Original subtitles

(whooshing)

(lively instrumental music)

- [Reporter] Here in Kiev in recent days,

the Maidan, Independence Square,

has turned into a full-scale war zone.

- [Reporter] More clashes in Ukraine's capital Kiev.

(tense instrumental music)

- [Man] There is absolutely no doubt

that snipers are working here.

I counted 10 bodies.

- [Reporter] Now on the brink of civil war,

at least 70 dead so far,

and the death toll rising.

- What we saw here today was a revolution.

(yells in foreign language)

- We have invested over $5 billion to assist Ukraine

in these and other goals.

- NATO has expanded into 13 countries

up to the borders of Russia, 13 countries.

- The focus has to be not allowing this crisis

to turn into a hot war between Ukraine and Russia.

(gentle instrumental music)

(moves into dramatic instrumental music)

- [Narrator] Ukraine, it's an ancient and proud land

with a rich history,

filled with much beauty, heroism and sacrifice.

Ukraine is a border land,

a place where east meets west.

This is the flag of Ukraine.

The blue represents the sky.

The gold, its seeming endless fields of wheat.

Ukraine is a prize many have sought

and much blood was spilled in the quest to possess it.

Ukraine has been the path for the western powers

as they attempted to conquer the east

in World War I and World War II,

and every time, the Ukrainian people

ended up paying the highest price

for these grand games of power.

"History doesn't repeat but it surely rhymes,"

said Mark Twain.

If one looks closely at the history of Ukraine,

one will notice many rhymes.

Being surrounded by stronger powers,

Ukraine has needed a lot of cunning to survive,

and the art they truly mastered with time

is the art of changing sides

In the middle of the 17th century,

Ukrainian leader Bogdan Khmelnitskiy

broke a truce agreement made with Poland,

siding with more powerful Russia.

Just over 50 years later,

as the Russian-Swedish war was raging

another Ukrainian leader Ivan Mazepa

broke the Union with Russia when he switched sides,

joining forces with the Swedish invaders.

Many times Ukrainian history was written by third parties.

Seeking to keep the gains of a revolution at any cost,

Russia agreed to the humiliating conditions

of the Brest-Litovsk treaty of 1918,

which turned Ukraine into a German protectorate.

Another historical document that changed the fate of Ukraine

was the Molotov-Ribbentrop pact of 1939,

one of many such agreements being signed

between European countries and rising Germany.

Attempting to protect his nation

from the approaching Nazi threat,

Joseph Stalin negotiated a treaty

of non-aggression with Adolf Hitler.

While promising each other peace,

the Soviet and German foreign ministers,

Molotov and Ribbentrop, realigned the map of eastern Europe,

splitting it into German and Soviet spheres of influence.

(tense instrumental music)

No sooner had the Molotov-Ribbentrop pact been signed,

then Poland was split.

And in September of 1939,

eastern Poland awoke to be western Ukraine and a part

of the family of the Soviet republics and the USSR.

But even this bold dividing

of land and nations only delayed the inevitable.

Germany broke its promise to the USSR.

On June 22nd 1941, Germany invaded the USSR,

launching Barbarossa, the largest military operation

in world history.

Barbarossa was aiming for Saint-Petersburg,

Moscow and Kiev, Ukraine,

three destinations of major significance.

Ukraine, with its rich lands and resources,

was an important industrial and economic source

for the USSR.

To cut it off from the Soviet Union

would strike a big blow indeed.

For most of the Soviet Union, the Second World War was

about fighting the invaders of their land,

but it wasn't quite so simple for Ukraine.

The truth is Ukraine has never been a united country.

When World War II broke out,

a large part of western Ukraine's population

welcomed the German soldiers as liberators

from the recently forced upon them Soviet rule

and openly collaborated with the Germans.

The real scale of collaboration was not announced

for many decades after the war,

but we now know that whole divisions

and battalions were formed by Ukrainian collaborators,

such as SS Galizien, Nachtigal and Roland battallions.

Just in the beginning of the war,

more than 80,000 people from Galicino region

voluntarily enrolled into division SS Galizien

in a month and a half.

Notorious for their extreme cruelty towards

the Polish, Jewish and Russian people

on the territory of Ukraine.

Members of these military groups came mostly

from the Organization of Ukrainian Nationalists, the OUN.

Founded in 1929, this organization had an ultimate goal

of creating an ethnically pure, independent Ukraine

and considered terror an acceptable tool

for achieving their ends.

Their official flag was black and red, land and blood.

It will remain in Ukraine's history long after the OUN

will cease to exist.

In early 1940, the most radical nationalistic part

of the organization of Ukrainian nationalists

got its own leader, Stepan Bandera.

Severely anti-Semitic and anti-communist,

he proclaimed an independent Ukraine in 1941.

His German allies frowned upon such an act of self-will

and it landed him in prison

for nearly all of the Second World War.

Not participating in the events physically,

Bandera still managed to successfully spread his ideology.

Many independent historians estimate

that the OUN militia exterminated

from 150,000 to 200,000 Jews

on the Ukrainian territory occupied by the Germans

by the end of 1941.

(somber instrumental music)

The most notorious and outrageous massacre

took place September 29th and 30th, 1941 in Babi Yar, Kiev.

All kikes of the city of Kiev and its vicinity must appear

on Monday, September 29th by eight o'clock in the morning.

Bring documents, money and valuables,

and also warm clothing, linen, et cetera.

Any kikes who do not follow this order

and are found elsewhere will be shot.

33,771 Jews were killed in this two day operation

of the Nazis and Ukrainian militia.

Another outrageous massacre was carried out

by the Ukrainian insurgent army and the Bandera faction

of the Organization of Ukrainian Nationalists

in German occupied Polish Wolyn and eastern Galicia

in 1943 and 1944.

This genocide of Poles was led by Mykola Lebed.

35,000 to 60,000 in Wolyn and 25,000 to 40,000

in eastern Galicia fell victim

to this massive ethnic cleansing operation.

Sensing the inevitable loss of the German troops,

the Organization of Ukrainian Nationalists

gave up on their former ally and began fighting equally

against Germans and Soviet forces.

