Missing MH370: Facing 'The Underwater Alps'

Confirmation that the Ocean Shield vessel has picked up pings consistent with a plane's black box flight recorders has sparked hope of a breathrough in the hunt for MH370.

But while Malaysia's transport minister spoke of his hope of progress "in days, if not hours" the retired Australian defence chief in charge of the operation has warned that "we are talking about a long operation here".

Sky News experts, maritime explorer Jock Wishart and radar specialist Professor David Stupples, from City University, have been looking at what comes next for searchers working on "the most difficult search in human history".

Which set of signals detected is more likely to be MH370?

Search teams will be keen to investigate the pings detected by the Ocean Shield, but if they are to be thorough, they can not ignore the signals picked up 300 nautical miles away by Chinese ship, the Haixun 01.

They will be hoping to confirm that the 37.5kHz frequency transmissions do lead them to an aircraft's flight recorders.

Prof Stupples said the most recent discovery appeared to be most credible as it had been detected by the more advanced pinger locator on board the Ocean Shield.

Advanced equipment on the Ocean Shield appears key to the breakthrough

He said: "The Chinese were using handheld devices which they would put over the side of a RIB and they received just two or three pings and with the sensitivity of those pieces of equipment it could be that they were just picking up some noise.

"It could be the signal - I'm not dismissing that. But it's probably noise.

The Australian ship was picking up a much more sustained collection of pings, but it was only a few over a two hour period, which means that if it is the black box they were picking up, it is quite some way away.

The Next Steps

Mr Wishart said it would be "incredible" if search teams have managed to track down the black boxes in a search area of some 90,000 square miles of the Indian Ocean.

Royal Australian Air Force aircraft which can drop sonobuoy listening devices have been sent to the area, where the Royal Navy's HMS Echo will also be key.

He said: "Luckily we've got HMS Echo down there, which is a very sophisticated bit of kit and she will do that. I would guess then, if that proves to be not valid, then they will want to move Echo back up North.

"Echo carries items on board which are much more helpful in terms of helping to locate any wreckage there may be, so that would be my next move."

The Bluefin-21 underwater drone could be used in the black box search

Prof Stupples said: "What they will need to do is get a few more triangulations on these pingers to get the search down to the haystack itself. They've got to get it down to a much smaller area.

"Then they'll send down something like Bluefin - a device controlled from the ship above that will navigate along the sea bed.

"It has sideways-looking sonar, so it will be looking out for wreckage."

Little has been said about the nuclear-powered submarine HMS Tireless but it is understood to have been operating in the search area.

While it can not dive to the same depth as the Bluefin-21 autonomous underwater vehicle, it has incredibly sophisticated sonar equipment which can help with the search for wreckage.

How Long To Recover The Black Boxes?

Mr Wishart said robotic underwater craft could be used to help recover the black boxes if they are confirmed to be at the current search location - which could be 4,500m below the surface.

He said any search could be hampered by sea conditions, which could be treacherous as winter in the southern hemisphere approaches.

HMS Tireless is understood to have been involved in the search

The jagged terrain and pressure deep under the surface will also be a challenge for searchers.

Mr Wishart said: "It's the underwater Pennines - maybe even the underwater Alps in terms of some of the stuff you've got down there."

However the search is conducted, he said: "We're not looking at days."

Will The Black Box Recorders Solve The MH370 Mystery?

The flight data recorder should hold up to 15 hours of information from the flight. That would cover the crucial period after contact was lost with air traffic control 38 minutes into the flight and the plane appeared to change course.

The elusive black box recorders could reveal what happened to flight MH370

But the plane's voice recorder may hold only as little as two hours of information, which could mean that any conversations at that time are lost.

Prof Stupples said: "Everything the plane was doing will be recorded on those data recorders.

"The voice recorder will only have two hours or maybe three and if nothing was being said, nothing will be on that tape.

Are There Lessons For Future Air Travel?

