I guess I’ll shake your hand but I have only one thing to say to you: you need to get out of Ukraine.Hat tip to Power Line for the link. Spokesman Dmitry Peskov described Putin's response as follows:
Putin told him that this is impossible because they are not there.It is, however, widely reported Russian troops, armor and artillery carrying no national insignia are active fighters in eastern Ukraine. Insurgents without identifying insignia can be shot as spies, the Geneva Convention does not require they be treated as prisoners of war.
Paul Roderick Gregory writes for Forbes it is believed Russians have already suffered 3000-4000 combat deaths in Ukraine. Following normal war ratios, that translates into some 12,000-16,000 Russian wounded. Hat tip to RealClearWorld for the link.
Gregory argues Russia cannot easily afford this kind of large scale expense of men, money and materiel, which would grow exponentially larger if Russia attempts to conquer a land bridge to Crimea along the coast, as is rumored. Lower prices for Russian oil exports only make this cost more onerous.
