Doug Schoen asserts flatly in Forbes that "Russian And Ukraine Are At War." Here's an excerpt:
It goes without saying that by this point no competent Western leader should take the wily Vladimir Putin at his word.
The movement of Russian forces into Ukraine signals that the Kremlin is invested in this conflict and is willing to devote significant resources, not to mention take great risks, in pursuit of victory.
America and the West must be no less invested in achieving peace, defending sovereignty, and protecting international norms by refusing to allow Russia to achieve its aims in Ukraine.
By sending regular Russian army forces into Ukraine, Putin shows that he understands the importance of this fight.
More detail on British government's plans for Ukraine military aid:
An odd story indeed.
On this, the 75th day of the Ukrainian military pilot's ongoing hunger strike in Russian detention, Nadia Savchenko's defense team says it has provided Russian authorities with "exhaustive procedural grounds" for releasing her from pretrial detention to "any other" method of restraint.
She is reportedly still on a water and glucose diet.
Blunt language from the U.S. ambassador to Kyiv:
Seems like quite a stretch.
From RFE/RL's News Desk:
Ukraine’s military says violations by Russian-backed separatists of a newly signed cease-fire deal are continuing but have been decreasing in recent days.
A spokesman said on February 25 that separatists shelled the village of Popasna overnight and continued trying to overrun Ukrainian positions at the village of Shyrokyne, near the southeastern port city of Mariupol.
Ukraine says it will not begin to pull back its heavy weapons from front lines, as required by the Minsk cease-fire deal, until fighting stops.
Separatists said on February 24 that they were beginning to pull back heavy weapons, but their claim could not be confirmed.
Kyiv has expressed concerns that the separatists, having seized the eastern town of Debaltseve despite the cease-fire deal, were merely redeploying weaponry near Mariupol.
In Moscow on February 25, Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov called for OSCE monitors to confirm the withdrawal of heavy weapons and said Kyiv must implement constitutional reforms under the Minsk agreement.