Both Sky News experts agree that the aviation industry needs to look at automatic tracking devices for planes.

Mr Wishart said: "In a world where you can put automatic trackers on cars, it's nonsense that we don't have automatic trackers on planes - something that is completely free of human interference and linked by satellite.

"If that had been the case here, this mystery could have been solved in hours."

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London Hotel Hammer Attack: Three Women Hurt

A manhunt is under way after a vicious hammer attack on three wealthy tourists staying at a leading London hotel.

All three women, in their 30s, suffered serious head injuries and one is understood to be in a medically induced coma, fighting for her life.

The first victim is said to be in a critical condition, the second serious but stable and the third stable.

They were on a family holiday from the United Arab Emirates and were sharing a room with three children on the seventh floor of the Cumberland Hotel near Oxford Street in central London.

A lone man managed to get into the room and was disturbed by one of the women which resulted in the three adults being attacked by the intruder who is believed to have fled the building in bloodstained clothes.

The Cumberland is one of London's largest hotels

Police were alerted to the assault at the 1,000-room hotel at around 1.50am on Sunday.

Detective Superintendent Carl Mehta, of the Metropolitan Police, said the family had been doing some shopping during the few days they had been in the capital.

It is unclear whether the women knew their attacker or whether it was a bungled robbery attempt.

A detailed forensic examination of the scene is taking place while police review both CCTV from within the hotel as well as the surrounding streets. Hotel staff and other guests are also being questioned.

No arrests have been made and Mr Mehta appealed for witnesses "who saw what happened or either saw somebody loitering around the hotel, outside or within, or who might have seen somebody leaving the hotel, perhaps hurriedly or covered in blood".

He said officers were keeping an open mind, but early indications were that "theft would appear to have been the motive".

"We are yet to establish precisely what happened, but we are in close liaison with the family to establish what is missing from the room," he said.

Homicide and major crime officers are investigating the attack, he added.

A hotel spokesman said: "It's an ongoing investigation and we are helping police with their inquiries in order to get this sorted as soon as possible."

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John Pinette Found Dead In Hotel Room

John Pinette, a stand-up comedian who guest-starred as the victim of a carjacking in the final episode of Seinfeld, has died at 50.

Pinette died of natural causes on Saturday at a hotel in Pittsburgh, the Allegheny County Medical Examiner's office said.

His body was discovered by family members.

The chubby Pinette was a self-deprecating presence on stage.

He was known for making jokes about his weight during stand-up specials like Show Me the Buffett, I'm Starvin'! and Still Hungry.

A Boston native, Pinette appeared in movies like Junior, The Punisher and Dear God.

He also appeared on stage in a national tour of Hairspray as Edna Turnblad, the mother of the play's heroine.

In the final episode of Seinfeld, Pinette portrayed an overweight man who gets carjacked at gunpoint.

The show's stars stand by and watch the incident and make fun of the man's weight before they are arrested by a police officer for violating the Good Samaritan Law.

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Brit Killed On Costas: Friend Tells Of Shock

A friend of millionaire businessman Andrew Bush, who was found shot dead at his home on Spain's Costa del Sol, has said he is "trying to comprehend" his death.

Mr Bush, 48, originally from Bristol, was found lying in a pool of blood with two gunshot wounds to his head at around 3am on Saturday.

Police are looking for Mr Bush's ex-girlfriend, named as Mayka Kukucova, who is thought to have left the property in the businessman's Hummer.

Friend Paul Orchard, who had also been Mr Bush's personal trainer, said he was "devastated".

"It will take me a long time to come to terms with this," he said.

"I've been his personal trainer since last September but I knew him for longer than that.

"We struck a good rapport and I only spoke to him on Friday evening, we were going to meet next week.

Estepona is on the Costa del Sol

"When I was first told, I questioned whether it was true and I kept on saying it can't be. Now I feel just a little bit empty, almost like I'm trying to put pieces together.

"I'm trying to comprehend that it's happened.

