Russia's War Against Ukraine
OP-ED
Paul Roderick Gregory: Europe and US finally declare that Russian soldiers are fighting in Ukraine
A pro-Russian rebel carries ammunition to be loaded onto a truck near the eastern Ukrainian city of Debaltseve on February 17, 2015. Ukraine on February 17 accused rebels and Russia of scuppering a fragile three-day-old ceasefire after insurgents armed with automatic weapons and rocket-propelled grenades stormed the flashpoint town of Debaltseve and engaged thousands of troops there in intense combat. AFP PHOTO / VASILY MAXIMOV
In Minsk on Feb. 12, Ukrainian President Petro Poroshenko waived passports of Russian soldiers caught or killed in Ukraine. Vladimir Putin’s propagandists immediately scoffed at such “political comedy,” but Poroshenko’s display showed that Russia is waging an undeclared war, using regular troops with regular Russian military equipment to destroy a weaker army, while claiming it doesn’t have any troops in Ukraine. Even more convoluted, Putin has asserted that any Russians fighting in Ukraine are idealistic unpaid volunteers over whom the Kremlin has little influence. Putin even insists that “Russia is not a party to the conflict,” just a bystander.
