Ukraine: Hints of Patterns

Battles continue in the East.  It appears the LGM are starting to get the worst of it.  Of those captured or killed and IDed in the East, only 20% are local levees.  There are some pretty gruesome pictures from morgues being posted.

 The Ukrainian government had a deadline for the LGM to lay down their weapons for an amnesty.  That deadline has now passed.  The Ukrainians have stated they will begin the offensive full force everywhere.  They stated they held off to give time for those who realized they made a mistake to give up their arms and to minimize the violence during the presidential election.  The election is over and a large part of the LGM haven't given up.  Time to kill.

 The LGM are digging in in Donetsk.  Barricades are going up all over.  The police merely watch.

After the report of the LGM in Lugansk turning on those in Donetsk, news has come out of the LGM executing a number of their own in Donetsk.  The reason?  Rape, murder and robbery.  If they were really concerned about this, they would have stamped down hard immediately.  The LGM have come to realize the populace does not support them and they are screwed by that.

The OSCE has lost another team of observers in the Donbass.  head to desk moment here.

The most intriguing bits from Kiev? Poroshenko has come out and asked for a Lend-Lease Program with the United States: he wants direct military equipment.  he believes sanctions are close to useless in stopping Russia's intervention in Ukraine (does he read Noel's blog?)  He has also stated he wants allies and security guarantees other than the Budapest Memorandum.  If NATO membership for Ukraine is Russia's "red line," they had better be ready to confront the fact Russia has pushed Ukraine closer to NATO than any time prior. 

(my warped and funny idea is *CHINA* becomes the guarantor of Ukrainian sovereignty and drops a division of troops in the Donbas.  Watch Putin *&* Europe freak...however, the US would freak just as much...and Ukraine is not terribly friendly to the idea of the китаєць running around with guns in their country)