Poroshenko Puts Ukraine on the Saakashvili Road to Abkhazia and South Ossetia

Following a face off with Russian Warships near Crimea, Ukrainian President, Petro Poroshenko, has imposed martial law.  The measure, which is expected to last for 60 days was earlier approved by Ukraine’s Security Council, in an apparent ploy to shore up support for Poroshenko's party in upcoming elections.  The Ukrainian army has been on full combat alert for weeks now.

While Poroshenko's declaration of martial law may have just as much to do with Ukrainian electoral politics as it does with national security, Kiev's attacks against parts of the Donbass region may put Ukraine in the same situation that led Russia to separate Abkhazia and South Ossetia from Georgia during the rule of Mikheil Saakashvili. The world woke up to the advance of Russian tanks toward the town of Gori with fears that Tbilisi was Russia's ultimate destination. In the end, Russia emasculated the Georgian armed forces, driving it far from the peacekeeping zone and paving the way for Abkhazia and South Ossetia to establish their independence from Georgia. 

Russian peacekeepers talk with Georgian soldiers near the village of Khurvaleti during the conflict in August 2008.