Afew days after Russian troops marched into Georgia last month, Ukraine staged a military parade, with 3,500 soldiers trooping through central Kiev complete with tanks, armed personnel carriers and mobile rocket launchers.

Planned long in advance, the country’s first such display since 2001 had been intended as an opportunity for Ukrainians to show support for their armed forces. But events in the Caucasus changed everything. Georgia, the beleaguered little state facing the might of Russia, was never far from anybody’s thoughts.