An excerpt:
It remains unclear whether Moscow intends to launch a full-scale military attack on Ukraine, Pavel Felgengauer says; but if it plans to, there are compelling reasons – deteriorating weather in the fall and the new round of the Russian military draft in October – to think that it will begin in the next several weeks.
The Russian military analyst says that “Russian forces have been brought to full military readiness and moved up to the borders of Ukraine.” And while this at one level at least is only “saber rattling,” it is clear that it is possible that this will lead to a full-scale military conflict.
Indeed, if such an expanded invasion doesn’t begin, then it is far from understandable “why all this is being organized because the forces that have been moved forward are very serious.” To be sure, Moscow has not called up the reserves, but it doesn’t have to because “even without them,” Moscow can assemble “more than 100,000 men” for an attack.
From RFE/RL's News Desk:
The Kremlin says Russian President Vladimir Putin will hold a number of high-level bilateral meetings on the sidelines of the upcoming G20 summit in Hangzhou, China, including with leaders from Turkey, Britain, and Saudi Arabia.
But a planned trilateral meeting of leaders from Russia, France, and Germany on the Ukraine crisis was called off due to rising tensions over the Crimean Peninsula, according to Kremlin aide Yury Ushakov.
Instead, Putin is to meet separately with French President Francois Hollande -- possibly on September 4 -- and German Chancellor Angela Merkel the following day.
Kyiv had been concerned about the prospect of Russia, Germany, and France discussing the situation in Ukraine without its input.
Based on reporting by Reuters and TASS
A news item from RFE/RL's Kazakh Service:
Kazakhstan Hunts Man Suspected Of Fighting Alongside Ukrainian Separatists
A court in Kazakhstan’s northwestern city of Aqtobe has added to the country's wanted list a local resident suspected of fighting alongside Russia-backed separatists in eastern Ukraine.
The court issued its ruling on August 30 after the suspect, Maksim Yermolov, failed to appear in court for a second time in the case.
Yermolov was detained in February 2015 after returning to Kazakhstan from eastern Ukraine, where he allegedly fought alongside pro-Russia separatists who are battling Ukrainian government forces.
Yermolov was charged with "taking part in military conflicts abroad" and ordered not to leave the city of Aqtobe.
His current whereabouts are unknown.
From 2014 to 2015, Kazakhstan jailed at least two Kazakh citizens for fighting against Ukrainian government forces in eastern Ukraine.
Four Kazakh citizens also were convicted during that period on charges of inciting separatism and ethnic hatred on the Internet in connection with Ukraine's conflict.
Here's another item from our news desk:
Russian Man Jailed For Joining Ukrainian Forces
A court in Russia has jailed a Russian man for fighting against Kremlin-backed separatists in Ukraine's eastern region of Donetsk.
The Russian Investigative Committee said on August 30 that a court in the Kirov region found a 24-year-old local resident guilty of fighting as a mercenary for a foreign country and sentenced him to 2 1/2 years in jail.
The man, whose identity was not disclosed, was detained after returning to Russia's Kirov region in September 2015. He had been fighting alongside Ukrainian armed forces against pro-Russian separatists for more than six months.
Fighting between Ukrainian government forces and Russia-backed separatists in Ukraine's eastern regions of Luhansk and Donetsk has killed more than 9,500 people since April 2014.
There have been numerous reports that many volunteers and mercenaries from former Soviet republics are fighting on both sides of the conflict.
Based on reporting by Interfax and RIA
Here is today's map of the latest situation in the Donbas conflict zone, according to the Ukrainian Defense Ministry (CLICK IMAGE TO ENLARGE):
Photographer Chris Collison has given us this gallery of images looking at the plight of miners on eastern Ukraine:
The Strife Of Eastern Ukraine's Coal Miners
Ukraine’s state-run coal mines are in crisis. Two years of war and political upheaval in eastern Ukraine have led to plummeting production levels, with damage at many facilities due to fighting, and large-scale depopulation as residents flee the conflict with Russian-backed separatists. The few state-owned coal enterprises still running are fighting to survive.
It's been a couple of months since the workers at the state-owned "Ukraina" coal mine, in the country’s eastern region of Donetsk, received their full salaries. Spring wages are only now trickling in, leaving families without enough money for basic items.
