Russia is going to invade Ukraine.  The only question is when.  Not that Russia needs it, but Russia has orchestrated a number of incidents designed to intimidate the US.

Reuters reported that Russian news cited an unnamed Russian Navy Main Staff spokesman as stating a supposedly U.S. Navy Virginia-class submarine, was detected in the Barents Sea on Aug. 7 by Northern Fleet forces.

Interfax news agency quoted the Russian navy spokesman as saying, “An anti-submarine attack group and an Ilyushin Il-38 anti-submarine aircraft were sent to the said area to search and track the sub”.  These forces “expelled” the submarine from Russian Federation “boundary waters” with “active maneuvers”.

On 18 July, a US RC-135 electronic surveillance was intercepted in international airspace by Russian fighters.  The US aircraft entered Swedish airspace to break contact with the Russian fighters.

The Washington Times reported on 7 August that Russian bombers and a reconnaissance aircraft have made 16 incursions into US airspace over the last 10 days.

Coincidentally, Russia has massed forces again on the Ukraine border and has marked some of its vehicles with “peacekeeping” markings.  This occurs coincidentally as Ukrainian forces are on the verge of finally securing Donetsk the largest rebel held city in eastern Ukraine.

Like I said, Russia didn’t need to intimidate the US into inaction over Ukraine.  A tepid US response has been characteristic since Russia invaded and later annexed Crimea.   Today, the President said in the midst of Russian shelling of Ukrainian territory,  that if Russia used a proposed humanitarian mission as an excuse for military action that it would be “unacceptable”.   Russia on the other hand has massed 45 thousand troops on the border and has announced it is sending an aid convoy.  One can imagine what that “aid convoy” will look like.