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On July 17, the world was dismayed by a terrible tragedy when civilian Malaysia Airlines Flight 17 was shot down over eastern Ukraine in an area controlled by pro-Russian militants.

It is clear to everyone now that that horrific act was perpetrated by terrorists who for months have been destabilizing the Ukrainian state, being trained, financed and armed by Russia. All reports point to the fatal shot having been launched from a Buk missile system that had been brought onto the territory of Ukraine from Russia a few days before the tragedy.

This appalling event would not have happened had Russia not launched its aggression against Ukraine.…  Seguir leyendo »

In eastern Ukraine, Vladimir V. Putin has been playing with fire.

He has mobilized the worst elements to be found in the region.

He has taken thugs, thieves, rapists, ex-cons and vandals and turned them into a paramilitary force.

He has permitted ad hoc commanders of separatist groups to kill or chase off intellectuals, journalists and other moral authorities in the cities of Donetsk and Lugansk.

He has watched as a vodka-soaked rabble army destroys or takes over public buildings, hospitals, schools and municipal offices of the country it is pretending to liberate.

He has allowed a veritable gang war to take hold — without caring that he is losing control of the forces that he has unleashed, with rival bands pitted against one another and carving out fiefs amid the growing anarchy.…  Seguir leyendo »

The tragic fate of Malaysia Airlines Flight MH17, believed shot down by a missile in eastern Ukraine, killing all 298 on board, has cast a new light on the series of gambles Russian President Vladimir Putin embarked on in late February.

At that time, Putin sent military intelligence troops in unmarked uniforms to take control of the southern Ukrainian peninsula of Crimea. Three weeks later, Russia annexed the region.

As Russian-speaking Ukrainians farther north in Donetsk and Luhansk stormed administrative buildings, demanding independence from Kiev, Russian intelligence officers started slipping across the border to help organize the militias. In subsequent months, Moscow supplied the separatist guerrillas with artillery, tanks and anti-aircraft weapons.…  Seguir leyendo »