Well a direct military confrontation with the Regular forces of the Russian Federation, with all its potential WW3 implications are nothing to take lightly, so what could possibly be more important as a news item?
Well apparently in the UK WW3 comes behind A Tory MP defecting to UKIP and forcing a By Election and a report on historic sexual abuse in the Northern Town of Rotherham. Could it be that despite the sound and fury that nobody really takes these allegations significantly more seriously than any of the previous?
There is of course the matters of trust, proberty, objectivity and accuracy that help discern confidence in a news source
It was therefore a surprise to see the new BBC map today.
Gratifying to see that they finally accept the Kiev no longer has any presence in post cauldron Southern Luhansk but I am obviously dismayed to learn that the Ukrainians have managed to recapture both Donetsk and Gorlovka today and without anybody living there noticing.
If the reporting matches the standard of map making............
I am still waiting to see any solid evidence of direct RF military involvement, as opposed to the very thin circumstantial evidence covering a lot of unsupported allegation.
I have seen a Satellite photo purporting to be Russian SPA in Southern Luhansk. Why it is deemed Russian is not explained. I am however aware that this is the vicinity of the original cauldron and that a large number of SPA pieces in various conditions of serviceability were captured there are the cauldron collapsed earlier this month. They said at the time that the some pieces would need time to repair and so not really a surprise to see a regular stream of equipment come out now and into the near future.
Likewise a picture of a tank that is claimed to be a variant only used by the RF Regulars. One tank is not much more than a statistical anomaly and could be misidentification or an odd piece that has come in via the volunteers from South Ossetia etc.
I do not think it too difficult a concept that any Russian direct Intervention would involve large discreet formations, easily, precisely identified and a very definite chain of command. Such formations would be involved in very particular engagements and be active in very particular areas.
I do think this is the level of irrefutable proof required for the current and previous allegations to be taken seriously.
Otherwise what is irrefutable is that the flag of Novorossiya flies tonight in Novoazovsk and from the ruins of the Oblisk of Saur Mogila.
Given just how fast things are moving at the moment; with rumours of collapsing cauldrons and forces re-entering Severdonesk and other north Luhansk cities, I think the next full SITREP will be a very interesting read indeed.