Russia Hardly Even Trying to Disguise ‘Stealth’ Invasion of Ukraine

So much for those peace talks.
Russia’s military launched another attack in Ukraine, according to
Kiev.

Tanks, artillery and infantry have crossed from Russia into an
unbreached part of eastern Ukraine in recent days, attacking
Ukrainian forces and causing panic and wholesale retreat not only
in this small border town but a wide swath of territory, in what
Ukrainian and Western military officials described on Wednesday as
a stealth invasion.

The attacks outside this city and in an area to the north
essentially have opened a new, third front in the war in eastern
Ukraine between government forces and pro-Russian separatists,
along with the fighting outside the cities of Donetsk and
Luhansk.

Exhausted, filthy and dismayed, Ukrainian soldiers staggering
out of Novoazovsk for safer territory said Tuesday they were cannon
fodder for the forces coming from Russia. As they spoke, tank
shells whistled in from the east and exploded nearby.

State Department Spokeswoman Jen Psaki describes it
as a likely “Russian-directed counteroffensive.”

For what it’s worth, the self-designed leader of the so-called
People’s Republic of Donetsk assured last
week that something
like the current scenario would happen soon.

The Associated Press (AP) suggests
that “the bold offensive along a new southeastern front” indicates
that “separatists are seeking to create a land link between Russia
and Crimea, which also would give them control over the entire Azov
Sea.” Logistically, it would be near impossible for fighters in the
separatist-held cities of Donetsk and Luhansk to have reached this
front on their own, the mayor of the newly-embattled city of
Novoazovsk told AP. The fighters would have to cross a large amount
of Ukrainian-controlled territory, whereas Russia could easily send
troops from just across the border.

Although Russian regular soldiers were captured in Ukraine on
Monday and
admitted that they are, in fact, Russian soldiers, the Kremlin
continues to deny any involvement, and claims it can’t really help
the situation. Says President
Vladimir Putin:

We, Russia, cannot talk about any cease-fire conditions
whatsoever, or possible agreements between Kiev, Donetsk and
Luhansk. We can only facilitate the creation of an environment of
trust in the course of this possible and much needed, in my
opinion, negotiation process.

Putin does admit that sometimes soldiers
accidentally cross the border.

Russian Foreign Minister Sergey Lavrov, who
insists that the war is a “domestic armed conflict,”
says that he intends to send another humanitarian aid convoy
into Ukraine, despite objections from the international community
and the fact that the last one brought little aid (but
did bring plenty of armored vehicles) and
stole Ukrainian military equipment on its way out.

About
400 Russian mothers have just told Russian media that it’s their
Russian soldier sons coming home to Russia in Russian body bags, or
you know, sometimes just disappearing without a word.

Read more Reason coverage of Ukraine here.