The crash site in Donetsk oblast So this is where we have got to after 101 days since Russia began its destabilisation of Ukraine – to a place that probably even Putin and his most neo-nationalist advisers would not have desired: a 15km-wide crash site containing the bodies of 298 civilian, non-Ukrainian passengers and crew, […]

D-Day plus Geneva: what did you expect? Putin’s not giving an inch
“Men in green” allegedly in Odessa, south-west Ukraine, evening of 18 April Many people have written worthwhile pieces this week about Russia’s invasion of Ukraine. The daily coverage has been good on Twitter and improving in conventional media; we have had insights into the shape of this conflict that we have not had […]

D-Day plus 7: the invasion of Ukraine has already taken place
London, 14 April 2014 The weekend again. Always the weekend. From the first takeovers of airfields in Crimea on 1-2 March to the first “pro-Russian” assaults a week ago in Kharkiv, Donetsk and Luhansk. This weekend it was the turn of Slavyansk, Kramatorsk and smaller cities in their vicinity, important because they represent deeper […]

D-Day plus 1: will Europe stand up for its ideals in Ukraine or not?
“Pro-Russian” protesters in Luhansk, 8 April Tonight Europe’s relations with Russia are again at a height of tension as a result of Russian provocations in east Ukraine. Of that there is little doubt, despite the BBC’s and other western news organisations’ bland descriptions of events as “pro-Russian protests”. Destabilisation phase 2 – President Putin’s pretext for […]