In January 1943, USSR troops started pushing the Nazis back,

liberating one part of Ukraine after another.

Western Ukraine was the last Ukrainian region held

by the Germans, finally being liberated in October of 1944.

Bandera's bands continued to wage their guerrilla war

against the Soviet regime, carrying out bloody raids

on Ukrainian villages and towns

and leaving behind chaos and casualties.

This war went on till the middle of the 1950s

when the last collaborators were either detained

or fled the country.

On May 7th, 1945, Germany unconditionally surrendered

to the Allies.

Ukraine remained a part of the Soviet Union.

The peace after the Second World War was short-lived.

The United States and the Soviet Union,

nations who allied together,

along with England to defeat the Nazis,

tragically became foes as the Cold War began.

The era of political and military tension

between the US and the USSR lasted for nearly 45 years,

keeping humanity under the constant threat of nuclear war.

In this battle, the United States never lost sight

of Ukraine's importance.

US intelligence kept a close eye

on Ukrainian nationalist organizations

as a possible source of counter-intelligence

against the Soviet Union.

CIA documents that just recently have been declassified

show strong ties between US intelligence

and Ukrainian nationalists since 1946.

From the CIA agency report,

it is clear that they were not mistaken

about the nature of Ukrainian nationalist organizations

or their leader, Stepan Bandera himself.

According to an OSS report of September 1945,

Bandera had earned a fierce reputation

for conducting a reign of terror during World War II.

After the Second World War,

Bandera and other Ukrainian Nazi leaders

fled to Europe where the CIA helped them hide.

The CIA later informed

the Immigration and Naturalization Service

that it had concealed Stepan Bandera

and other Ukrainians from Soviets.

The operations involving Ukrainians continued

for many years.

The Nuremberg trials of 1945 and 1946

brought the political, economic and military leaders

of fascist Germany to justice

and revealed to the world the monstrous face of Nazism

and the crimes they committed.

But the Ukrainian Nazis were spared the same fate

and some were even granted indulgences by the CIA.

By 1954, the agency excused the illegal activities

of the OUN's security branch

in the name of Cold War necessity.

In 1949, Mykola Lebed, the man responsible

for the massacres in Wolyn was moved to the United States,

where he died in 1989 without ever being investigated

or pursued as a war criminal.

The CIA moved to protect Ukrainian nationalist leader,

Mykola Lebed, from criminal investigation

by Immigration and Naturalization Service in 1952.

Perhaps Bandera lost his use to the US

or maybe KGB agents outsmarted the CIA,

but in 1959, Stepan Bandera,

the leader of the Ukrainian nationalists,

was killed in Munich,

where he was hiding under the name of Stefan Popel.

It would be fair to say that Bandera became a major symbol

of Ukrainian nationalism by sheer chance

for he wasn't neither its only nor its most powerful one.

Dmytro dontsov was the father

of the far right totalitarian doctrine in Ukraine.

Andriy Melnyk the leader of another fraction of the OUN.

Roman Shukhevych was the general

of the Ukrainian insurgent army,

and others contributed greatly to the movement.

Bandera's dangerous ideology,

suppressed by the communist authorities

but supported by external forces, never really died.

The seeds of Ukrainian nationalism were passed

from generation to generation.

Unfortunately, it was just a matter of time

before they would once again blossom.

In 1954, Ukraine's territory was expanded even more

when Nikita Khrushchev, the leader of the USSR

and an Ukrainian himself

generously gave the Crimean region to Ukraine.

Historians would argue about the legitimacy of this transfer

for many years to come.

And 60 years after Khrushchev's gift,

dramatic new events would take place in Crimea

- The eyes of the world are on Ukraine

as the crisis in Crimea continues.

Dozens of heavily armed men

seized government buildings in Crimea.

- Should Ukraine just shrug its shoulders

and say, okay, Crimea is lost?

- [Narrator] And the old arguments would heat up once again.

The Cold War would heat up and cool down by turns

while both rivals

were obsessively building up military capacity.

The turning point took place when the new era, Perestroika

came to the USSR with its new leader, Mikhail Gorbachev,

in the middle of the 1980s.

Perestroika meant restructuring

towards liberalization and democratization.

It certainly had a positive impact

on the international situation.

- Astonishing news from East Germany,

where the East German authorities have said, in essence,

that the Berlin wall doesn't mean anything anymore

- [Narrator] But inside the USSR, the weakening

of Kremlin control had different consequences.

In Ukraine, a nationalistic political organization,

Narodniy Rukh, or People's Movement

emerged in 1989 due to this new openness.

- [Narrator] They advocated for independence of Ukraine

from the USSR and became an incubator

for leaders of Ukrainian neo-Nazism.

In 1991, one of them, Oleh Tyahnybok, founded Svoboda,

an openly radical nationalistic party

preaching the good old principles of Bandera.

- [Narrator] Purge Ukraine from Jews and Russians,

Ukraine for Ukrainians, and so on.

His statements got him the fifth place

in the Simon Wiesenthal Center

Top 10 Anti-Semitic World Leader rankings of 2012.

- [Narrator] But also, sadly, attracted numerous followers.

Dmitri Yarosh founded another extreme right organization

Trizub or Trident in 1994.

In April 2013, Yarosh became an assistant

to a member of parliament from the opposition party Udar

Later that same year,

he would become the leader

of the most radical Ukrainian Nazi group, the Right Sector.

Andriy Parubiy would soon appearing leading a whole army

of ultra-nationalist warriors

and the torch marches would once again

light up the streets of Ukrainian cities.

The world drastically changed in August 1991

when the USSR de-facto ceased to exist.

The global political map welcomed many newcomers,

Ukraine one of them.

In modern history,

it was the first time Ukraine was truly independent

and all on its own.

- The red flag came down over the Kremlin tonight

as president Gorbachev resigned

and brought to an end seven decades

of communist rule in the Soviet Union.

- [Narrator] The years after the disintegration of the USSR

became known as crazy '90s

in all the post-Soviet territories.

- He's leaving behind 15 independent states

which share only a disastrous economy

and an uncertain future.

- [Narrator] After having been

under a government-controlled economy,

the free market dramatically changed the rules of the game.