"My thoughts go to him and his family. He'll be greatly missed."

Firefighters and police discovered Mr Bush's body after forcing their way into the beachside villa in Estepona where he lived.

The company director's girlfriend alerted police with an emergency call after the attack.

The pair are said to have been ambushed by Kukucova.

The house is a village between the resorts of Estepona and Marbella

She is thought to have been lying in wait for them inside the five-bedroom house.

Mr Bush and his current girlfriend, who is reported to be British, had just returned to their home from a trip abroad.

The suspected killer is still on the run after escaping from the scene in the dead man's Hummer vehicle.

A source close to the investigation said: "It is being treated as murder and police are hunting the dead man's ex on suspicion of committing this crime.

"They are probing the possibility she may have let herself into the property while the occupant was away and waited for several days for him to return."

The businessman's body has been taken to Malaga for a post-mortem examination.

Mr Bush owned a number of businesses in Bristol including a jewellery shop, according to reports.

His ex-wife and daughter have flew to the Costa del Sol on Sunday.

Sam Mason, a former HTV news reader and BBC Radio Bristol presenter, travelled with 19-year-old daughter Ellie Mason-Bush.

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Max Clifford Trial: Pauline Quirke Evidence

By Nick Pisa, Sky News Reporter, Southwark Crown Court

Birds of a Feather star Pauline Quirke has described publicist Max Clifford as an "honest and decent man" as the trial enters its closing stages.

Clifford, who turned 71 at the weekend, is accused of indecently assaulting a string of women in his car and his office, some after saying he could get them roles in the entertainment world.

However, Ms Quirke told Southwark Crown Court that the PR guru was nothing like the description that jurors have heard and she told how they worked together to raise funds for charity.

The actress who has also starred in Emmerdale and Broadchurch said that her friendship with him "grew from their connection" to the Rhys Daniels Trust which was set up in the 1990s to help a boy of the same name with Batten's Disease.

Ms Quirke said: "We went to each other's houses and we went out for dinner to restaurants. He came when I was on tour for two years with Birds of a Feather.

"The word integrity comes to mind when I think of Max - he's very down to Earth and normal considering the business that we are both involved in.

"He's a decent, decent man, honest and decent."

When asked by his defence barrister Richard Horwell QC if she had ever seen him "acting inappropriately with women" she replied: "We've been to balls with lots of women, people drinking and I've never seen him doing anything like that.

"I've never seen him behave in any way, shape or form like that."

Ms Quirke added that Clifford had helped raise money for the Trust by bringing stars to a celebrity screening of Who Wants To Be A Millionaire and as a result they became "good friends".

As she left court, Clifford, who was dressed in a white open shirt and blue suit, winked and smiled at her.

Earlier, Sky Sports anchor Clare Thomlinson, who worked for Clifford in the early 1990s for six months said she had "no reason to doubt his integrity and honesty", adding that she had left his office on "amicable terms".

She said: "Max had an old school charm, he would open the door for you and ask how you would get home from a late function."

Ms Thomlinson, who was at the centre of sexual harassment claims from disgraced former commentators Richard Keys and Andy Gray, told the court the experience had made her want to testify in the case.

She said: "I have been the victim of sexual harassment at work and I would not be giving evidence in front of a court if I had believed Max was capable of that sort of behaviour."

Clifford, of Hersham, Surrey, denies 11 counts of indecent assault against seven women between 1966 and 1984. His defence is expected to finish on Tuesday when the case continues.

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Teen Jailed For Westfield Mass Brawl Stabbing

A teenager footballer has been jailed for at least 18 years after murdering a man during scenes of "bedlam" at a London shopping centre.

Liam Woodards, who had been out celebrating his 24th birthday, was stabbed after the throwing of a yoghurt pot sparked a mass brawl between two gangs at Westfield Stratford just weeks before the 2012 Olympic Games.

