Posted on 04/12/2014 4:02:25 PM PDT by 1rudeboy
As of this weekend, the Ukrainian government seems to have finally lost control of wide areas in the east of the country. On Friday, its ultimatum to separatists who had taken over government buildings in eastern cities expired, but it launched no operation to dislodge the gunmen.
On Saturday, buildings in more towns were taken by force. The organization and coordination leave little doubt that these people are inspired and directed by Moscow, similar to the situation in late February in Crimea before the Russian invasion and annexation of the peninsula. But Russian troops have yet to be seen in eastern Ukraine, and recent reports of an imminent invasion, based partly on Western intelligence, have yet to come true.
NATO is convinced that the Russian military buildup on Ukraine’s borders, now under way for at least six weeks, is no exercise but comprehensive preparation for an invasion. Since Ukraine isn’t a NATO member and most of the alliance’s members, led by the United States, have no intention of intervening militarily on Kiev’s behalf, the hands of the world’s most powerful military alliance are tied in the event of an invasion. Instead, NATO is trying to keep Russia in check with a media campaign.
On Thursday, the NATO press office published satellite images showing the Russian buildup, which includes hundreds of tanks and armored personnel carriers, not to mention attack helicopters and fighter jets, deployed at airstrips near the border. NATO’s top commander, Gen. Philip Breedlove, tweeted: “Russian forces around Ukraine fully equipped/capable to invade. Public denial undermines progress. Images tell story.”
The footage was bought from a satellite company instead of culled from military spy satellites, which allowed NATO to prove that they were up to date. When the Kremlin said the images showed a large exercise that had taken place last year, NATO published more pictures proving that the bases set up for Russian troops did not even exist before the beginning of last month.
snip
LOL!!
From Lithuania - 
Disclaimer: Opinions posted on Free Republic are those of the individual posters and do not necessarily represent the opinion of Free Republic or its management. All materials posted herein are protected by copyright law and the exemption for fair use of copyrighted works.