The Ukraine conflict has evoked many memories of the Cold War, including a footloose attitude to the truth. But even as Russia’s denials of involvement stretch credibility to breaking point, for some they remain a convenient fiction.
Russian President Vladimir Putin is chief among them; denying a Russian role will keep his domestic audience in ignorance of a war they don›t want - especially useful if the battle goes badly.
But there are also some European powers, including Germany and France, who despite being on the opposite side of the crisis share Putin’s desire not to paint it as an out-and-out war between Russia and Ukraine.
For them, stating unequivocally that Russia has attacked Ukraine would force them to impose more costly sanctions, and could block the path to a truce with Russiathey hope will resolve the crisis.
Some say the evidence of Russian involvement has built to a point where it now strains credibility to assert that Russia’s military is not helping the rebels in eastern Ukraine.
That is especially so after the past 72 hours when, according to Kiev, Russia has pushed in troops and hardware to avoid a collapse of its pro-Moscow separatist allies.
“The mask is coming off,” said Samantha Power, the US ambassador to the United Nations. “In these acts, these recent acts, we see Russia’s actions for what they are: a deliberate effort to support, and now fight alongside, illegal separatists in another sovereign country.”
Nato has released satellite imagery it said showed Russian combat forces inside Ukrainian territory. A group of captured servicemen from Russia were recorded on video describing how they were ordered into Ukraine, though officials in Moscow said they crossed the border by mistake.
A Reuters reporter saw armoured vehicles and uniformed men, all with identifying markings removed or covered up, massing on the Russian side of the border withUkraine. They were a short drive from the Ukrainian village where residents reported seeing identical troops manning checkpoints.
In the northwest Russian city of Pskov, reporters were chased away from a cemetery where, according to accounts on social media, two Russian paratroopers killed inUkraine were secretly buried.