Russian forces are using the same tactics to destabilize and potentially seize further territory in southern and eastern Ukraine that they used to grab Crimea, according to the State Department. Simultaneous seizures of key buildings and infrastructure in Ukraine on April 12 “strongly suggest” Russian elements are working to “foment separatism, undermine Ukrainian sovereignty, and exercise control over its neighbor,” states an April 13 State Department release. “Today, Russia is speaking and behaving not as a partner, but as an adversary,” said NATO Secretary General Anders Fogh Rasmussen in a statement that same day. Last week, NATO released satellite photos showing Russian forces massed for invasion. “While tens of thousands of combat-ready Russian troops stand poised on Ukraine’s border, Russia is also waging a propaganda war the like of which we have not seen since the end of the Cold War,” said Rasmussen. He called Russia’s accusations that NATO was escalating tensions an attempt to “pervert the truth, divert attention from Russia’s illegal actions, and subvert the authorities in Ukraine.”
The House of Representatives voted Nov. 12 to end the longest government shutdown in U.S. history, setting the stage for tens of thousands of defense civilians to return to work and guaranteeing troops will be paid in a few days’ time.
