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What did the days before 11 February 2018 reveal?
Summary
A look back at reports from 7 and 8 February 2018, when Washington moved on Ukrainian cybersecurity and a deadly clash unfolded in eastern Syria.
What did the news in the days before 11 February 2018 tell international readers about Ukraine's place in the wider contest between Washington and Moscow? Two sets of reports, read together, offer a partial answer.
On 8 February 2018, the US House of Representatives approved a bill supporting Ukraine's cybersecurity. The measure was a concrete sign of congressional attention to Kyiv's digital defences.
The same day, in Syria, a force of about five hundred pro-government troops, backed by tanks and artillery, attacked a local headquarters of the Syrian Democratic Forces near the town of Khasham in Deir ez-Zor Governorate. More than one hundred government fighters were killed, among them Russian private military contractors of the Wagner Group.
On 7 February 2018, United States Central Command said it had killed more than 100 pro-government troops in what it called self-defence strikes. They were carried out 8 kilometres (5 miles) east of the Euphrates de-confliction line, which had reportedly been agreed with Russia.
Two separate stories
The reports describe different theatres, and they do not link the Syrian fighting to the Ukraine bill. Still, both involved the United States acting in areas where Russian interests were present: through legislation aimed at supporting Ukraine, and through military strikes in Syria.
For readers following Ukraine and its neighbours, the episode is a reminder that decisions in Washington on Ukraine were being taken while other confrontations involving Russian personnel were under way elsewhere.
