This Is Not Good

Below, a Reuters video headlined: "Dozens of Russian tanks deployed close to Ukrainian border."


The Reuters description of the video, which is without narration, is as follows: "A Reuters witness on Wednesday (March 22) saw dozens of modern tanks arriving at a railroad station in Pokrovskoye in the country's southern Rostov region. The tanks were loaded off the railroad carriages and deployed in a field near Matveyev Kurgan village some 10 km from the border with Ukraine. Russian regularly holds military drills in Rostov region involving its infantry, artillery, and air force, and has a number of military bases in the area. Moscow had earlier said it planed to reinforce its western and southern flanks with three new divisions as a retaliation for NATO's plans to boost its military presence in eastern members Poland and the Baltic States."

Relatedly, with a hat tip to @ThatShockratees, the BBC reported yesterday: Ukraine Munitions Blasts Prompt Mass Evacuations.

Some 20,000 people are being evacuated after a series of explosions at a massive arms depot in eastern Ukraine described by officials as sabotage.

The base in Balakliya, near Kharkiv, is around 100km (60 miles) from fighting against Russian-backed separatists.

The dump is used to store thousands of tonnes of ammunition including missiles and artillery weapons.

Rescue teams are overseeing a huge evacuation effort for people living in the city and nearby villages. ...Everyone within a 10km (6 miles) radius of the dump is being evacuated, the Interfax news agency quoted an aide to President Petro Poroshenko as saying.

Munitions from the depot are used to supply military units in the conflict zone in nearby Luhansk and Donetsk, reports say.

The authorities are investigating various ways the explosions may have been caused, Defence Minister Stepan Poltorak said, including the possibility of an explosive device being dropped from a drone.

A drone was reported to have been used an earlier attempt to set the facility on fire in December 2015.

Although there is no explicit blame directed at the Russians here, note that Ukrainian officials describing it as an act of "sabotage" makes very clear who they believe is responsible.

And of course there is no question that the tanks being deployed near the Ukrainian border are Russian.

Meanwhile, the U.S. president is under investigation for collusion with Putin.