conquered, occupied, and subjugated for nearly five decades -- "voluntarily joined the Soviet Union in 1940 (3)." The Balts didn't become part of NATO until 2004. Given this history, is it any wonder why these countries -- or any other country victimized by Soviet-imposed tyranny -- would want to join the alliance? Is it NATO's fault for saying OK?

As Swedish Foreign Minister Carl Bildt aptly pointed out on Twitter recently, it was the "historic failure of Russia that a quarter of a century after fall of Soviet Union the new generations in its neighbors see it as an enemy," while, "A generation or two after 1945 Germany is surrounded by countries that, after all the horrible pain and suffering, see it as a friend."

(1) For those interested in the history of the CIA in Afghanistan, read Steve Coll's Ghost Wars
(2) For those interested in Russia and Ukraine in the "roaring 90s", read Casino Moscow by Zbigniew's nephew Matthew Brzezinski. 
(3) In the same kind of referendum in which Crimea "volunteered" to rejoin Russia.

Walk along the River

Enough crisis for a while.

I took my camera today when the dogs and I walked along the river.  Early this spring it was dry enough and windy enough that they got the best burn off of old reeds ever.  It was the first time in 6 years that I could see this much of the Yellow River, after which the city was named.  By late summer the reeds will be 3 meters or more tall again.

Took a picture of the new road over the river east of our place. The old picture from I think 2010 was taken from the same spot so you can see how much of an improvement it has made for traffic.

Old road c. 2010

Rebuilt this past winter

The burnoff made for lush green grass along the river

The burned off area is showing green through the burnt stubble

Village across the way

None of this is visible once the reeds grow tall