Russia's War Against Ukraine
OP-ED
Julia Ioffe: Russia riled up the Ukrainian rebels, now it’s shooting at them as they try to enter Russia
Photo taken on July 2, 2014 shows wreckage at Ukraine's Dolzhansky border post with Russia, a day after Kyiv forces retook the strategic crossing from pro-Moscow rebels.
As the Ukrainian army chases separatists from the strongholds they've held for months, Moscow has barely said anything-despite its springtime rants about protecting Russianswherever they may be in the world. Instead, as Kyiv's armies are finally uprooting the rebellion in places like Sloviansk and Kramatorsk, Russian Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov made a tepid and noncommittal statement,saying that "a quick end to the bloodshed is in our common interest."
