Ukraine Begins to respond to Pro-Russian Forces

On Saturday there was a bit of a skirmish in the port city of Slovyansk between Ukrainian and Pro-Russian forces. I thought it was interesting that the article stated that that the supporters of the Kremlin were making the case that Ukraine can no longer protect its people. There were a couple of reasons this struck me. For one thing, while I understand that protecting citizens is high up there on the priority list of many countries, I don't think that should define whether Russia, or any other country, has the right to take over. I mean, even the United States military couldn't protect us from a surprise attack, that's the point, its unexpected. I also think that if that's the only reason Russia is taking over, that 1) is a lie and 2) is dumb. This whole conflict, however, does make a fantastic point for realism. The article makes the point that the situation is almost totally out of the control of Ukrainian authorities, which I think is something that we knew was eventually going to happen. The point though, it that it looks like a Russian takeover at least in the eastern part of the country is fairly possible, even though Ukraine has started to fight back. The European Union and Secretary of State John Kerry have both weighed in on the violence, most recently in Odessa. Another major player in all of this is Germany, and they seem to have a lot to say. It sounds like there is a real threat of Russia disrupting the upcoming elections in Ukraine as well. This new pressure seems like bad news bears to everyone involved and the threat of new sanctions on Russia is a good move but not a long term solution. Putin has proved again and again that he doesn't care what the rest of the world thinks of his actions. The scene in Odessa sounds nasty and it will be interesting to see how far this escalates and what the outcome of this conflict becomes.

Katie Krupica

My article is right here.