Trapped in His Own Labyrinth: Putin, Ukraine, and MH17

Vladimir Putin’s shadow war is no longer. For months, anti-Kiev militants—a collection of disaffected ethnic Russians from eastern Ukraine, nationalist volunteers from Russia, and tourist mercenaries from across the former Soviet Union—have fought a grinding battle with the Ukrainian state. Their grievances and fears were local and often genuine, but the money, supplies, propaganda, and diplomatic cover were Russian. The war was an extension of the postmodern and cynical world of Putin-era politics—in which the only thing that matters is the accumulation and preservation of power. It was a fight as murky as it was grim; and among civilians trapped in besieged cities between the two ragtag and poorly trained military forces, casualties piled up.

The response in Washington and European capitals was outrage without action—concern about the dangers of Putin’s proxy war but no ideas or will to stop it. With the shooting down on July 17 of Malaysia Airlines Flight 17, a Boeing 777 headed from Amsterdam to Kuala Lumpur, the shadow war was brought into the light. If Putin chooses, the disaster of MH17 could provide a way out of the dangerous, increasingly counterproductive conflict he’s been intent on stoking. But doing so would cut against his instincts.