New businesses emerged instantly

and the first oligarchs were born overnight.

The former country with no class division

suddenly became stratified,

the chosen few became rich

while the rest had to fight to survive

- [Narrator] The people's growing discontent

made Ukraine more vulnerable to outside forces

and a new kind of warfare was launched,

one not known before, the color revolutions.

- [Reporter] Demonstrators clash with police,

hundreds of thousands protesting the results of the election

and calling for a new vote.

- [Narrator] Ukraine has had two color revolutions

in its 24 years of its independence.

In 2004, crowds of people descended upon Kiev,

marking the start of the Orange Revolution.

At that time, Ukraine became once again a battlefield

of two forces, the Russian and western governments.

The culmination of this conflict took place

during the presidential elections in November of 2004.

The two major candidates, Western-backed Viktor Yushchenko

and Russian-leaning Viktor Yanukovich

almost equally shared the votes of Ukrainians.

By the way, calling Viktor Yushchenko western-backed

is not an exaggeration.

His wife, Kateryna Yushchenko,

is a former US state department official

and worked in the white house

during the Reagan administration.

The division was along geographic lines.

Traditionally Russian eastern Ukraine

voted for Yanukovich,

while western Ukraine chosen Yushchenko.

By the announced results,

Viktor Yushchenko lost to Viktor Yanukovich

but thousands of people didn't agree with it

and they came to the central square of Kiev

on the 22nd of November.

The situation received wide news coverage.

- [Reporter] The country's election commission

ignored reports of fraud,

declaring Kremlin-backed Viktor Yanukovich the winner.

- [Narrator] International politicians

such as former General Secretary of NATO, Javier Solana,

became frequent guests in Kiev,

initiating negotiations between the parties.

- [Narrator] The results of the negotiations, however,

were often reached only on paper.

Thus, Yushchenko never told his supporters

to stop blocking the government buildings in central Kiev.

Therefore these non-violent and very orange protests

lasted for a month, during which time

the previous election results were annulled,

marred by massive corruption,

and new elections were announced

An important nuance, just 3 months before,

Viktor Yushchenko became a victim

to a mysterious and still unsolved poisoning

but it didn't prevent him from winning in the new election.

Though as we shall soon see,

there was much more than just the people's will

that led to this victory.

This peaceful revolution and its leader

were warmly welcomed by the international community

but the euphoria didn't last long.

Yushchenko's government completely failed with reforms

and lost its chance to establish democracy,

instead descending into in-fighting.

Viktor Yushchenko was not reelected for a second term

but at the end of his presidency,

he had time to make one last gift

to his supporters from western Ukraine

- [Narrator] The hero status

of Stepan Bandera was short-lived.

In 2010, Viktor Yanukovich was elected president.

This time the international community had no doubts

about the legitimacy of the elections.

In January 2011, Viktor Yanukovich

repealed the hero title of Bandera.

Almost four years into his presidency, though,

another revolution shook Ukraine.

Unfortunately, this one was anything but peaceful.

(speaking in foreign language)

- Mr. Yanukovich, I am an American.

I'm an outsider to this situation and it's very complicated

but I would like, as a filmmaker,

just to jump into the action

and go to those moments in November 2013.

You're president of the Ukraine,

you've been president for three years at this point.

The country is in a bad economic shape, very bad.

You have a trade agreement with Russia

and now you're seeking to make a better agreement

with the EU, with the European Union,

and you're negotiating.

Can you bring me to that moment and what you were thinking?

- [Reporter] Violent clashes erupted

in the Ukrainian capital, Kiev

as more than 100,000 people protested

against government decision

to delay an association deal with the EU.

- Vitaliy, you were the Minister of Interior Affairs

for the Ukraine during this period

and you were Chief of Police, essentially of the country.

Can you tell me your version of what happened

from November protests through February protests?

- [Narrator] Arseniy Yatsenuk,

leader of the opposition party Fatherland,

Oleh Tyahnybok, leader of the opposition nationalist

far right radical party Svoboda,

Vitali Klitschko, leader of the opposition party Udar.

- [Reporter] Both EU and Ukrainian officials said

on Thursday, the suspension of talks on closer ties

could be revived after the two-day meeting,

but officials said the deal was off the table for now.

- [Reporter] Pro-EU protests on the streets of Kiev

enter their second day.

The crowd of around 1,000 protesters were joined

by the leader of the opposition,

the reigning world boxing champion, Vitali Klitschko.

He called on the demonstrators

to maintain pressure on the government

after it decided not to sign a major trade deal with the EU.

- You go back to Kiev the next day

after the meeting with Merkel

and protests are up, am I right?

Can you take me through that period?

- [Narrator] Robert Parry

is a longtime investigative journalist

based in Washington DC,

best known for his major disclosures

about the Iran-Contra scandal in 1980s.

He is the founder of Consortiumnews,

where he has reported extensively on the crisis in Ukraine

and the forces behind the unrest.

- An NGO is a non-governmental organization.

Now many NGOs are quite legitimate.

They represent good causes, maybe they help people

in a country feed or deal with water problems

or deal with various kinds of social problems.

But there are some NGOs that have become funded

by government entities

and serve more the purpose of that government

rather than trying to serve the people

that they are ostensibly working for.

One thing we saw in the 1980s,

at that point the Central Intelligence Agency

had been largely discredited

because of the scandals that had been exposed in the 1970s.

- [Reporter] For 15 years, the CIA had secretly financed

overseas activities of the National Students Associations,

but then there came to light a fantastic web

of CIA penetrations.

- So when the Reagan administration came in,

there was this concept that instead of having the CIA

which traditionally would go

into these different target countries

funding their media, funding NGOs,

funding different political operations,

that was essentially farmed out to a new organization

called the National Endowment for Democracy,

which was created in 1983.

And it would do pretty much what the agency used to do.

It would go into one of these countries

and it would support various political groups,

train activists, deal with journalists, business groups

and try to advance US foreign policy interests,

sometimes against the interests

of the host government, the target government.

And beyond that, they received financial

and other logistical help

from the National Endowment for Democracy

and other US agencies that helped them training activists,

working with journalists

to get their side presented more favorably.

