not in touch with her. due to political reasons, we didn t find common ground. we lost touch. so i don t know what she s thinking right now. since march 27th, we haven t spoken. i haven t wanted to. march 27th, that s very sad. that s how it is. the local cherry blossom heralds the onset of spring, but no one s under any illusions that winter is coming to the village of serhiivkia, right across eastern ukraine. well for more analysis on ukraine, i mjoined now by retired us army colonel chris mayer who s in virginia.