Ukraine: Russia Waging War By Any Other Name

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Video: Has Russia Invaded Ukraine?

When is an invasion not an invasion, but an incursion? When is a foreign-backed insurgency called "hybrid war"? When are military front lines evolving into borders?

Answer: When the Russians do it.

Over the last few days Russia has sent, according to the Ukrainian government but also to Nato, some 32 tanks, 16 track-mounted Howitzers, and 30 trucks laden with men and ammunition into Ukraine.

Along the border another 400 tanks are being off-loaded, NATO sources said, as a "massive show of force" by Russia.

Thousands of Russian troops have been involved in fighting inside Ukraine over the last few months.

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Gallery: Ukraine Crisis: Aftermath Of Fighting In Donetsk

A resident walks in front of his damaged house after shelling in Donetsk, where violence has continued despite a ceasefire agreed in September

An elderly woman pulls a cart with firewood near the city's airport

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People sit inside a makeshift bomb shelter in the Kuybeshevski area in Donetsk on 5 November. Continue for more images

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Russian missile launchers, Russian tanks, Russian artillery pieces all need Russian troops to fire them - whether, as they occasionally claim, they are "on holiday" or not.

So the latest "invasion" could also be seen as an "incursion" or even part of a process to relieve forces already on the ground.

These moves, along with the use of local proxy forces (often under the command of Russian officers), are now being called hybrid war.

It's really just an insurgency backed from outside.

The armoured movement comes amid reports that the ceasefire agreed in Minsk between Kiev and Russian-backed separatists is falling apart.

Five Ukrainian soldiers were killed in one attack on Thursday. Two teenagers died in another artillery assault on their football pitch the day before.

Russia's latest move may be intended to reinforce its positions ahead of the Ukrainian government pledge to bolster their own forces, and their proxies, with the latest technology.

The reason for this is that while there is a "front line" Russia may wish to preserve this as a fact on the ground - an established separation line between the Russian-dominated eastern provinces and the rest of Ukraine.

The Kremlin has done this before.

The Georgian regions of Abkhazia and South Ossetia are firmly under Russian military and security control after Russia came to the aid of separatists in the late noughties. The military front lines have, in effect, become unofficial borders.

Citizens of the breakaway Georgian republics are entitled, now, to Russian citizenship.

The majority of citizens in the breakaway Georgian republic may support the Russian strategy. Many east Ukrainians may do, too.

But all of these moves by Russia violate the sovereignty of countries where it used to exercise total control under the former Soviet Union.

Russia has shown commitment to taking or again permanently controlling these territories.

Nato and the Kremlin's Western rivals have been less firm in their resolve - preferring to hope that sanctions against Russia will bite and effect a change in policy.

Sanctions are hurting. But there's been no change so far.

Perhaps that's why NATO so often refers to an "incursion" amid "hybrid war" and "front lines".

More accurate language might beg a bigger response - and that would be hard to justify to electorates - in any language.

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Usia Belajar