It was hardly surprising that the fragile ceasefire in eastern Ukraine was broken last week by an exchange of artillery and tank fire after weeks of deployment of Russian troops and heavy weapons in the war zone. What was unexpected, however, was the direction of the Moscow-backed rebel attack on Maryinka to the west of Donetsk and the rebels’ readiness to fall back after meeting stiff resistance from Ukrainian forces (Polit.ru, June 4). It was not possible to hide the fact that the separatists initiated this surge in hostilities, but the war managers in Moscow showed they could terminate the …read more
Source: The Jamestown Foundation