For eight years Ukraine’s military and ultra-nationalists militias have felt free to try to ravage the two Donbas hold-outs. It is a well-known saying: In war the first casualty is the truth. Maybe that can now be changed: In war the first casualty is the claimed reasons for the war.

The threat of an increasingly aggressive NATO moving into Ukraine -Russia’s backyard – was real and had to be stopped. Most impartial observers agree. Strong personal and historical links were an even larger reason. Many Ukrainian families have connections with the other side of the border with Russia. They speak