They work on things like how do you get traction,

how do you get things to go viral,

how do you then use that to generate support for your cause.

- [Narrator] And support was generated.

Mustafa Nayem, a founder of one

of Ukraine's new media outlets

- [Narrator] Hromadske. tv knew very well

how to make something go viral.

It was his notorious Facebook post

on November 21st, 2013

that brought the first crowds to Maidan.

- [Narrator] "If you don't read the newspaper,

you are uninformed.

If you read the newspaper, you are misinformed," Mark Twain.

To deliver your message efficiently enough

in the modern world with so many different technologies

and means of communications, you must embrace them all.

As the disturbing events of Euromaidan started

on November 21st, 2013,

three new TV channels went on the air

and suddenly became stunningly popular in Ukraine.

Spilno. tv, November 21st,

Hromadske. tv, November 22nd

and Espreso. tv, November 24th.

Directly from opposition protests,

these channels went viral,

supporting the protests and encouraging more and more people

to come to Maidan.

(yells in foreign language)

- [Narrator] November 30th of 2013

became the first turning point of Euromaidan

and one of its most reported and mysterious events.

- [Reporter] After riot police

attacked peaceful protesters with clubs...

It happened early in the morning hours.

Eyewitnesses that were there say

that the police did use truncheons.

- [Narrator] Coincidentally, Serhiy Lyovochkin

is a close associate to many US politicians.

The security service of Ukraine had evidence

that on that night, Lyovochkin was in contact

with the opposition leader Yatsenyuk

where they discussed the clearing of Maidan

on the pretext of installing the annual Christmas tree.

News media reported

that the riot police cruelly attacked the students

peacefully sleeping in their tents

but scenes from the event seem to tell a different story.

It appears that the protesters were waiting for the police.

Additionally, there were dozens of journalists

and cameramen from all the new public TV news outlets

prepared to covered the events.

And most ominously, group of well trained young men

arrived to Maidan almost simultaneously

with the riot police.

They infiltrated the crowd and began provocations

with insults, stones and torches

- The Right Sector in Ukraine

represents a part of the Ukrainian population

that has often favored fairly extreme right-wing positions.

They had militias

that came especially during the Maidan protests.

There were groups that were being shipped into Kiev

where they would provide the muscle, in effect,

for the demonstrations.

So the demonstrations went

from being relatively peaceful political protests

to being increasingly violent.

- [Narrator] The first step in any detective work

is to establish a motive.

It is now said that Serhiy Lyovochkin

is held in high esteem by his powerful US friends.

Outraged by what was reported in the news,

the Ukrainian people came out in force on the next day

to vent their anger with the police actions.

- The violence started to take off when?

- [Narrator] As veiled and masked

as the color revolutions can be,

an attentive viewer can see a subtle patterns

and similarities revealing their true nature.

To make crowds act as one obedient group,

they have to be united at the unconscious level.

The masterminds of color revolutions know this well

and have perfected the art.

Symbolism is one of the most powerful tools

to achieve this end.

Revolutionary political organizations

with surprisingly similar names

and even more similar logos

have appeared time and again

almost as omens marking the countries that would be hit

by the color plague next.

They are often described as being aware and active,

when they're actually trained and radical.

They are the ones who take the first shot,

literal and metaphorical

to transform the peaceful protests

into full-blown coup d'etats.

Their fingerprints can be found everywhere

on the map of color revolutions.

Using all the experience of past generations,

simple but effective tools

like catchy singalongs and chanting are employed.

- [Narrator] Well known for exciting the crowd

and creating the group identity,

they depersonalize individuals

and make them easier to manipulate.

- [Narrator] Incidentally, one such organization,

Hromadske. tv, received generous donations

from the Dutch and US embassies

as well as from the Renaissance Foundation,

an NGO founded by George Soros.

- I've set up a foundation in Ukraine

before Ukraine became independent of Russia

and the foundation has been functioning ever since

and it played a important part in events now.

- [Narrator] "I like criticism,

"but it must be my way,” Mark Twain.

- Did you see any evidence of US involvement?

Did you feel a presence from the US?

- We will be back here, on this square,

to celebrate with you a Ukraine

that stands together with Europe

and stands with the United States.

- Well, members of congress were visiting Ukraine

during that period.

Most famously, Congressman John McCain.

So some of the people who were challenging their government,

their elected government at that point,

were being told by the senior US official,

a person who ran for president,

and a top official in the US Congress

that the US was with them.

- I'm senator John McCain and it's always a pleasure

to be back in Ukraine

- Senator McCain was, in a sense, giving the people

in the Maidan a feeling that they had the backing

of the most powerful country on Earth.

- This is about the future you want for your country.

This is about the future you deserve.

- Who was your highest level contact at the US government

in this period?

- And the US Ambassador?

- In early February of 2014

as the Maidan crisis was getting more violent,

there was a phone call that was intercepted.

It was a call between the Assistant Secretary of State

for European Affairs, Victoria Nuland,

and the US Ambassador to Ukraine, Geoffrey Pyatt.

- Questions of credibility are being raised

after a private chat between two top US diplomats

was leaked online.

- [Victoria] I think Yats is the guy

who's got the economic experience,

the governing experience.

What he needs is Klitsch and Tyahnybok on the outside

I just think Klitsch going in,

he's going to be at that level working for Yatsenyuk,

it's just not going to work.

- [Geoffrey] Yeah, no, I think that's right.

Okay, good, do you want us to try to set up a call with him

as the next step? - Sullivan's come back to me,

VFR saying you need Biden and I said probably tomorrow

for an atta-boy and to get the deets to stick.

So Biden's willing. - Okay.

- So you had this remarkable phone call

where you have these two senior officials

of the US government apparently talking about coup

or how they were planning

to restructure the government of Ukraine.

- Fuck the EU. - No, exactly.

- I'm not saying the whole US government feels that way.

There is division on this,

but the neoconservative element wants very much

to change the strategic dynamic in the eastern Europe.

The neocons are very smart people

and they've been at this for a long time.

They came in around the issue of propaganda.

They studied how to create hot buttons

for the American people.

They had this experience

when they were getting the American people to get excited

about Central America back in the 1980s.

