So the Russian-Ukrainian Crisis is Over for now?
Well, it looks like Russia has pulled back some of its troops and equipment for the moment. So a lot of noise, but no action.
One does wonder why this occurred. Possibilities include:
1. They wanted to make a little noise to make some point to Ukraine. Possibly anger over President Zelensky banning three pro-Russian media channels and imposing sanctions against individuals and companies.
2. They wanted to make a little noise to tell the Biden administration that they needed to respect them (especially after Biden’s comments about Putin and the additional sanctions imposed).
3. They wanted a public test of their ability to respond to a crisis in Ukraine/Crimea.
4. They wanted a public test of their ability to respond to a crisis in Kaliningrad, their isolated city between Lithuania and Poland.
5. This may have been a “routine” training exercise.
6. They wanted to distract from the internal issues, especially Navalny and their shutting down of protests.
7. They just wanted to make a little noise so people still “respect” them.
8. Some or all of the above.
Anyhow, looks like things will be “peaceful” for another year. That said, there is still two armed and active “People’s Republics” in Donetsk and Lugansk, and there is still sniping and shelling and other activities. Ukraine is still losing a couple of soldiers of month from all this. They are still armed and active war zones.
Some stories:
https://news.yahoo.com/russia-orders-troops-withdraw-ukraine-162144377.html
