Um, I might be off a bit here, but they do not have freedom of speech, the right to peaceably assemble, or any of the other guarantees of the bill of rights in the Ukraine, nor in Russia for that matter.

60% of the people in Crimea are Russian, but a minority of them are actually Russian citizens. The Russian authourities have started to give out passports to whoever requests one though.

Things have esculated today though. The Crimean parliament has declared itself a Russian state today and will ask the people to vote via referendum on 16/03. Ukraine claim that the parliament is illegitimate, but the Crimean parliament claim that they are not bound to the Kievan government, because they are illegitimate. Russia has neither confirmed or denied that they'd accept Crimea as a new state, but its very likely they are pulling the strings. It's obvious that the people will vote for Russian statehood. Even if it was a free vote it would probably be the case, but given that the country is under Russian military control and Ukranian media has been replaced by Russian media, expect surprisingly high figures. What will most likely happen is that Crimea will join Russia in practice while most of the world will refuse to recognise it. The rest of Ukraine will probably be galvanised though and the EU and US will move closer to oppose any future Russian interests. I think Russia will pay a hefty price, I see Ukraine applying for Nato membership which is a red line for Moscow. This could lead to a future conflict.

The immediate danger is that the Ukranian soldiers are still in their bases in Crimea and the navy is blockaded there. There is definately the possibility of them refusing to surrender and the Russians assaulting them.

I didn't write any of that, as I stated at the beginning I was reposting that from someone else.

I got told that a lot more than 60% of the people in the crimea are Russian, but that was from a russian, soooo

that ~60% is from 2001 and they are ethnic russians.

if russian would see need to protect russians elsewhere too then many european countries like finland and united kingdom would be in line of fire.

Did you saw such things in UK?
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=VktqzB01hh8

http://www.bbc.com/news/world-europe-26487096

no and unlikely we'll see but who knows what putin thinks.

Bomb Crimea to the stoneage!

Who cares about a smoldering fluffhole so close to the great Russian Landfill.

Russia is a joke, just like Ukraine and the rest of that litterbox.

http://news.yahoo.com/...ys-defiant-131009479.html

Wow, shows how serious Russia is to win without having to take any military action. Well they already took military action, but they are trying not to create a bloody conflict.

This is a serious show of lack of power by Putin. Invading other countries = bad, no matter how you slice it.

Putin couldn't get his poor neighbor to do what he wanted..

Russians are dastardly people. There was a Russian in The Dutch Bunch for just over a year and he was a nasty piece of work. Even by the worst standards (RD cheaters), he was a cowardly cheater who would only perform double and triple grabs after conducting (or requesting from us) multiple spy ops and reviewing news for his target. Even if he had 10 countries in the game, he would not dare double or triple grab someone if he thought they had a spine and would retaliate.

But what he lacked in cojones he made up with sheer nastiness. At the time he was also very active in FFA, running 80+ countries across 3-4 clans. His sweet act allowed him to destroy clans from the inside. The only reason why there was an amicable split between us is because he decided to stop playing 2A.

Russians are bad people. That's a fact. You can never trust a Russian... even when they're drunk and singing incoherently. They are attempting to reclaim all of the land the Soviet Union lost... bit by bit. Like the song says:

"Bit by bit, gonna get my bricks out in the sticks
Bit by bit, gonna build my house in the wildest thickets
Gonna get away from all those mouths and my fluff
Gonna say good-bye to all the la-di-da-di-da-di-da-di-da"

The singer of this band is Russian. Most people don't know this. He is singing about how Russia will reclaim their land and do away with their enemies.

I've heard that following talks between Lavrov and Kerry, Russia has made a proposal to stop intervening militarily: Stop European economic integration, do not enter NATO, and cancel elections.... Basically "if join USSR willingly we won't invade you."