Budding Arsenal coach Nii-Azu Kojo-Smith lunged forward and stabbed him in the chest in front of horrified shoppers, the Old Bailey heard.

As the victim lay dying, the fight moved on to Stratford Tube Station where one of Mr Woodards' friends stabbed one of the opposing group.

Victim Liam Woodards: Birthday celebration

Following a three-month retrial, Kojo-Smith, 19, of Hackney, east London, was found guilty of Mr Woodards' murder by a majority of 11 to 1.

Detaining Kojo-Smith for a minimum of 18 years, judge Richard Marks QC said: "The shopping centre at that time was full of men, women and children going about their business.

"It was a horrific scene of complete bedlam as many members of the public ran for safety into shops which swiftly closed their doors.

"It was readily apparent that those caught up in those appalling events must have been and were absolutely terrified."

The court heard much of the fight was captured on CCTV which was shown during the trial.

Kojo-Smith had a previous conviction for battery and threatening behaviour in 2010 after he was involved in a group attack on a passenger at Finsbury Park Tube station.

Tony Caton (L) and Anselm Legemah were also jailed

In mitigation, the court heard he was a talented young footballer who was involved in coaching at Arsenal.

His lawyer Philippa McAtasney QC said: "He was a talented footballer. He had obtained an FA1 coaching certificate and his future was set - all of that thrown away in a second of his behaviour."

She said he knew what he did was "very wrong" and saying sorry to the victim's family was not enough.

Co-defendant Tony Caton, 22, of Stratford, was convicted of two counts of violent disorder and Anselm Legemah, 19, of east London, was convicted of one count of violent disorder.

Caton was handed three years in jail while Legemah, whose girlfriend was heavily pregnant at the time, was sentenced to two years in a young offenders' institution.

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Pistorius Slumps In Dock After Giving Evidence

Oscar Pistorius apologised to the family of Reeva Steenkamp today before slumping in the dock unable to continue with his evidence.

Pistorius wept and trembled his way through his first day of testimony, describing how panic attacks had left him hiding in cupboards since the shooting.

He woke "smelling blood", was unable to sleep and was on anti-depressants and sedatives, he told the court. 

Stoney-faced: June Steenkamp, Reeva's mother, hears the apology

And in dramatic scenes in Pretoria, the day ended early with Pistorius sitting on the floor of the dock with his psychologist wiping away tears and stroking his face.

The athlete's family formed a protective shield around him as he composed himself before eventually leaving the building.

Reporting from the court, Sky's Alex Crawford said: "The psychologist was comforting him - like a mother would do to a child."

Moments earlier, the court hearing had been adjourned for the day after Judge Thokozile Masipa agreed that Pistorius was "exhausted", having not slept. 

This morning, Pistorius cried as he turned towards Reeva's mother June and apologised for all the hurt he had caused her. 

His voice cracking, he said: "I would like to take this opportunity to apologise to Reeva's family, to those of you who knew her who are here today, to her friends.

"There hasn't been a moment since this tragedy happened that I haven't thought about your family."

Pistorius shook as he described panic attacks and nightmares, while Ms Steenkamp's relatives listened intently in the public gallery.

Members of Pistorius's family - including his brother and sister - also wept as the athlete gave evidence during an emotion-charged morning.  

Almost inaudible at times, the Paralympian was asked to speak up by the judge so that the court could hear him.

Oscar Pistorius' brother Carl Pistorius reacts during his trial

Continuing to address June Steenkamp, he said: "I wake up every morning and you're the first people I think of. The first people I pray for.

"I can't imagine the pain and the sorrow and the emptiness that I've caused you and your family.

"I was simply trying to protect Reeva. I can promise you that when she went to bed that night she felt loved.

"I have tried to put my words on paper many, many times to write to you but no words would ever suffice."

June Steenkamp did no show any emotion as the defendant made the apology. 

Pistorius said he was taking anti-depressant medicine and that he has sometimes woken up in terror, suffering from panic attacks.

