Russian president Vladimir Putin invoked Jesus, Satan, and transsexual bogeymen in a Kremlin ceremony for carving up Ukraine on Friday (30 September).
Putin signed eagle-embossed, leather-bound tomes declaring four Ukrainian regions to be part of Russia, in rites observed in a palatial hall, filled with clapping VIPs, including patriarch Kirill, and soldiers in dress uniform.
The last time this happened, when Putin annexed Crimea in 2014, marked a dark hour for Europe's post-WW2 ...
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Andrew Rettman is EUobserver's foreign editor, writing about foreign and security issues since 2005. He is Polish, but grew up in the UK, and lives in Brussels. He has also written for The Guardian, The Times of London, and Intelligence Online.