Putin Pays Big Price For Winning East Ukraine

Elections in separatist East Ukraine last Sunday appear to have elected 2 new leaders to the European scene.  One, Alexander Zakharchenko an electrician, continues as President of the "Donetsk People's Republic", while Igor Plotnitsky a Soviet army veteran, won in the "Luhansk Peoples's Republic".  Ukraine's "official"  government calls them "pseudo-elections"  and sputters about their illegality.  But the results are in and nothing short of a continued armed conflict will change them.

For Vladimir Putin it's a victory - but the cost may be too high even for the Russian dictator to survive.  On Friday Oct. 31st, the Bank of Russia raised interest rates from 8% to 9.5% to stop a sell-off of their currency (ruble).  But this week, the ruble continues to fall against the American dollar;  since January 2014, it's down 35% .  Russia is sinking into recession.  The weaker currency means more inflation on the home front, particularly for food.  With the coming Russian winter, the people will feel the pinch in their pocket book;  civil unrest will grow and financial sanctions imposed by Europe and the United States will continue making it more difficult for Russian companies to borrow overseas.  And behind all of these problems lurks the spectre of falling oil prices world-wide which, if they continue, will wreak havoc on Russia's biggest export.

So here we are Mr. Putin.  Time for a reality check.  You created this mess.  Was it worth it?  Why don't you ask the Russian people?