(map is from Canadian NATO delegation)
There is not much doubt about it. Russia is actively supporting the rebels in East Ukraine, with troops, inside Ukraine. Prisoners have been taken, press conferences given. This is fucked up. This is scary.
As an American, I can’t really use this to go on an anti-Russian rant. We’ve invaded plenty of smaller countries with even less justification. There was no American minority population living in Iraq. Our navy did not need the ports in Grenada. The U.S. does not have a border with Afghanistan.
But, while Putin is no worse than your average American Republican war mongering president, this proves he’s no better, either. And it’s all so stupid. Russia didn’t need to control Ukraine to achieve their goals. They needed to have friendly relations with Ukraine. They’ve kind of blown that one.
When communism and the Warsaw Pact collapsed in the late 80s, it was a good thing for almost everybody. People in Latvia, Lithuania, Estonia, Poland, East Germany, Czechoslovakia, Ukraine and like 5 or 10 other countries were ecstatic. But, even Russia was better off. They saved a lot of money by not having to keep oppressing all of those countries, a lot of their people got rich, people could travel to the west, and westerners could go to Russia.
Putin seems to want to go back to the bad old days. May he fail miserably.
www.gurukalehuru.com 
The first thing the (still) unelected fascist government in the Ukraine did when they took power, in what can only be described as a coup, was to declassify Russian as an official language in the Ukraine, practically the lingua franca of the country and effectively disenfranchising a very large minority of their population. That was as stupid as it was unnecessary.
The realpolitk(s) of the situation is that Putin can do whatever he wants in and to this non-country. He has shown restraint. If this escalates, the Ukraine will lose. No one will come to their aid. That’s a fact. They are teetering on non-existence and most likely deserve it.
Defending the Ukraine is not worth a world war. If Putin turns off the gas tap, the Ukraine will have no economy. None. It will not even be worth the BS arms and debt deals currently being negotiated with their non-government. It’s very sad when people who have coexisted for centuries are now at each other’s throats. It’s sad that I’m put in a position to defend a thug, a person I find utterly despicable, but that’s the reality, unfortunately.
It is neither the business of the US or the EU to interfere here and it is certainly not in their interest. A peace needs to be negotiated immediately or the Ukraine will lose much more than it has already, as pawns in a game they can only lose.