Kerch Kerfuffle

WWI and WWII began in Eastern Europe.

Coincidentally, a similar situation exists in the South China Sea as in the Black Sea and Sea of Azov.

Any coordination with the CW attack on Aleppo?

Geopolitical Alert
Tensions Flair in Black Sea & Donbass Days After UK’s New Deployments to Region

Jim Carey

Fort Russ News
BREAKING: Ukraine Begins Heavy Shelling of Donetsk Republic

Joaquin Flores

TASS
Russia asks for convening UN SC meeting on Sea of Azov situation

TASS
Ukraine’s Security Council proposes to impose martial law in the country for 60 days

Ecns
Moscow confirms Russia shoots, holds 3 Ukrainian naval ships in Black Sea

Xinhua

The Vineyard of the Saker
Kerch Provocation – Causes and Consequences
Rostislav Ishchenko
Translated by Ollie Richardson and Angelina Siard

RT
Tense standoff around Kerch Strait between Russia & Ukraine: How it developed

TASS
Ukraine’s army put on full combat alert - Defense Ministry

Anti-Media
Ukraine Set to Declare War on Russia

Jason Ditz

Paul Antonopoulos — AGAINST DEMOCRACY: U.S BLASTS DONBASS ELECTIONS AND THREATENS SANCTIONS

When elections don't go the way the US wants.

On Monday, the United States called the election of leaders and parliamentarians in the self-proclaimed people’s republics of Donetsk and Lugansk a “farce,” according to a spokeswoman for the US State Department, Heather Nauert.

On Sunday the two self-proclaimed people’s republics held elections for leaders and parliamentarians. Turnout in Donetsk reached 80.1% of voters, while in Lugansk the number was 77%, according to the central constituency committees of the republics.…

Fort Russ News
AGAINST DEMOCRACY: U.S BLASTS DONBASS ELECTIONS AND THREATENS SANCTIONS
Paul Antonopoulos

Joaquin Flores — ‘THE DONBASS COWBOY’, review of Texas Bentley’s paradigm setting must read book

Book review and plug.

In fact, all of the proceeds of his book, which you can purchase by clicking the obvious image at the foot of this review, or on this red line, it will take you to the Donbass Humanitarian Aid NGO....

Fort Russ
‘THE DONBASS COWBOY’, review of Texas Bentley’s paradigm setting must read book

Joaquin Flores

Sputnik France — "Fed up with the mainstream press, this Frenchwoman went to Donbass to see for herself"

French journalist Christelle Néant decided to checke out the situation in eastern Ukraine for herself to discover who is telling the truth. Here she reports back.

Fort Russ
"Fed up with the mainstream press, this Frenchwoman went to Donbass to see for herself"

Sputnik France

Translated by Tom Winter

The Saker — The Donbass Is Breaking Away from an Agonized Ukraine

Ukraine imploding.

The Unz Review
The Donbass Is Breaking Away from an Agonized Ukraine

The Saker

Paul Robinson — Bite and hold

The war in Ukraine is heating up again. And, no, Putin didn't do it.

Irrussianality
Bite and hold
Paul Robinson | Professor, Graduate School of Public and International Affairs at the University of Ottawa

Also

Moon of Alabama
Ukraine - Coup Government Tries To Sabotage U.S.-Russia Rapprochement

b

Christelle Neant — Blood bath at north front of Donbass; Ukrainian Army continually attacking, intending to relaunch larger war

War in Eastern Ukraine heating up again, no doubt to blame Russia.

Fort Russ
Blood bath at north front of Donbass; Ukrainian Army continually attacking, intending to relaunch larger war

Christelle Neant in DØNiPRESS, translated by Tom Winter

See also

The Trump Effect in Donbass: Poroshenko juggles heavy losses and failed diplomacy

Eduard Popov for Fort Russ - translated by J. Arnoldski

Paul Robinson — Origins of the war in Donbass

No, Russia was not involved.

Irrussianality
Origins of the war in Donbass
Paul Robinson | Professor, Graduate School of Public and International Affairs at the University of Ottawa

Vladimir Putin comments on provocation in Crimea - Minsk negotiations now pointless

Vladimir Putin: 

"This is very disturbing. Our security services have prevented penetration of sabotage-reconnaissance group of the Ukraine Ministry of Defense into Crimea. Of course, such actions mean that continuing talks in Normandy format is pointless, especially when it comes to the next meeting in China.

Because, apparently, the people who [violently] seized power in Kiev and continue to usurp it, don’t want negotiations. [snip] Now, instead of looking for ways to settle the conflict peacefully, they decided to try terrorism.In this regard, I can’t avoid mentioning that we view the recent assassination attempt targeting the head of the Lugansk People's Republic as an [act of terror], same as the current attempt to sneak saboteurs into the territory of Crimea.

Fort Russ

Vladimir Putin comments on provocation in Crimea - Minsk negotiations now pointless
Translated by Tatzhit

Eduard Popov — Putin calls Obama, cancels region visits amidst Donbass escalation

War clouds gathering in eastern Ukraine? Signs over the past several weeks suggest so.

