Strelkov/Girkin on valitettavasti elossa, mutta miten hyvässä hapessa on Venäjä?

Yesterday's press conference by Strelkov is, I believe, a historical moment because it marks the move of Strelkov from the Novorussian military struggle into the much larger, and far more dangerous struggle, the struggle for the political future of Russia.  This in itself is no necessarily unexpected, but the way he did it was a surprise, at least for me.  But before I zoom out to the bigger picture, I think that it would be helpful to try to summarize some of the key points of his presentation (thanks to Marina, you can download the full English transcript by clicking here and the Q&A is here).  Here is how I summarized what I saw as the key elements of his presentation:

External factors (staging) - symbolic message:

• He is clearly alive and well
• The reason for his departure was infighting inside the Novorussian leadership and the fact that he was told that supplies would only be delivered if he left.
• The photo of Putin in the back on the wall 
• He is sitting behind a Russian monarchist flag on the table (and a Russian and Novorussian flag in the back (no Soviet or Communists symbols)

 His view about the ceasefire agreement:

• This ceasefire has now created military situation is now worse than this spring
• What is disgraceful is not the ceasefire by itself but "the conditions which are now being discussed in Minks"
• There is plan to blame the betrayal of Novorussia on Putin
• There are powerful interests which want a never ending war which would create a bleeding ulcer for Russia

His description of the 5th column: 

• The roots of this 5th column go back to the Eltsin years
• The liberation of Crimea took the 5th column by surprise
• The 5th column is around President
• There is a local 5th column in Donbass which has been and still is negotiating with Ukie oligarchs
• The 5th column is composed of "liberals"
• Putin is a moral threat to them because he has massive popular support
• They want to overthrow Putin
• They want to dismember Russia 
• This will be a long war on Russia
• We are dealing with another 1905 and 1917 like situation
• By saving Novorussia Russia can save itself
• Western sanctions will hurt Russia and they will use them to discredit Putin

Strelkov's plans

• Strelkov wants to fight inside Russia in support of Putin (only option)
• Strelkov's main objective is to denounce the real traitors inside Russia