- Sandinista regular army, their ground force

is being equipped now with Russian artillery.

- And they've been applying

those same strategies ever since.

They remain very dedicated to achieving their goals.

They still want to get rid of certain governments.

They want a regime change in Syria, for instance.

Regime change in Iran.

They're very skilled at this

and they have a lot of allies now inside the news media,

inside the government,

and that means that they can do a lot

to control the narrative of any story.

- I think in america these days

we have somehow told ourselves

that there are a lot of ways of dealing with these problems

other than hard power.

Viadimir Putin cares about hard power.

- The neoconservatives can now demonize a leader

of a country.

That sells with the american people.

So you don't just argue a policy, you attack the leader.

So the neoconservatives became very skilled

at picking out leaders, finding their ugly traits,

and then highlighting them.

Yanukovich, you might say

was a rather clunky political leader,

but you make him into a devil.

He's totally corrupt and he's evil

and he wants to kill people in the Maidan,

these wonderful white-hatted demonstrators.

You've got a black hat versus white hat.

And you keep repeating that basic scenario

and it works with American people.

- You got to realize what Viadimir Putin is.

He's an old KGB colonel that wants

to restore the Russian empire

- You make them into demons

and the American people find that,

the way they can understand the world.

Once that happens, it's very difficult for journalists

or anyone else to say,

hold it, that guy, he's got more of a gray hat

than a white hat or a black hat.

And if you say that, you're suddenly a Yanukovich apologist

or you're a Putin apologist

and then the attacks come onto the person saying it,

the journalist, the academic or whoever.

- [Narrator] Any good director will tell you

that tempo and rhythm are the most essential components

to hold an audience's attention.

- [Narrator] It can also be called a method of betrayal

when the allies and followers are relentlessly thrown

into the revolutionary flame.

The idea is simple.

When the preparation work is done,

the trigger just needs to be pulled

to set the machine into full motion.

The murder of politician Rafik Hariri

led the Cedar Revolution.

Looking back at the mysterious poisoning

of Viktor Yushchenko

right before the Orange Revolution of 2004,

we now see that he became the sacred victim himself.

Most political analysts believe

that compassion of the Ukrainian people at that moment

tilted the scales, giving him the presidency.

The number of victims among protesters

during Euromaidan totalled over 100.

They are called the Heavenly Hundred.

All the sacred victims were immediately mythologized.

The beating of students on November 30th, 2013

was the obvious trigger of Euromaidan.

Those who sent trained provocateurs to the square

very well realized that peaceful protesters were the ones

who would get hurt the most.

It's hard to keep protests going for months on end.

Tensions subside and people inevitably get tired.

Holidays are also a big danger

for revolutionary masterminds.

People want to be home with their families and friends,

and one needs to get inventive to keep people

in a cold tent city.

(lively instrumental music)

On Christmas day of 2013, tabloid journalist

and political wannabe, Tetiana Chornovol

was chosen to become the tool

to whip the protests on Maidan back up.

- A civic activist and journalist

known for investigating corruption amongst senior officials

was beaten outside Ukraine's capital on Christmas.

- [Narrator] Her heroic deeds as a reported

looked more like petty crimes.

Trespassing on the presidential residence

of Viktor Yanukovich,

leading a rioting crowd

to seize the Kiev City administration building,

breaking into a car of the security service of Ukraine.

It looked like Tetiana was more interested in making news

than reporting it, and gaining name recognition

that could be turned into votes

for her struggling political career

in the opposition party Fatherland.

She gave the world media a Christmas present in 2013

when she was cruelly beaten

by unknown assailants on the road.

Despite the fact that in just three days

all the suspects were arrested and confessed

to beating Tetiana during a road rage incident,

world media kept insisting upon the political background

of that crime.

Instantaneously, Tetiana became a heroic martyr

uniting people around her image.

- The beating, coming amid political turmoil in Ukraine,

this has drawn a protest.

- [Narrator] Euromaidan was once again center stage

and Tetiana in less than two months after the assault,

she was already healthy enough

to attack the office of Party of Regions,

the party of Viktor Yanukovich.

- [Narrator] One of the staff members,

65-year-old IT specialist, Viadimir Zaharov

was killed during the attack

So, where is Tetiana now?

Well, she finally got her position of power

in the new government.

One month later the time for another act in the play came.

Armenian Ukrainian protester Sergei Nigoyan

was one of the first to arrive on Maidan.

He wasn't radical or violent

but instead, naive and full of hope.

Watching Sergei read a patriotic poem

is like watching a casting tape

for the role of a sacred victim.

- [Narrator] Unfortunately, Sergei got the part.

Betrayed by his brothers in arms,

this video would eventually go viral

after Sergei was killed early in the morning

of January 22nd, 2014.

The circumstances of his death remain unknown to this day

even though the whole area

of protest was heavily filmed at that time.

There were no records or witnesses to help the investigation

and his body was moved immediately

from the scene of the crime.

Sergei became the first killed martyr of Euromaidan.

And in a heartbeat,

the police officers were appointed as his killers.

Almost two years later,

the official investigation would still deliver no results.

Now it is widely believed Nigoyan's murder was staged

by provocateurs to escalate the conflict.

God speaks to people with the language of signs.

On January 26, 2014, Pope Francis prayed for Ukraine,

addressing thousands of people at St. Peter's Square

in Vatican City.

(speaks in foreign language)

After the prayer, two white doves were released

from the papal window and were immediately attacked

by a crow and seagull.

Those who understand the language

could easily read the meaning of this omen.

Soon, great forces, the seagull and the crow,

would be tearing apart two Slavic nations, the white doves.

This omen gave hope to the Ukrainian people,

saying that by God's will, the doves would be saved

but it also predicted severe hardship and many victims.

(tense instrumental music)

The events which could enter into the history

of the color revolutions

as the most massive human sacrifice yet

arrived right on schedule, one month later.

- [Reporter] For weeks, this European capital

has been the scene of a violent uprising.

Today, the bloodiest day yet.

- [Reporter] The protesters are pushing up

towards the government district.

Armed here with Molotov cocktails,

but we saw handguns and shotguns too.

