Continuing the topic of Ukraine and moving on to Donbass, it’s timely to recall Vitaly Churkin's coined phrase. It’s about the attitude of the current Kiev authorities towards Donbass: "In general, it isn’t clear if they still consider Donbass as part of the Ukrainian territory or not. If not, then, say so. This will largely simplify the matter".

We will be using Churkin's wisdom for a long time. It was the blockade of Donbass that simplified the matter. Railroads between Donbass and Ukraine blown up by Nazis. Together with the intensification of hostilities, any transportation of goods became impossible. Ukraine is nothing less than cutting off its own part named Donbass. As a result, Ukraine deprives itself of coal, fuel for the thermal power plants, and Donbass doesn’t get iron ore, and cannot exchange its coal for coke from the Ukraine-controlled Avdeevka Coke and Chemical Plant. Coke is needed for ironworks of Donbass.

By the end of this week, Russia seems to have made a fundamental decision. To save the Donbass metallurgical complex with direct deliveries. These could include the metallurgic coal from Kemerovo or even the coke-coal itself and iron ore. This will be the salvation of hundreds of thousands of people involved in the Donbass metallurgy.

This tectonic shift has a humanitarian aspect — to save the people. There is a political aspect — Donbass goes farther away from Ukraine and gets closer to Russia. There is also an economic aspect — Donbass becomes economically independent. Until now, the local coal and metallurgical complex was owned by the Ukrainian oligarchs. They purchased raw materials for their plants in Donbass, but payed profit taxes to Kiev.

In the new scenario, a question is raised if not of nationalization, but at least of the introduction some form of external management in the enterprises. In any case, it is no longer possible to live the old way in the conditions of the blockade.

If you take a broader look at the process, it’s about the economy of the two unrecognized republics being urgently integrated into the Russian one. Kiev itself fuels the urgency. Blockade. Together with with Putin's decision last week to accept the documents issued by DPR and LPR in Russia, the picture appears to be even more complete.

Are there certain risks in all this? There are. But not saving our brothers in Donbass means literally condemning them to hunger. And it is hunger what Poroshenko dreams of for Donbass. Anyway, Donbass will be saved. It scares me to think what the blockade, organized by Nazis, will mean for Ukraine itself. Ukrainian energy sector is in the state of emergency across the country.