"I have terrible nightmares about things that happened that night," he said.

Pistorius was led from the court 'heaving and retching'

"I wake up and I can smell blood and I wake up to being terrified. I hear a noise and I wake up in a complete state of terror, to the point that I would rather not sleep." 

He described how, on one occasion, he woke in panic and had to ring a family member for help.

"I climbed into a cupboard and I phoned my sister to come and sit by me, which she did for a while," he said.

Reeva Steenkamp was killed on Valentine's Day last year

He described how important his Christian religion had been to him as he struggled to come to terms with the death of his girlfriend.

"When I met Reeva - I always wanted to have a girlfriend who was Christian," Pistorius said.

"She would pray for me at night. We would pray before we would eat.

"It is what has got me through this last year - I have been struggling a lot." 

He later outlined the story of his Paralympian success - describing how he had overcome disadvantages to excel in athletics.

Pistorius arrives at the court in Pretoria

He also told how he and his family had been the victim of several break-ins and other criminal activity.

On one occasion he was shot at and also followed home.

Pistorius told the court that on another occasion he helped a man who was being beaten with rocks on the highway.

The court was told that Pistorius drew his firearm and called the emergency services but was later assaulted after receiving threats.

He suffered a black eye and stitches in his head. 

Before taking to the stand the Paralympian "heaved and retched" as he prepared to explain for the first time in public how and why he killed his girlfriend.

His testimony may take several days and he can expect a gruelling cross-examination from state prosecutor Gerrie Nel.

Earlier this morning, the athlete bent down in the dock, plugging his ears with his fingers, as more details about Ms Steenkamp's death were revealed in court.

He was also seen hunched and weeping before the first witness of the defence case - pathologist Professor Jan Botha - was called.

Then, before the mid-morning break, he was led from the court in a distressed state, as he prepared himself to give evidence. 

Sky's Alex Crawford, reporting from the court, said that Pistorius was "literally heaving, retching" before the mid-morning break.

He was escorted out of the court amid "audible sobs", by his psychologist and family members.  

Professor Botha was allowed to testify first, and ahead of Pistorius, in an agreement with prosecutors because of a family illness.

Contradicting the state's account, Professor Botha said Ms Steenkamp may not have had a chance to scream when she was being shot.

The pathologist testified that if the athlete fired his 9mm pistol in two quick bursts, as Pistorius claims he did, his girlfriend probably didn't have time to cry out.

The testimony contradicts prosecutors' claims that Ms Steenkamp screamed during the gunshots and that the athlete therefore must have known he was firing at her.

Professor Botha said that Ms Reevekamp was first shot in the hip, then in the arm, with the third bullet hitting her hand and the fourth her head.

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Missing Plane: MH370 Team Detect Two Signals

Teams searching for missing flight MH370 believe they may have detected the plane's black box flight recorders after a ship picked up signals in the southern Indian Ocean.

The Australian defence vessel Ocean Shield picked up signals twice, around 370 miles north of where two signals were detected by a Chinese ship on Saturday.

Crucially, there were two distinct pinger returns - suggesting transmissions from a flight data recorder and cockpit voice recorder on a Boeing 777 jet.

Angus Houston, the former Australian defence chief heading the search, said the information was "the most promising lead" in the search so far.

But he warned it could be days before authorities confirm if the signals are from the Malaysia Airlines flight, which vanished on March 8 with 239 people on board.

Malaysian acting Transport Minister Hishammuddin Hussein said he was "cautiously hopeful that there will be a positive development in the next few days, if not hours".

Search teams are involved in a race against time as the batteries on the plane's flight recorders could run out at any moment, meaning the signals would no longer be emitted.

Mr Houston said the Ocean Shield detected the sounds on two occasions over a period totalling more than two-and-a-half hours.

He said: "Clearly this is a most promising lead, and probably in the search so far, it's the probably the best information that we have had.

"This would be consistent with transmissions from both the flight data recorder and the cockpit voice recorder."

