Ukraine Back in the Scan

I thought that we would have plenty to white space to concentrate on the start of what will be an interesting start to the fighting season in Afghanistan as we try to unwind our intervention there, but alas ... the Russians seem to have other plans, as we noticed yesterday.

~70 miles east of the Ukrainian border.

Engineers with their bridging kit.

Hey @thinkdefence - how often does a western nation have that much river crossing equipment together in that volume? https://t.co/5fsbafGRNw

— cdrsalamander (@cdrsalamander) March 31, 2021

We are in the golden age of OSNIT, but traditional news is reporting on this as well.

Ukraine demanded on Thursday that Russia halts escalating military tensions and reaffirms its commitment to a ceasefire in the eastern Donbass region.

Kyiv had earlier accused Moscow of building up military forces near their shared border, and saying that pro-Russian separatists were violating a ceasefire.

"Russia's current escalation is systemic, largest in recent years," Ukraine's Foreign Affairs of Ukraine Dmytro Kuleba said in a statement. 

"Russia's actions have brought the situation to a dead end. The only way out is diplomacy," Kuleba added, assuring that Ukraine preferred talks to violence. 

The Organization for Security and Cooperation in Europe (OSCE) recorded hundreds of ceasefire violations in the past few days, including 493 on March 26 alone.

In a smart move, SECDEF Austin notes that we are, after all, watching with interest.

I had a productive call with Ukrainian Minister of Defence Andrii Taran today. We discussed regional security, and I reaffirmed our unwavering support for Ukraine’s sovereignty, territorial integrity, and Euro-Atlantic aspirations. pic.twitter.com/yzui8hki2W

— Secretary of Defense Lloyd J. Austin III (@SecDef) April 1, 2021

History has her own plans ... but let's hope this is nothing more than spring positioning.

More interesting OSNIT,