wow, what universe do you live in where conquering a whole nation is justified by a few lifes lost or stopping a commercial agreement? disgusting
A twice elected democratic government of Ukraine was overthrown in a violent coup, orchestrated from abroad, that used neonazis to do the dirty work.
When this happened, the people of [what was then called] the "Autonomous Republic of Crimea" voted in favor of leaving what was left of Ukraine and rejoining the Russian Federation - which they were originally part of for longer than the US has existed.
Ukraine as a country has only existed for 20 some years. Before that is was a loose territory of different regions. The East was mostly ethnic Russians, the West was mostly other groups. And Crimea was always Russian.
The majority of the force used in Crimea composed of Russian solders that stood outside the gates of Ukrainian military bases, blocking them from leaving, to carry out orders to stop the referendum... Which turned out to be over 95% in favor of rejoining Russia.
> would you recognize the right of any of the Russian regions to vote for their independence?
Has the Russia government been overthrown? When it is, lets talk then, because the answer will depend on the circumstances of the event.
USSR/Russian overthrows/subversions so many it's not even funny. From which year do you want to count? 1917 1920 1964 1991 1993 1996 2012
Perfect example of russian propaganda.
> leaving what was left of Ukraine and rejoining the Russian Federation - which they were originally part of for longer than the US has existed.
Crimea was part of Russian Federation _for longer than the US has existed_???
Dude, stop smoking whatever you're on.
And which whole nation was conquered?
They neutralised Georgia after Georgia attacked and killed several of their soldiers.
They seized (bloodlessly I might add) Crimea after the new western-imposed government threatened to end the perpetual lease of the Sevastopol naval base. I might also add that 'Maidan' was the 2nd western-sponsored 'revolution' in Ukraine in a decade.
Now Russia is defending a long-time ally in the middle east from western-backed terrorists.
Then there's also NATO advancing all around Russia, the various 'defensive' missile systems being installed by US-allied countries who happen to encircle Russia, etc...
> Could you count how many times in history yielding to bold advances of power hungry ruler served as effective deterrent to war?
The only one making bold advances is the US, and yes, Russia isn't yielding, and the US is making it a problem. But you're right, it is a deterrent to war - if a weak ruler like Yeltsin were still in power Russia would probably be in another dozen pieces right now, with wars raging in half of them...