Stressing the need for further confirmation, he said: "I am much more optimistic than I was a week ago."

A screen shows the data fed back from the pinger locator deep under the sea

But he added: "We are talking about a long operation here and we have yet to find the aircraft."

Search co-ordinators stressed the signals were picked up in very deep water - 4,500 metres - which is at the limit of underwater search equipment being used.

The position of the sound needed to be further pinpointed, and then an underwater drone could be sent down to investigate, Mr Houston said.

He went on: "It could take some days before the information is available to establish whether these detections can be confirmed as being from MH370.

A map shows where signals were picked up in recent days by search ships

"In very deep oceanic water, nothing happens fast.

"I would want more confirmation before we say this is it. Without wreckage, we can't say it's definitely here. We've got to go down and have a look and hopefully we'll find it somewhere in the area that we narrowed to."

The latest development in the search effort came as the British navy ship HMS Echo joined the hunt. The vessel carries sophisticated sound-locating equipment.

No wreckage from the plane has been found during the month-long search, despite a number of debris sightings.

Divers help as the pinger locator is deployed from the ADV Ocean Shield

Malaysian officials concluded - based on satellite data from several countries - that the aircraft crashed into the southern Indian Ocean to the west of Perth.

Investigators have not established why the plane lost contact with air traffic controllers and appeared to divert so far from its intended route from Kuala Lumpur to Beijing.

The backgrounds of passengers, crew and both pilots have been investigated, while terrorism and hijack have also been considered as possible explanations for the plane's disappearance.

The families of those on board have been frustrated by the huge international search operation, accusing the Malaysian authorities of mismanagement and holding back information. 

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'British Mothers Drown Trying To Rescue Kids'

Two British tourists have drowned in the sea off Tenerife after reportedly trying to rescue their children.

The female victims, 42-year-old Uma Ramalingam and her relative Barathi Ravikumar, 39, went to help the youngsters after they were swept away by a wave.

But the women - both doctors - got into difficulties themselves near the resort of Playa Paraiso in the south-west of the island on Sunday.

The youngsters, aged 10 and 14, were rescued by tourists and hotel workers while an emergency services helicopter pulled a third woman, 38, out of the water.

She and the two children survived but the two other women each suffered a cardiac arrest and attempts to revive them were unsuccessful.

The victims drowned near Playa Paraiso

A spokeswoman for Canary Islands emergency services said: "At just after 6pm yesterday afternoon we received several calls alerting us to two people who were in difficulties in the sea.

"Witnesses rescued two women and two children from the sea. An emergency helicopter located a fifth person in the sea, a woman, and one of the respondents dangled out of the craft and pulled her out.

"Staff from the Canaries health service, a doctor from a nearby health centre and another doctor who was at the scene found that two women were in cardiac arrest and tried to give them advanced CPR without success.

"They later certified the death of both women. They also helped stabilise the other people, taking a woman and a child to hospital."

Two youngsters and another woman were rescued

The 10-year-old child was reportedly taken to hospital with hypothermia while the 14-year-old was treated for minor bruises at the scene.

The third woman was in cardiac arrest when she was rescued but survived after receiving CPR.

A Guardia Civil spokeswoman confirmed the two women who died were British and relatives of the children, but said it had not been ascertained how they were related. An investigation is now underway.

Dr Ramalingam was a consultant obstetrician at the Royal Oldham Hospital.

Mr Olubusola Amu, from the Pennine Acute Hospitals NHS Trust, said: "We are greatly saddened to hear the death of Uma who had been working for the Trust for about six years.

"She was a fantastic doctor who brought a lot of hope to the high risk women attending the Women and Children's Unit at The Royal Oldham Hospital.

Playa Paraiso is in the south-west of the island

"This is a terrible shock to everyone who knew Uma. Our thoughts are with her family at this sad time. She will be sorely missed."

Dr Ravikumar was a partner at a health surgery in Bracebridge Heath, Lincoln.