There are casualties on both sides.

(speaks in foreign language)

- She just said that there are six dead people up there.

Not just injured, dead.

They said they've been hit by snipers.

- [Narrator] And here again we meet our old acquaintance

from Narodniy Rukh, Andriy Parubiy,

who was at the peak of his glory

as a self-proclaimed commandant of Maidan,

which basically means the leader of the radical opposition.

- [Reporter] The protesters were filmed leading a long line

of riot police away.

It's not clear where they were taking them.

67 officers are currently reported to be missing.

- 14 policemen dead and 43 wounded?

- [Reporter] Earlier from inside the protest camp,

the opposition leader Vitali Klitschko

urged his supporters to stay put.

Each of you here should stay strong in spirit, he said,

because we're not going anywhere.

- [Narrator] Like in 2004, during the Orange Revolution,

the international leaders felt it necessary to intervene

and bring both sides to the negotiating table.

- [Narrator] Laurent Fabius,

Frank-Walter Steinmeier, Radoslaw Sikorski.

- [Reporter] The Ukrainian president and the leaders

of the anti-government protests there

have agreed on a truce.

- [Reporter] The truce was to give talks

between President Yanukovich and the opposition a chance.

- [Narrator] Just like in 2004,

the opposition or at least its radical faction,

the Right Sector, headed by Dmitri Yarosh

had no intention of fulfilling his part of the bargain

- The opposition leaders left saying

they may have found a way to end the bloodshed,

but they wanted to take the conclusions

from their meeting to the people.

It was soon apparent that the people were not happy.

- [Narrator] At the same time,

Kiev was saying its last goodbyes

to the victims of the massacre.

It was also welcoming those who came to power at their cost.

- [Reporter] Ukraine's parliament has voted

for new speaker of the assembly to become interim president.

Oleksandr Turchynov called on lawmakers

to form an interim government by Tuesday.

These latest developments follow the dismissal

of President Viktor Yanukovich on Saturday.

- And they removed Yanukovich

not following the constitutional procedures for impeachment.

- [Narrator] The parliament of Ukraine consists

of 450 deputies.

The constitution of Ukraine requires

at least a 3/4 majority to vote.

In other words, 338 votes in favor of the impeachment,

but only 328 deputies voted yes.

- The US state department almost immediately said

this was a legitimate government

and that was a part of this effort to get regime change.

Instead of trying to find some way

to revive the February 21st agreement

or maybe you could bring back Yanukovich

in some titular way,

that became not a possibility anymore.

Then you had eastern Ukraine resisting,

you had Crimea wanting to break away,

and things rapidly escalate.

- [Reporter] Voters will decide Sunday

whether they'll leave Ukraine and join Russia.

- [Reporter] The campaign with the slogan,

together with Russia, has the backing of Moscow.

- The Crimea situation, the referendum,

is also happening during this period very quickly.

- [Narrator] Crimean authorities,

sensing the mood of the populace,

fully supported Viktor Yanukovich's decision

to postpone the 2013 European Union association deal,

and side deeper ties to Russia.

As the events in Kiev took their course,

Crimean authorities issued a declaration,

putting into words the fears of its people:

"based on the will of the Crimeans who elected us,

"we declare that we will not give Crimea

"to extremists and neo-Nazis

"seeking to seize power in Ukraine

"at the cost of the blood of the country and its citizens.”

After the regime change in Kiev,

rumors began spreading in Crimea

that the new authorities would be merciless

to those that oppose them.

- [Narrator] This led to the pro-Russian demonstrations

rejecting the new government in Kiev.

On February 27th, the government buildings

in the capital of Crimea were seized

by pro-Russian protesters.

The current Crimean government was dismissed

and the new leader, Sergey Aksionov,

was assigned as the leader

of the Crimean autonomous republic.

- [Narrator] On March 16th, the Crimean referendum was held

and the people voted to leave Ukraine

and enter the Russian federation.

- [Narrator] The situation in Crimea is being presented

as a Russian invasion,

and again, nobody who looks at this seriously

and look at the poll numbers.

Some of the poll numbers done

by the US government agencies themselves

showing that people of Crimea prefer being part of Russia.

In the US news media, it has all been presented

as the Russians invaded,

they then staged a sham election.

With people with guns at their backs,

somehow they faked the ballot boxes to get 96% approval

for rejoining Russia.

- The idea of referendum in Crimea

is just quite simply unconstitutional.

- But it does raise questions

on whether this vote really is free and fair,

especially given the heavy military presence

in Crimea right now, Errol.

- So that's how it's been sold to the American people.

The reality is very different.

- The atmosphere here is certainly electric.

Thousands of people have gathered

in the capital Crimean city of Simferopol.

All of this following a referendum held last Sunday

in which the majority of people here overwhelmingly voted

in support of being reunited with Russia.

- [Crowd] Russia, Russia.

- What is described in the west as a Russian invasion

of Crimea is in fact the presence

of Russian soldiers in Crimea.

Can you clarify that?

- [Narrator] As long as 1804, Sevastopol's naval base

became the main military port of the Russian empire

on the Black Sea.

During the Second World War,

the heroic defense of Sevastopol lasted almost a year

and took hundreds of thousands of lives.

Therefore, the naval base in Crimea has a legacy

of historical pride for the Russian Black Sea fleet,

as well as being of huge strategic importance.

(dramatic instrumental music)

- Those of us alive back then remember

when there were Soviet missiles put into Cuba,

how frightened Americans were and how angry

and how we almost went to a nuclear confrontation

over having weapons of that kind of destruction placed

that close to the United States.

- [Narrator] If the United States considers Cuba

to be in its backyard,

then Crimea lays at Russia's doorstep.

- The consequences of a US seizure of that base,

or a NATO base?

- If we're attacked, we would certainly respond.

- I am concerned about the expansion of NATO.

NATO has expanded into 13 countries

up to the borders of Russia, 13 countries.

(tense instrumental music)

- [Narrator] In early spring of 2014,

eastern Ukraine was also buzzing with protests

against the new authorities in Kiev.

This region, with a population close to Russia

geographically and culturally,

feared that the newly formed ultra-right leanings

of the newly formed government

would bring neo-nationalism to their lands,

and they had their reasons.

