No longer does it feature in Western news bulletins, or confront us on the front pages of our newspapers. Indeed it hardly rates a mention in any page of our tabloids or broad-sheets. The shock that many felt when Crimea was annexed by Russia, and the subsequent turmoil inflicted upon the eastern parts of Ukraine by the violence of war, has all but faded from our memories. Yet the shelling and shooting and killing continue, bringing pain and hurt and loss to many thousands of citizens on both sides of the war front.