Two things caught my eye over the past couple days.  First was the pronouncement from the Russian leadership in Ukraine that they were pulling their troops out of Shirokino and declaring the area a DMZ along the contact line.  A few hours after that statement, they started shelling Shirokino again.  Then today, I read another of Putin’s statements that there were “unequivocally” no Russian troops in Ukraine.  He was making the same “unequivocal” statements 15 months ago with regard to Crimea — just about a month before he “unequivocally” stated that there were Russian troops in Crimea.

I recall some commentator noting that Russia/Putin/the Kremlin (I don’t remember which term was used, but at this point they’re almost interchangeable) was behaving like a petulant child.  Given the above lies — saying one thing and doing another, or trying for a “fool me twice” scenario — I think the analogy is apt.