Borys Filatov, the lieutenant governor of Dnipropetrovsk, Ukraine, said Wednesday that he would personally pay $10,000 for each Russian invader captured in Ukraine, and $200,000 for the liberation of any government building in Donetsk that is now under pro-Russian occupation.

Mr. Borys Filatov made the offers on his Facebook page around midnight Ukraine time on April 16.

“I thought a lot about the events in Donetsk and Lugansk,” he wrote. “This is a revolution of poverty. … [Ousted President Viktor] Yanukovych’s clique plunged our fellow citizens into the abyss of despair. The separatists today exploit their poverty, with pro-Russians distributing money to these impoverished Eastern Ukrainians, which was stolen from other people, and promising the poor a future as part of a hostile neighboring state.”

The solution, in Mr. Filatov’s view, is to offer monetary incentives to the pro-Ukrainian activists.

“We have an offer: For each captured ‘green man’—each pro-Russia mercenary walking on our soil and trying to push us into civil war—a reward of U.S. $10,000. … [And] for each vacated building … a reward of U.S. $200,000. All details, money transfer location, contact numbers tomorrow in a special message of Staff of National Defense.”

Such offers show that the crisis underway in Ukraine is at a boiling point, and is only becoming more tense. Back in March, Russian President Vladimir Putin brought the Crimean Peninsula back into the motherland, effectively redrawing the borders of Europe in one fell swoop. Since then, turmoil has gripped eastern Ukraine, which many fear is a prelude to more Russian annexations.

On Thursday, Ukrainian, Russian and Western officials held an emergency meeting during which Putin said he wants to avoid using force in Ukraine, but he did not rule out sending in Russian troops. In his annual televised phone-in later in the day, Putin even referred to eastern Ukraine several times as “new Russia.” And despite Russia’s claims to the contrary, the situation on the ground shows that Moscow is already waging covert operations in parts of the region. These efforts have already seen armed pro-Russian activists take hold of swaths of Ukraine, including those government buildings that Mr. Filatov is offering to pay to liberate.

Despite some isolated victories and despite concerted efforts by such Ukrainian leaders as Filatov, the overall push by the Ukrainian military appears to be losing momentum against Russian might.

The situation is fraught with tension, and the 1 million-ruble question remains: Will Mr. Putin go further, officially annexing more territory in Ukraine or other parts of Eastern Europe? To know what to expect, read Trumpet editor in chief Gerald Flurry’s analysis, “The Crimean Crisis Is Reshaping Europe.”

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ZNy5KLyGRCg&feature=youtu.be

Scenes from pro-Russian occupied government building in Donetsk, April 14, 2014.