Newsweek has a recent article entitled Europe throws Ukraine Under the Bus. It seems more like the whole world has. The Russian separatists and Russian troops continued to attack along the line between Russian occupied Donbas and Ukrainian controlled Donbas. Apparently they have since stopped as Ukraine has announced it is pulling it's heavy artillery back as agreed in Minsk II.
The DNR and LNR are "pulling their artillery back", too. Several hundered tanks and other heavy artillery pieces were filmed moving from Donbas to the area near Mariupol which is likely to suffer a full scale attack from the north and east, hoping to surround the city and create another "kettle" like Debaltsev.
Russian trained and equipped terrorists set off a bomb in Kharkiv during the march to commemorate the Heavenly Hundred shot down on the streets of Kyiv Feb 20. The terrorists were arrested as were some intending to do the same in Odessa. Ukraine security are working overtime in all cities to try to prevent more terrorist attacks.
Europe and America express "____ concern" (insert any adjective) and "call on Putin to ______". They also discuss more sanctions and discuss this and discuss that. Obama is supposed to make up his mind about supplying weapons sometime. I will not hold my breath. Maybe once Mariupol has fallen...
Interesting conjecture about Putin's next moves. In past articles, talk was about continuing Russia's hybrid war against the Baltics. Now the thinking seems to be that one of the snap military maneuvers carried out on the border with the Baltics will suddenly morph into a full scale rapid invasion of all three countries, leaving NATO to deal with a fait accompli. Kaliningrad is much more anxious to be "rescued" than are the "Russian speakers" in the Baltics regardless of how much propaganda is pumped at them. A land corridor to Kaliningrad will be as useful to Russia as a land corridor to Crimea.
This will leave Sweden and Finland sweating bullets as they could be next. They have been holding military maneuvers with America though neither is part of NATO. This did not please Russia who sent the Ambassador to speak to the Swedish Minister of the military and express his displeasure. The Minister's response was yes, sir, yes sir, three bags full sir, we will inform you of all future exercises.
The DNR and LNR are "pulling their artillery back", too. Several hundered tanks and other heavy artillery pieces were filmed moving from Donbas to the area near Mariupol which is likely to suffer a full scale attack from the north and east, hoping to surround the city and create another "kettle" like Debaltsev.
Russian trained and equipped terrorists set off a bomb in Kharkiv during the march to commemorate the Heavenly Hundred shot down on the streets of Kyiv Feb 20. The terrorists were arrested as were some intending to do the same in Odessa. Ukraine security are working overtime in all cities to try to prevent more terrorist attacks.
Europe and America express "____ concern" (insert any adjective) and "call on Putin to ______". They also discuss more sanctions and discuss this and discuss that. Obama is supposed to make up his mind about supplying weapons sometime. I will not hold my breath. Maybe once Mariupol has fallen...
Interesting conjecture about Putin's next moves. In past articles, talk was about continuing Russia's hybrid war against the Baltics. Now the thinking seems to be that one of the snap military maneuvers carried out on the border with the Baltics will suddenly morph into a full scale rapid invasion of all three countries, leaving NATO to deal with a fait accompli. Kaliningrad is much more anxious to be "rescued" than are the "Russian speakers" in the Baltics regardless of how much propaganda is pumped at them. A land corridor to Kaliningrad will be as useful to Russia as a land corridor to Crimea.
This will leave Sweden and Finland sweating bullets as they could be next. They have been holding military maneuvers with America though neither is part of NATO. This did not please Russia who sent the Ambassador to speak to the Swedish Minister of the military and express his displeasure. The Minister's response was yes, sir, yes sir, three bags full sir, we will inform you of all future exercises.
The rest of the world's inertia is Putin's greatest ally. Seems to me Edmund Burke had it right: "All that is necessary for the triumph of evil is that good men do nothing."
ReplyDeleteObama keeps drawing red lines in the water.
Delete