The status of the Russian language in Ukraine

has been a stumbling block for many years.

- [Reporter] Implementing Russian

as the second state language

was one of the main campaign promises

of President Viktor Yanukovich.

- [Narrator] In 2012, the Yanukovich government passed a law

making it the second official language

in the southern and eastern parts of Ukraine,

the areas where the Russian-speaking population

makes up a majority.

Ukrainian nationalist groups

initiated massive protests opposing the law.

An observing viewer might see some familiar faces there.

- [Narrator] On February 23rd, 2014,

the very next day after the regime change,

the new government voted for an annulment

of the official status of the Russian language,

and even though later this decision was vetoed

by the acting president Oleksandr Turchynov,

it still sent a message, and a powerful one.

This alarmed the Russian-speaking cities of eastern Ukraine

and people took to the streets to show their disagreement.

In response, the pro-Maidan groups

conducted their own demonstrations.

When the two parties would meet, it was always tense

and eventually it lead to tragedy.

One person died and over 50 people were wounded

in clashes during a pro-Russian march

protesting the new government in Kiev.

On April 6th, the Crimean scenario began repeating

in eastern Ukraine,

where protesters seized government buildings.

And the next day, April 7th,

they proclaimed Donetsk, people's republic.

Kiev replied by announcing the beginning

of an anti-terrorist operation in eastern Ukraine.

By that time, the international media was screaming

about a Russian invasion in Ukraine.

- Russia could now be on the verge of invading Ukraine.

- [Narrator] But strong words stayed only in the media.

The Ukrainian authorities

never announced a war-like situation.

Why?

"IMF cannot give money to countries engaged

in ongoing war," Petro Poroshenko.

- [Narrator] Too much money was already invested in Ukraine

to stop half way.

- [Victoria] We've invested over $5 billion

to assist Ukraine in these and other goals

that will ensure a secure and prosperous

and democratic Ukraine.

- [Narrator] Obviously, the funds had to keep coming

and the conflict had to keep going,

getting more and more bloody and deadly.

- [Narrator] As parties from both sides

were using more sophisticated and lethal weapons.

- [Narrator] The world seemed too busy

welcoming this new democracy in Kiev

to notice what was being done

as it spread its wings over the country.

Many in southern Ukraine

had been viewing the revolution with concern

- [Narrator] And an anti-Maidan movement formed

in the city of Odessa in early January 2014.

The protesters set up their camp in front

of the Trade Union house,

a building which would soon become a monument

to a massacre of its own.

It's difficult to overestimate the importance of Odessa.

It is strategically located on the Black Sea

and it's Ukraine's largest seaport.

It's not surprising that Ukraine's new authorities

were watching the situation unfolding there

with growing alarm.

More and more of Odessa's people

were joining the anti-Maidan movement

at the same time as events

in eastern Ukraine were heating up.

The new Ukrainian government didn't have the power

to wage war on too many fronts.

If Odessa were to join the growing uprising

in the eastern regions,

it would seriously complicate the situation.

This rebellion had to be extinguished immediately

and at any cost, and that cost was high.

On May 2nd, 2014, soccer fans flocked

to the center of Odessa city

for the Ukrainian championship match.

Surprisingly, a great number of these fans

who descended into Odessa just the night before

also turned out to be fighters

from the Maidan self-defense units,

along with members of radical organizations

from all parts of Ukraine.

- [Narrator] These fans, masked, armed,

and shouting nationalistic mottos

began disturbances in the center of the city

as they marched to the anti-Maidan tent encampments

where they attacked.

The anti-Maidan protesters sought shelter

in the Trade Union house, but it was a trap.

Maidan supporters started throwing Molotov cocktails

into the building until it was engulfed in flames.

People burnt to death inside or trying to escape,

jumped from the windows.

Although the fire station was less than a mile away,

it took almost half an hour for firefighters to arrive.

When they finally did, the damage had been done.

But here is an intriguing fact.

Just a few days before those dreadful events,

a messenger from Maidan, Andriy Parubiy,

made a visit to Odessa.

It's an interesting coincidence

that some of people he met with in Odessa

were seen at the scene that fateful day.

But not everyone was mourning.

On the popular political talkshow Shuster Live,

the news about the people burnt alive in Odessa

was welcomed with a long round of applause.

- [Narrator] On its Facebook page,

the Right Sector announced the events of May 2nd

a proud moment of national history.

An official investigation into this sad event

has been going on now for nearly two years

and it's yet to reach a conclusion.

But it seems the experts had all the information they needed

from the very beginning.

- [Narrator] It looks like Odessa

really is a very important piece of real estate,

as it was honored with a very special new governor,

appointed on May 30th of 2015.

Mikheil Saakhashvili, an old friend of the United States,

and born and raised

in Ukraine's neighboring country Georgia.

- A little hoedown there in Georgia.

- [Narrator] A quick look at his biography

gives one an understanding that he's been groomed

for a special mission.

- [Narrator] Mr. Saakashvili

received a US state department scholarship

and he worked for a New York law firm

which represented the organization Kmara,

a group that appeared earlier

when we learned about the color revolutions.

- We are dealing with democratic bloodless revolution.

- [Narrator] This is the Revolution of Roses

and this is Mikheil Saakashvili with Kmara,

busy overthrowing the legitimately elected president,

Edward Shevarnadze.

- Remove the government by peaceful means.

That's classic, really European.

I'm proud of it.

- [Narrator] Soon after the Rose Revolution blossomed fully,

Georgia announced its intentions to join NATO

and plant fresh NATO military bases

in the fertile soil right on Russia's border.

- Never ever will we give our freedom and independence.

Never ever will we give any piece of our territory.

- [Narrator] Saakashvili's mission was accomplished

at least with his friends in NATO.

The Georgian populace wasn't quite as happy, though.

In 2007, they took to the streets to voice discontent

and Mr. Saakashvili responded with force.

The people's discontent was grew.

Saakashvili's party lost parliamentary elections

and the opposition took control.

- [Reporter] He said this means

that the parliamentary majority

should set up a new government and me as a president,

according to our constitution.

