Crimea – the Ukraine war of attrition grinds on ++ Crimea War 1853-56

Ukraine has launched the biggest attack of the war on the home of the Russian navy’s Black Sea fleet in the Crimean city of Sevastopol damaging two Russian naval ships beyond repair. “The demilitarisation of the Russian Black Sea fleet is a real long-term guarantee of security for regional trade routes and the ‘grain corridor’” said a Ukrainian adviser. Putin recently said he would not renew a deal allowing Ukraine to export grain safely through the Black Sea until the west met Moscow’s demands concerning its own agricultural exports. Another key objective is to weaken Russian logistical supplies for their defence lines in the south. Re-taking Crimea may also be a hope down the line but with Russia having turned Crimea into a fortress that prospect may be a long way off – unless Putin or a successor gives up and withdraws.

   The Crimea Invasion started on 20 February 2014 with an Annexation Declaration on 18 March 2014.

  One line of argument might be that the Ukraine Invasion which kicked off on 23 February 2022 spelled the eventual death knell for the Russia Crimea snatch. The 2022 Pluto in Capricorn in place over the Ukraine Invasion was square the earlier Crimea Invasion Mars.  The two Crimea grab charts from 2014 also have Saturn in Scorpio at 23 degrees which is being severely rattled at the moment by tr Uranus in opposition, running into early 2024. The Annexation chart also has an undermining tr Neptune conjunct the Sun now so it may not hold long term. Though any collapse of the Russian stranglehold may not be immediate – with 2026 looking like a possibility.

  The Ukraine chart, 24 August 1991 2.31pm Kiev, has the edgy, uncertain, debilitating tr Neptune opposition Mars on and off until mid February 2024. There is Pluto conjunct the Saturn through 2024/25 which will be a hard slog with deprivation. Though there will be higher hopes and a stroke of luck from June 2024 onwards as tr Uranus squares the Jupiter, boosting national morale into early 2025.

  Zelensky’s Swearing In chart, 20 May 2019 will face its/his greatest challenging in 2025 with tr Uranus conjunct the Sun and tr Neptune square the Mars as well as tr Saturn square the Jupiter.  Though he will be beyond exhausted and that may coincide with a Winston Churchill type departure to recharge his batteries.  His personal chart, 25 January 1978, looks frustrated and blocked in 2023/24 with tr Pluto opposition the Mars with more challenges in the two years thereafter with tr Pluto conjunct his Sun Venus. But his destiny and Ukraine’s may not always be so intertwined.

Footnote: Ramzan Kadyrov, the Chechen warlord and Putin ally, is according to reports critically ill. If he goes Putin’s position gets even draughtier with Prigozhin gone as well.  If his birthdate is sound, 5 October 1976, his Mars in late Libra has been taking a fair pounding from tr Pluto in square and Solar Arc Neptune in square last year. So it may well be true.

  For Putin see previous posts 24 August 2023, 12 April 2023.

 Add On: The Crimean War starting in 1853 pitted the Russian Empire (who lost) against the UK, France and the Ottoman Empire. It marked a turning point for the Russian Empire, weakening the Russian Army, draining the treasury and undermined Russia’s influence in Europe. ‘The empire would take decades to recover. Russia’s humiliation forced its educated elites to identify its problems and to recognise the need for fundamental reforms. They saw rapid modernisation as the sole way to recover the empire’s status as a European power. The war thus became a catalyst for reforms of Russia’s social institutions, including the abolition of serfdom and overhauls in the justice system, local self-government, education and military service.’

  When The Crimea War finished in 1856, Pluto was in early Taurus and Uranus in mid Taurus with Jupiter Neptune in Pisces square Saturn in Gemini. The chart I have for old Russia, 28 March 1462 did have key nodal influences. The transiting South Node in Libra was exactly conjunct the Russia Neptune as it ended. There is similar at the moment with the Solar Eclipses this October and next April being in Libra/Aries and triggering the Russia Neptune.  In 1856 tr Saturn was also conjunct the Russia North Node in Gemini. Again a slight similarity at the moment with tr Neptune square the Russia North Node.