“It is pretty clear that the Novorossiya project has failed. The attempt to grab about a third of Ukraine and shut it off from access to the sea has failed, said Lozowy, Ukraine Today reported. “It looks like the Ukrainian army has got its act together and the Russians together with a relatively small ragtag group of local separatists are not going to be able to push forward so that project has failed.”

The political analyst believes that “Putin's task is to reintegrate this separatist portion of eastern Ukraine into the rest of Ukraine as an internal poisoned pill.”

“Putin is pushing the idea that local elections must be held but what kind of local elections can take place under the rule of the gun of terrorists who have killed people and who are torturing people in basements. This is ridiculous,” says Lozowy.

According to the activist, the Russians really do view Ukraine as their own, as an offshoot. Reintegrating breakaway territories back into Ukraine are seen as “a means of stopping Ukraine's drive toward European integration and to becoming a developed western democracy.”

It is noted that Ivan Lozowy renounced his American citizenship to become citizen of Ukraine in 1997.

Asked if he is happy with this decision, Lozowy said: “Yes absolutely, I love this country.”

See unian.info’s video section for more of the latest news from Ukraine in video from Ukraine Today, Ukraine’s 24-hour English-language news channel.