Ukraine Disbands Riot Police

The good news from Ukraine:

Earlier Wednesday, acting Interior Minister Arsen Avakov announced that a riot police force used against anti-government protesters in Ukraine had been disbanded.

Demonstrators accused the elite Berkut force, deployed by the government of Yanukovych to quell recent protests, of using excessive force.

Avakov said on his Facebook page that he’d signed the order disbanding the force Tuesday.

But from the same CNN story we get the bad news, too:

The new, pro-Russian mayor of Sevastopol [on the Crimea peninsula] said Tuesday night at a rally in the city that he had secured funding to keep paying Berkut riot police there even after the force was disbanded.

And the scary news:

Russia ordered surprise military exercises on Ukraine’s doorstep Wednesday as tensions in that country’s southern Crimea region simmered, with pro-Russian demonstrators facing off against rival protesters in the city of Simferopol.

This isn’t even close to over. Reactionary forces lost a round last week, but Putin still hold a couple of high cards and he’s not afraid to play them.