Russia's War Against Ukraine
The Guardian: Putin lost Ukraine
Soldiers of the newly founded Ukrainian National guard take part in military exercises at a shooting range not far from Kiev on March 31, 2014, in the presence of the Ukrainian speaker of the parliament and interim president. Ukraine today reported a gradual withdrawal of Russian troops from its border that may be linked to Washington's latest push for a diplomatic solution to the worst East-West standoff since the Cold War. AFP PHOTO / SERGEI SUPINSKY
When Vladimir Putin seized Crimea, he lost Ukraine. He had slandered the Ukrainian protest movement as variously fascist, decadent, and gay. Then he went beyond that, to claim that the interim government that the protesters had helped bring into being was planning to persecute Russian speakers in Crimea and elsewhere. Finally he insulted a neighbouring country that had no way of defending itself by seizing its land.