The surgery described her as "a hardworking and dedicated GP" who "always worked in the best interests of patients".

A Foreign Office spokeswoman told Sky News: "We are aware the deaths of two British nationals in Tenerife.

"We are in touch with local authorities and are providing consular assistance to the family."

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'Russian Soldier Kills Ukrainian Officer'

Ukraine Unrest Could Spark Russian Invasion

Updated: 4:43pm UK, Monday 07 April 2014

By Sam Kiley, Foreign Affairs Editor

A few dozen men in balaclavas declare themselves in the vanguard of an independent republic, demand a referendum on unification with Russia, and throw up the colours of Moscow over municipal buildings.

This was the declaration of a Potemkin state, a pretend entity.

But it is just the sort of incident that could set off an uncontrollable chain reaction.

And it is no coincidence that the stunt in Donetsk was repeated in the other Russian-language dominated Ukrainian Oblasts (provinces) of Kharkiv and Luhansk.

These were the regions toured by Catherine the Great in 1787 on her way to inspect the New Russia which extended into the Crimea which her armies captured from the Ottoman Empire.

Grigory Potemkin, the empress's governor of the new region, is said to have built fake villages, like film sets, and peopled them with soldiers in peasant garb, to demonstrate the rapid reconstruction of the war ravaged landscape as Catherine passed by.

Now hardliners, inspired and cajoled by the Kremlin's own propaganda machine, appear bent on apparently falsifying claims of ethnic suffering and reinforcing them with provocative claims of nationhood for the oblasts of Ukraine's east.             

"An anti-Ukrainian plan is being put into operation ... under which foreign troops will cross the border and seize the territory of the country," Ukrainian Prime Minister Arseny Yatseniuk told a cabinet meeting in Kiev.

"We will not allow this."

In Donetsk, home base of deposed pro-Russian President Viktor Yanukovych, about 120 pro-Moscow activists calling themselves the "Republican People's Soviet of Donetsk" seized the chamber of the regional parliament.

Similar moves have happened before.

They are often driven by Cossacks, members of a militaristic ethnic group which straddles the borders between the two countries and whose Russian leaders have already told Sky News they would intervene in Ukraine to "protect our brothers".

An unidentified bearded man read out "the act of the proclamation of an independent state, Donetsk People's Republic" in front of a Russian flag.

"In the event of aggressive action from the illegitimate Kiev authorities, we will appeal to the Russian Federation to bring in a peacekeeping contingent," said the proclamation.

In early March, Vladimir Putin, the Russian President, re-affirmed a standing obligation set by the Duma, that Russia should intervene to protect ethnic Russians allegedly facing persecution in other nations.

The "obligation" was exercised in South Ossetia and Abkhazia - breakaway Georgian republics - six years ago.

The Kremlin has been bombarding Russian media with allegations of widespread attacks against Russian speaking Ukrainians and even, erroneously, adding that hundreds of thousands have been fleeing ethnic pogroms into Moscow's territory.

This is nonsense of course.

But as Potemkin demonstrated, a lie can be credible if told with enough conviction.

The danger in Ukraine's east is that the central government may eventually tire of the hooded bands of armed men claiming government buildings for Mother Russia and send in its own forces to take them back.

Russian tanks and artillery are poised close to Ukraine's borders.

Moscow's Black Sea Fleet, based in Sevastopol in the newly annexed Crimea, has unlimited reign over the Ukrainian coastline.

There is now a very tense standoff in Luhansk, where police have sealed off roads and where separatists are reported to have seized weapons from a government armoury.

A sudden bout of violence, especially one that claims Russian-speaking lives, could be the trigger for a wider invasion ordered by the Kremlin.

More likely, though, is that the continuous destabilisation of Ukraine fits more neatly into Russia's plans for a federalised neighbour from which the industrialised east will continue to lean heavily towards Moscow and emerge as a counter balance to western Ukraine's increasingly pro-European tilt.

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