The warlords of Kiev are going on the offensive, violating the terms of the Minsk peace accords, and attacking separatist rebels in the eastern part of the country in a desperate bid to provoke open conflict with Russia. What motivates them is fear of President Donald Trump, who has often expressed a desire to "get along with Russia" and who has openly said Ukraine is not a vital US national security interest. What motivates their new aggression is the possibility that the US subsidies that have kept their vicious war on their own people going – 10,000 killed so far – will dry up.

Ever since US and European Union-backed shock troops overthrew the democratically elected government of President Viktor Yanukovych, the coup leaders in Kiev have waged a relentless war against their rebellious subjects in the east. As "President" Petro Poroshenko put it:

"We will have jobs, they won't! We will have pensions, they won't! We will have benefits for retirees and children, they won't! Our kids will go to schools and daycares, their kids will sit in the basements! They can't do anything about it… And only this is how we will win this war! "