Vladimir the Great

The RFE/RL live blog says the Kerch ferry line is in full Russian control (that's been obvious), that Medvedev ordered a bridge built across the strait, and that Russian forces in Crimea have given Ukrainian forces besieged in various bases in Crimea an ultimatum to surrender by 5:00 a.m., Tuesday.

More ominously, it says the Russians will move on eastern Ukraine, believing that there is nobody to stop them. Pro-Russians are active in Donetsk (in the east) and Odessa (which I think is beyond Russian reach).

Have the Russians not heard that we are deploying the Kerry? I almost feel sorry for the Russians.

But you never know if Putin will believe that because of his success so far in the face of zero international response, that taking all of Ukraine is within his grasp right now.

That's a chapter in the Russian history books, no?

UPDATE: The bridge news seemed odd to me. I thought the strait was too large for military bridging, given we had set a record in the Bosnia intervention in 1995. So I checked.

Kerch is too wide for a military bridge and the report on Medvedev is on a long-range plan for a permanent structure.

Obviously, if Crimea is brought into the Motherland, such a bridge is more important.