– Pro-Russian separatists in eastern Ukraine staged swearing in ceremonies for their leaders on Tuesday after votes dismissed as a farce by Kiev, which says they violated terms of a peace plan to end a war that has killed more than 4,000 people. Warning of the threat of new offensive by Moscow-backed rebels, Ukraine’s leader said newly-formed army units would be sent to defend a string of eastern cities. NATO’s highest ranking officer, a U.S. general, said conditions were now in place to create a “frozen conflict”, a term the West uses to describe rebel regions carved out of other ex-Soviet states that Moscow protects with its troops. The inauguration ceremonies in east Ukraine took place even as tens of thousands of people marched in Moscow for “Unity Day”, a nationalist holiday celebrating a 17th century battle, revived under President Vladimir Putin to replace the Soviet-era […]