Fort Russ
Putin calls Obama, cancels region visits amidst Donbass escalation

Winning the Diplomatic War: Russia calls Normandy Four meeting to stop Kiev offensiveEduard Popov
Translated by J. Arnoldski

Alexander Mercouris — Poroshenko Finally Admits Ukraine’s Military Defeat

Though it has received almost no international attention, Ukraine’s President Poroshenko finally admitted on Friday 21st May 2016 a truth many Ukrainians still cannot face: Ukraine cannot regain control of the territories of the Donetsk and Lugansk People’s Republics by military means.

Poroshenko’s admission was made at a meeting of Ukraine’s National Security and Defence Council – in effect to Ukraine’s military leadership. That means that what Poroshenko said was not a slip or a pose but a genuine admission made to the commanders of the Ukrainian military who have been fighting its war.

This admission comes two years after Ukraine launched its so-called “Anti-Terrorist Operation” to crush opposition in the Donbass.

It also comes just short of two years after Ukraine launched a military offensive to regain the Donbass on 30th June 2014.…

No mystery there. Russia has said that it would not allow Donbass to be defeated militarily and the the only solution is fulfilling the Minsk Agreement, which Ukraine signed on to but has been resisting since.

The problem now is that the Western Ukrainian neo-Nazis have promised a revolution to replace the sitting government unless the war is prosecuted and won.

They don't have much of chance though without the backing of the US, and that is highly unlikely. Ukraine is becoming a basket case and the US now wants this to be over.

The Duran
Poroshenko Finally Admits Ukraine’s Military Defeat

Alexander Mercouris

See also

Fort Russ

New Maidan Predicted in Ukraine: It Will Be Short and Bloody
Translated by Ollie Richardson for Fort Russ
Antifashist

Alexrpt — After meeting in Berlin with Merkel and Hollande, Poroshenko appear to have backed down from restarting the war in Donbass

Some good news, sort of.

Red Pill Times
After meeting in Berlin with Merkel and Hollande, Poroshenko appear to have backed down from restarting the war in Donbass

Alexrpt

New Cold War — Grim toll of rising Ukrainian shelling in Donbas, eastern Ukraine

The following is a compilation of eleven news reports that provide some overview of the scale of the recent escalation of shelling and other military activity by the Ukrainian armed forces and the extremist paramilitary forces allied with it in the Donbas region of eastern Ukraine.

Below those news reports is the daily report for August 16, 2015 of the Special Monitoring Mission (SMM) in Ukraine of the Organisation for Security and Cooperation in Europe (OSCE). This typical, daily report is especially lengthy.

The New Cold War.org website does not provide daily reports of the military situation in Donbas. Given the scale of Ukrainian violations of the Minsk-2 ceasefire agreement of Feb. 15, 2015, this would be a task beyond our means. We do report on the overall political and military situation. Readers who wish to read or research the situation day by day are recommended to go to the news sources cited below, among others.

As for relying on Western media sources, there are none which report in any detail on the ongoing situation in eastern Ukraine. A reader of Western media would be hard-pressed to know or learn that a ceasefire agreement is supposed to be in place, still less what are the terms and conditions of that agreement and who is living, and not living, up to them.

The New Cold War
Grim toll of rising Ukrainian shelling in Donbas, eastern Ukraine

Russkiy Malchik — Why Putin did not send the army into the Donbass

Why there are no pictures of Russian troops in Ukraine.

Fort Russ
Why Putin did not send the army into the Donbass
Russkiy Malchik
Translated from Russian by J.Hawk

If you read Russian, here is the original.

Why Putin did not send the army into the Donbass

Why "Ukraine peace" is an oxymoron.

Why the Ukraine can not be put back together again in the foreseeable future.

The following is a remarkable article published in the Financial Times. It is remarkable for two reasons. One, the Times is a conservative, staid newspaper. But two, the newspaper makes two acknowledgements that the near-entirety of Western mainstream media cannot bring itself to report—that the armed forces of the Kyiv governing regime have been ruthlessly shelling and attacking the people of the Donetsk and Luhansk Peoples Republics for the past six months, and two, the people do not like this and have turned against the ‘Ukraine’ that Kyiv represents. A revelation! It is truly remarkable that such simple reporting of facts in this war becomes something so noteworthy and, well, remarkable.

The New Cold War
School lessons and shelling forge new identity in eastern Ukraine

Courtney Weaver, Financial Times

And now this just in:

Donetsk is subjected to the most powerful attack in the entire war for independence of Donbass.

The city is shaking from explosions and is under fire from exploding ammunition of Ukrainian terrorists. Emergency vehicles are rushing through the streets…

"I have a feeling as if all the "fascist dogs" got a command to attack", - reports from the scene our military correspondent. "Many Donetsk residents, who are not easily scared anymore, doubt they will survive this night and are saying goodbye to loved ones."

It is hard to imagine how many will be wounded and killed in the fire of hell, organized by the Ukrainian army.

P. S. Simultaneously with frenzied bombardment of cities of Donbass, Poroshenko is putting on a show - now live from the General staff issuing an order for ceasefire. First, in Ukrainian, then in English - for TV picture.

Fort Russ
Poroshenko goes out with a bang for Valentines day
Dima Pitersky, Rusvesna
Translated by Kristina Rus

In both the conflict between the eurocrats and Syriza, and also the parties to the Minsk agreement, the leaders have to look like they are seriously trying in good faith for a resolution, but the facts belie resolution.