Eastern Ukraine Continues To Deteriorate

Unmarked military trucks drive along a road in a territory controlled by the self-proclaimed Donetsk People's Republic near the town of Khartsyzk, east of Donetsk, eastern Ukraine, November 15, 2014. International monitors deployed along the Russian border in eastern Ukraine say their drones were shot at and jammed days before new columns of unmarked soldiers and weapons, said by the West to be Russian, were seen in the rebel-held territory. Maxim Zmeyev/Reuters

All Is Not Well On Ukraine’s Eastern Front -- Benny Avni, Newsweek

What is Vladimir Putin’s game in eastern Ukraine? NATO reports that long convoys of unmarked military vehicles transporting heavy artillery and tanks, along with armored personnel carriers and trucks bearing rocket launchers manned by troops dressed in camouflage without identifying livery, have reinforced the pro-Russian separatist positions around the key Ukrainian cities of Donetsk and Luhansk.

Kiev forces confirmed the sightings and, like NATO, accused the Russians of mounting the sort of stealth invasion that proved so successful when Moscow annexed Crimea last winter. The Russians, meanwhile, indignantly deny that any of their forces have crossed the border, just as Russian President Vladimir Putin denied his forces had been sent to occupy Ukraine.

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My Comment: Benny Avni in his commentary focuses on what Putin is doing .... but I blame both sides for the catastrophe that is now unfolding. This conflict could have all been avoided ....in both Russia and in Ukraine there is no desire among the population for a war .... but war is what is now happening, with the leaders on all sides showing no interest to compromise and/or seek a peaceful resolution. My prediction on what is going to happen next still holds .... the humanitarian crisis will escalate, and Russia will use that as it's excuse to openly intervene in the conflict instead of using unmarked vehicles and unidentified soldiers to support the rebels in the region.