Mark Galeotti · Thursday, September 01, 2016, 10:27 am
Russia is sending tens of thousands of troops to military installations near its border with Ukraine and holding snap military drills, sparking fears that a Russian invasion is imminent.
These fears are overblown, however, for one major reason that everyone seems to have overlooked: The Ukrainian military of today is very different from the ramshackle, demoralized force of 2014.
In 2014, Ukraine’s pro-Moscow government, led by Viktor Yanukovych, collapsed as pressure grew for the country decisively to ally itself with the West. In response, Russia seized the Crimean Peninsula and stirred up a phony anti-Kiev rebellion in the southeastern Donbas region. The Kremlin thought the new Ukrainian government would quickly accept that it was in Russia’s sphere of influence, but instead it resisted.
Yet the Ukrainian military was weak: Every time it looked as if its forces were about to make some inroads into the Donbas, Russia would surge in some of its own troops and shatter their attack.
But that was then. In part thanks to US help, Ukraine’s military is now larger, tougher, and more ready than ever. If Putin did decide on some major military adventure now, he would get much more than he bargained for.
The Russians know this, and their military moves are instead meant to ratchet up the political pressure on Kiev — and to prepare just in case some day Ukraine feels strong enough to try to take back the Donbas by force.
Read more
http://www.vox.com/2016/9/1/12729426/russia-troops-ukraine-border
This blog will focus on political images I have found all around the Internet, though I will intersperse some commentary and quotes that I find interesting.
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