- [Narrator] Mikheil decided not to wait

for the results of the president's election

and fled the country in October 2013.

In 2014, Saakashvili refused summons to appear in court

as a witness in several criminal cases.

Later that same year,

he was accused of misuse of power and embezzlement.

Saakashvili wound up in the US

and soon his friends in Washington

found him a new assignment.

Mikheil actively supported Maidan

and very soon was rewarded with a high position

in the new Ukrainian government,

first as a the president's counselor,

and then as the governor of Odessa.

The day before taking this position,

he renounced his citizenship to Georgia,

the country of his birth, and became a Ukrainian citizen.

- [Narrator] As they say, the battle is worth the blood

both literally and figuratively.

- [Narrator] Geoffrey Pyatt, the US Ambassador to Ukraine

paid a visit to Saakashvili just a month

after he took office in Odessa.

- And as long as the Odessa administration

is delivering results on Ukraine,

you're going to see a steady flow

of embassy and Washington visitors coming here.

- [Narrator] The meeting was fruitful

and Geoffrey, generous.

No matter how well Saakashvili's job goes,

it looks like he shouldn't be worried

about his own finances.

On his Facebook page, he posted an official document

showing that the new governor of Odessa

gets a pretty penny from Washington, almost $200,000 a year.

For comparison, the governor of Maine gets $70,000 a year.

So if Odessa became a new US state,

it would be at the top of the list.

Mr. Saakashvili should feel right at home

in his newly adopted country.

He is best of friends

with fellow color revolutionary leader, Viktor Yushchenko,

who is the godfather of his son.

- [Narrator] A war, once launched,

doesn't choose its victims.

- We are just learning at this hour that Malaysian Airlines

has now confirmed that it has lost contact

with one of its planes.

- The plane was indeed shot down by a missile

while flying at a high altitude over eastern Ukraine

near the Russian border.

298, revised number of souls on board, all feared dead.

- It was a murder, it was a crime.

There's been this odd nonchalance

about pursuing the answers.

There was a report, a very limited report

put out a few months after the event.

But since then, they said the next report will be

on the first anniversary of the event.

But you deal with a criminal investigation

before it becomes a cold case,

so there's been this curious element

of why is there not greater pressure from both the media

and the Western governments to answer these questions.

- [Narrator] But even without any answers,

the fingers were pointed immediately.

- That's not an accident.

That is happening because of Russian support.

Evidence indicates that the plane was shot down

by a surface-to-air missile

that was launched from the area that is controlled

by Russian-backed separatists inside of Ukraine.

- [Narrator] The Malaysian Boeing wasn't the first plane

to play a significant part

in American-Russian relationships.

On September 1st 1983, Korean Airlines flight 007

from New York to Seoul via Anchorage was shot down

by a Soviet interceptor aircraft over territory

of the USSR in the Sea of Japan.

- There was absolutely no justification,

either legal or moral, for what the Soviets did.

- [Narrator] The tragedy of the Korean Boeing

was considered a perfect occasion

to demonstrate the NATO military power

within dangerous proximity to the Soviets.

On November 2nd, 1983, NATO launched Able Archer,

a 10-day command post exercise

simulating a conflict escalation

culminating in a nuclear attack.

It was followed

by placing Pershing II nuclear missiles in Europe.

What Reagan didn't take into consideration

was the paranoid overreaction of the Soviets.

A recently declassified US intelligence report shows that

for the first time since the Cuban missile crisis

the world was that close to nuclear war.

Just like in 1983, the Malaysian Boeing crash

was leveraged against the enemy.

A new wave of sanctions hit Russia

immediately after the tragedy.

- The United States is imposing new sanctions

in key sectors of the Russian economy.

- [Narrator] Almost a year and three months later,

the Dutch Safety Board published a report.

- Ladies and gentlemen, Flight MH17 crash was caused

because of a 9M314M warhead detonated outside the airplane

off the left side of the cockpit.

- [Narrator] The report didn't blame

any specific group or person

and estimated a very wide area of 320 kilometers

as the zone from which the missile was fired.

At the same time,

the Russian producer of Buk missiles, Almaz-Antey,

conducted its own independent investigation.

- [Narrator] During the experiment,

they blew up retired airliner with a Buk missile

and came to the conclusion

that the Malaysian plane was brought down

by the older type of missiles, not used by Russia anymore

but still in the possession of Ukraine.

The company claims that the missile was launched

from the territory controlled by the Ukrainian military.

One would expect that these controversial results

would again stir up public interest in the investigation,

but the tragedy of Malaysian flight MH17

had already played its role in the big geopolitical game.

Therefore, it was soon forgotten.

The goal was achieved.

After the third wave of sanctions hit Russia,

the tensions between the two countries skyrocketed,

so the question presents itself:

are we truly witnessing the beginning of Cold War 2.0?

And if so, what are our chances to survive it this time?

(dramatic instrumental music)

In 1947, the Bulletin of Atomic Scientists

introduced the Doomsday Clock.

It represents a countdown to global nuclear annihilation.

In 1953, during the height of the Cold War,

it came its closest to midnight

as the superpowers were creating massive nuclear arsenals.

- [Reporter] This is the story

of America's ever-expanding atomic weapons program.

- [Narrator] As the world began to grasp the insane danger

of nuclear warfare and took measures

to control the arms race,

the situation steadily improved.

In 1991, the Doomsday Clock was its

at furthest from midnight, 17 minutes.

That time of hope was short-lived, though,

as the world has become more and more unstable.

But in 2015, the Bulletin of Atomic Scientists

moved the clock to just three minutes to midnight.

- Today, unchecked climate change and a nuclear arms race

resulting from modernization of huge arsenals

pose extraordinary and undeniable threats

to the continued existence of humanity.

- [Narrator] The United States and Russia

have embarked on massive programs

to modernize their nuclear arsenals,

undermining the existing nuclear weapons treaties.

(dramatic instrumental music)

The clock ticks now at just three minutes to midnight

because international leaders are failing

to perform their most important duty:

ensuring and preserving the health and vitality

of human civilization.

(lively Christmas music)

(singing in foreign language)

(gentle instrumental music)