DAILY BEAST COLUMN: The attack on Mariupol is a major expansion of the conflict. Its capture by rebel forces would help link up the rebellious eastern regions—supported by Moscow—with the Russian-annexed Crimea, allowing Russia’s proxies to push hundreds of kilometers west towards Kiev.
Shortly before the attack, pro-Russian rebels posted two videos online. In one of them Donetsk locals gathered at a bus station to put flowers in memory of victims killed in mortar fire earlier that week.
In the video, the leader of Donetsk rebel republic, Aleksandr Zakharchenko, stood before the crowd and pronounced: “Today an offensive was launched on Mariupol.” The next target would be Dybaltsevo, he said—“God willing”—and that in a couple of days his forces would give the Ukrainian troops a bloody fight, using the Russian word for “boiler.” He was referring to the November 2014 battle in Ilovaisk, which was a massacre of government troops. The crowd applauded wildly; somebody screamed: “Alleluia!” … (more)
EDITOR: What a tragedy. Putin may be another Hitler or Stalin. We may be back in the late 1930’s. Is NATO prepared to resist?
