Despite numerous blustering announcements that Ukraine’s separatist-held territories are set to become part of Russia, Moscow is in no hurry to hold Crimea-style referendums there, and with good reason.
After a day of vague and sometimes contradictory statements by Russian officials, President Vladimir Putin clarified that Russia had recognized as independent the separatist formations in eastern Ukraine not merely as they exist now, but as comprising the much larger territory that they claim.
Before Ukraine’s government was struggling with a major new threat from Russia, it was struggling with its efforts to uproot corruption and check the powerful influence of the country’s oligarchs.