Prince Charles may think him akin to a genocidal dictator of the mid-20th Century, but President Vladimir Putin is not all bad because he cares about Siberian tigers. The President was on hand for a photo-op when three orphaned tigers were released to the wild of the Amur forest at Zhelundinsky nature reserve. Two of three tigers, male, ran into the forest as soon as he opened their cages, the third female was reluctant to leave captivity. Clever females. Mr. Putin banged on her cage with a stick but to no avail. The President was in the far east region to inspect homes built for last year's flood victims following a visit to Beijing where he pushed through a $400bn gas supply deal. All in a days work for Vladimir. The Russian Foreign Ministry said the illogical and inaccurate comparison was "outrageous and low". Ditto.Of course to the Prince's credit, Moscow is not without responsibility for the increasingly bloody mess in eastern Ukraine. Many of the hooded insurgents seen in the media are not Ukrainians but are Russians coming across the border. Several of these have become rather well known to the Internet thanks to their own self-promotion, and they are a bizarre bunch to say the least. The best known is Ihor Vsevolodovych Girkin aka "Strelkov" which translates roughly to "Rifleman". He takes military reenactments to a new level, actually participating in several combat operations outside Russia in Transnistria, Bosnia, and Chechnya. He is now the self-appointed Minister of Defense for the ridiculous "Peoples' Republic of Donetsk". According to Ukrainian police he is an ex-warrant officer of the GRU (some sources say he is a colonel in the reserves). His hobby is dressing up in historical military garb.
Even more silly, if he were not so dangerous, is Alexandr "Babay" Mozhayev [photo]. This rustic provincial is internationally recognizable by his resplendent beard and cossack-style fur hat. He is sort of a scary Santa Claus, armed to the teeth. "Babay" gives interviews to journalists, and denies he was ever in Georgia in 2008. Is it any wonder Putin reversed himself to support the Ukrainian presidential election process set for Sunday and pull back his army from the border? Not even he can control deranged individuals with automatic rifles at large in a failing state. Unfortunately the Ukraine is proving to be the opening act in another reenactment of the "Great Game" played by European powers of the 19th century in Central Asia. Control of vast energy resources is the motivation, made more urgent as the world's supply slowly runs out.