Crimea region, all of a sudden become popular since it’s a center of conflict between Russia and Ukraine. This happened as an impact of President Viktor Yanukovich’s impeachment by Pro-west people in Ukraine.
First, the
president of Russia, Vladimir Putin ordered massive military exercises,
involving some 150,000 troops, on Ukraine’s border.
Pro-Russian
separatists, the gunmen, wearing masks and unmarked uniforms, seized government
buildings, airports and communication hubs in the region. Then Russian troops were put on alert to
“protect their citizens” in the area.
Crimea’s new Prime Minister—himself a Russian citizen, he has appealed
for Russia’s help. It seemed to be a false flag operation.
A
referendum has been scheduled to decide on the region’s status. The Crimeans were
asked to consider their choice to join West or Russia through a referendum. Ethnic
groups of Crimea are more than 58% Russians, 24% Ukrainians, and the rest are
Tatar Crimea.
During this
time, the question of secession was put to a referendum, which resulted in a
96% affirmative vote pro-Russia, but it has been condemned by the UE, USA, and
the interim Ukraine government as unconstitutional and thus illegal. Despite
international opposition, on 17 March the Crimean parliament declared
independence from Ukraine and asked to join the Russian Federation. So, Crimea
now is a part of Russia, as the Autonomous Republic of Crimea.
But, it has
not done yet. If Putin does annex Crimea, it will surely bring international
condemnation and, quite probably, some form of implicit or explicit trade
sanctions. With its weakened economy,
that is not something that Russia can easily afford and a downturn can be
expected. President Obama held an unscheduled press conference on the events in
Crimea yesterday, expressing deep concern and warning Putin that “there will be
costs.” But, it seems that Putin doesn’t really care. It appears that Putin
feels that he has nothing left to lose.
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