Russian media response to the Ukraine crisis cannot be attributed to ‘cynical eclecticism’ alone, as the efforts to present a coherent worldview have also been apparent.

While Russia won the military war to create Novorossiya and intelligence war to support combat operations, it has not achieved its aims and is losing the political war.

Ukraine’s geopolitical position, and the interventions of competing outside powers pursuing their own self-interest led to the continuing civil war in Ukraine.

Ukrainian politics will remain a struggle between old- and new-style politics, although it remains to be seen how much of the old informal politics has changed.

While Crimea is likely to remain a point of conflict between Ukraine/the West and Russia, the return of the territory to the Ukrainian state is virtually impossible.