On Twitter, there are a few hashtags (#russiainvadesukraine #russiainvadedukraine) responding to Russia's latest incursions into Ukraine. Many of the tweets are outraged, desperate to let the world know what's happening.
This story has been quietly gathering steam in recent days:
Russian President Vladimir Putin's spokesman says reports of secret funerals held for Russian paratroopers killed in fighting in Ukraine should be investigated.
Dmitry Peskov is quoted as saying such reports "should be checked in great detail before any conclusions can be drawn on that score."
He said he could not confirm such checks had begun.
Independent media reports in Russia have spoken of the secret funerals of two paratroopers in northwestern Russia. Mourners are quoted as saying the men were killed in Ukraine.
Ukraine this week said its forces had captured 10 Russian paratroopers. Moscow said they had crossed into eastern Ukraine accidentally.
The U.S. State Department said on August 27 it suspects a "Russian-directed counteroffensive" is under way against Ukrainian government forces in the Donetsk and Luhansk regions.
Moscow has denied fomenting the separatist insurgency.
And tellingly the word "Europe" is trending on Ukraine's Twitter.
The West is upping pressure on Russia. Latest from our news desk:
The West is increasing its pressure on Moscow to explain what U.S. officials have described as a direct intervention by the Russian military in eastern Ukraine.
In a tweet on August 28, the U.S. ambassador to Ukraine, Geoffrey Pyatt (@geoffpyatt), said "an increasing number of Russian troops are intervening directly in fighting on Ukrainian territory."
He said Russian-supplied tanks, armored vehicles, artillery, and rocket launchers "have been insufficient to defeat Ukraine's armed forces."
In a phone call with President Vladimir Putin on August 27, German Chancellor Angela Merkel said reports of a Russian military incursion “must be explained" and emphasized Moscow's "major responsibility for de-escalation."
The U.S. State Department said on August 27 it suspects a “Russian-directed counteroffensive” is under way in eastern Ukraine and chided Moscow for its “unwillingness to tell the truth.”
Moscow denies arming the rebels or sending troops into Ukraine.
A reminder of why Europe is in something of a bind in how it deals with Russia. From Britain's "Telegraph":
Europe will remain heavily reliant on Russian gas for at least another decade, according to a leading rating agency.
Fitch said a lack of alternative sources meant policymakers would have no choice but to continue buying gas from Russia until at least the mid-2020s and "potentially much longer".
Stronger language than Merkel:
French President Francois Hollande said it would be "intolerable and unacceptable" if Russian troops are operating on Ukrainian territory, as Western and Ukrainian officials have charged.
Speaking August 28 in Paris to French ambassadors from around the world, Hollande said, "Russia cannot hope to be a 21st-century power yet not respect the rules."
In a speech touching on global crises, he said Syrian President Bashar al-Assad is not the West's partner in the fight against terrorism but a "de facto ally" of Islamic extremists.
"There is no choice to be made between two barbarisms," Hollande said.
He said forces fighting Islamic State militants in Syria and Iraq should have the support of the West, including Western arms.
He also called on the UN to provide support for authorities in Libya to restore order amid antigovernment fighting by Islamist militias.
More on the case of Nadiya Savchenko:
A Russian court has refused to free a Ukrainian Air Force officer on bail and ordered her to be sent to Moscow for a psychiatric examination.
Senior Lieutenant Nadiya Savchenko was captured in July and is awaiting trial in Russia.
She is charged with complicity in the killing of two Russian journalists who died while covering the conflict between pro-Russian separatists and government forces in eastern Ukraine.
At a hearing on August 27, a court in the city of Voronezh refused to release her on bail and extended her pretrial detention through October 30.
It ruled that she will be sent to Moscow for a psychiatric examination.
Savchenko's lawyer, Mark Feigin, says his client has lodged a protest against the psychiatric examination.
Savchenko told the court that she is not guilty and that Russia has no right to try her.