Russia's War Against Ukraine
OP-ED
Adrian Karatnycky: Putin’s warlords slip out of control
A boy rides a bicycle in front of a destroyed building as a result of shelling on June 8, 2015 in Novotoshkivske village, Donetsk region, controlled by Ukrainian forces, on the frontline with pro-Russian separatists.
In waging a clandestine war in eastern Ukraine, Vladimir Putin has made a bargain with the devil. He has farmed out much of the fighting to warlords, mercenaries and criminals, partly in an attempt to simulate a broad-based indigenous resistance to Ukrainian rule. But Putin's strategy of using such proxies has resulted in the establishment of a warlord kleptocracy in eastern Ukraine that threatens even Moscow's control of events.
