Battlefield Ukraine

Pulling the Trigger

As President Petrov surveyed the faces of the advisors seated at the conference table before him, he felt confident in what he was about to say next. “Gentlemen, it is now time to initiate Operation Red Storm,” he announced. “Our military is in position, and so are our political operatives throughout eastern Ukraine. Our agitators are going to start their operation in Kiev tomorrow morning.”

The men before him were not generally very expressive, but Petrov could see a few smiles. This put him in a good mood as he continued, “I have spoken with our Chinese colleagues, and they have also begun to initiate their own plans. The Americans are about to be blindsided in the Pacific, just as we move to liberate eastern Ukraine from the fascist government in Kiev.”

The President gestured towards his foreign minister, “Minister Kozlov will deliver our message to the world during his news conference tonight. Our ambassador to the UN will also present our resolution for a free election in eastern Ukraine for the people to decide whether or not to leave the central government to form their own government. The resolution will be backed by the Chinese UN ambassador, along with five other nations who support us on the security council. Once the resolution and ultimatum are delivered, our forces will cross the border as ‘peacekeepers’ to keep the central government from disrupting the vote. Once the vote is completed, we will issue our ultimatum to the NATO forces; they will have ten days to withdraw across the Dnieper River, and ten more days to withdraw from Ukraine altogether,” Petrov said excitedly. This was the first step in rebuilding Russia as the predominant world power.

His advisors all ate up his words like candy. As the meeting broke up, President Petrov signaled for Minister Kozlov to stay behind. “Sergey — are things really in place and ready with the Chinese?” he asked, looking for reassurance that the Chinese would hold up their end of the arrangement.

Minister Kozlov was resolute in his response. “Yes, Mr. President. The Chinese are in agreement; once our forces cross into the Ukraine, they are going to start to dump their US Treasury notes and begin to call on the United States to repay its debt. This will cause the US markets to go into a tailspin and force the Americans to have to deal with their own domestic financial mess. The Chinese will also issue their own declaration, stating their intent to reestablish their Greater China initiative.”

Petrov smiled devilishly. Operation Red Storm was a complex operation that had taken years to develop in secrecy. He was excited to see that it was finally starting to fall into place. They had nearly called it off when President Gates had won the election, but the incredible success of the hacking stories and complete fascination by the American people with their attempted intrusions led Petrov and the Chinese to believe they could get away with just about anything.