That 31 people died in fire in a government building in the Ukraine today—it apparently caught or was set on fire after being stormed by pro-Russia protestors/militants—is bad enough. Even more concerning is that it happened in Odessa, a city in the southwest of the country, hundreds of miles away from the sites of previous armed conflicts. From Reuters:
Eastern Ukraine has been a focus of concern in Western capitals since Moscow annexed mainly Russian Crimea from Ukraine in March. Clashes have also broken out in largely Russian-speaking Odessa, not far from Crimea, but they had never involved deaths before.
The Ukrainian presidential election that Obama described today as a critical milestone is still 23 days away.
