Uh, does anyone really care about this?
Obviously or you would not have clicked on the thread.
Well yea.... Cousin Vlad in Moscow is VERY interested.
You see Putin's guy, Victor 1 (I can never get the last names straight) is from the Southeast Ukraine which, through forced immigration during the Soviet era is now predominantly ethnic Russian and looks to Moscow for leadership and inspiration.
Victor 2, the guy who got the Ashcroft treatment, is from the Northwest Ukraine which is predominately, well, ethnic Ukrainian and looks toward Europe and the west. They would like things like an honest market economy, membership in the EU and (this is the part that has cousin Vlad defecating masonry) maybe even membership in NATO.
Needless to say, the Russians are not enthusiastic about the prospect of NATO expanding into what was the heart of the old Soviet Union. There is just something about the possibility of German tanks rumbling across the Ukrainian steppe which disturbs your average Russian for some reason. What the Russians might try to do to prevent this is, uh, potentially very disturbing.
So yes, I for one am interested in the outcome.