In ten cities in the Donbas region (mostly Donetsk oblast) in Ukraine the important administrative buildings are now in the hands of pro-federalization activists.
A second ultimatum from Kiev against the activists has passed and nothing happened. It had been issued after CIA director Brennan visisted Kiev and relayed Obama's orders. This morning the coup-government in Kiev (again) replaced the head of the anti-terror police without giving any reason. We can assume that he did not want or could follow orders to clear the east of Ukraine of protesters. The Defense Minister said that several military units going east were held up by villagers along the roads. Some videos showed artillery and Katusha missile units allegedly moving east. I doubt that those would be used against protesters. One needs infantry to clear those out but I find it unlikely that Kiev will find any regular unit willing to do so.
The coup president became the joke of the day when he asked the UN to join with "peacekeepers" to clear the "terrorists" in eastern Ukrainian cities.
Ukraine's acting President Oleksandr Turchynov on Monday called for the deployment of United Nations peacekeeping troops in the east of the country, where pro-Russian insurgents have occupied buildings in nearly 10 cities.
In a telephone conversation with UN Secretary-General Ban Ki Moon, Turchynov suggested that an "anti-terrorist operation" could be conducted jointly by Ukrainian security forces and UN peacekeepers, according to the presidential web site.
The UN Security Council would have agree to such and Russia (and China) would only agree if Russian troops would get the mandate to do so. They also have the advantage of being able to start the job with just a few hours notice :-).
While the media have said a lot about Russian speaking versus Ukrainian speaking people missing in those reports is another important distinction between east and west Ukraine. The east and south is mostly Russian orthodox while the west Ukraine is catholic. During the recent days several orthodox priests could be seen mingling with the protesters in the east. The difference may not look important for people who have grown up in mostly secular "western" societies. But there are important differences in believes and the ethos of those two churches. Orthodox believe seem stronger and more intense then today's catholicism.
This week, between palm Sunday and Easter Sunday, is the holy week for the orthodox believers. Easter is their highest holiday of the year. Any attack on the east during this week would be seen as an offense against a holy realm and answered with more spirit than usually. Not only from Ukrainians but also from Russians. The miners and steelworkers in the Donbas have yet to come out in great numbers against the Kiev coup government. Any attack now would probably see them react in force. It would likely mean the end for the coup plotters in Kiev.