It has been a crazy situation in the Ukraine now for a few weeks. It started with protests, initially. People wanted the Ukraine to be closer to western Europe, which amounted to a rejection of Russian influence to the east. But the divisions within the Ukraine, which is a large country in which the eastern half and western half of the country are very different and polarized on the issue of Russia, proved to make matters considerably more difficult.
The protests continued. They lasted months and, before too long, there was violence. Before long, this erupted into what resembled an out and out revolution. Suddenly, President Viktor Yanukovych went into hiding, and there was a warrant out for him. The Ukraine seemed to have pulled off a coup, and a provisional government was in the process of being set up. They had stormed the presidential palace, and the world soon discovered the incredible opulence and luxury that the that Yanukovych had enjoyed while in office, while many in his country struggled, seeking work elsewhere. Some seemed to be heralding the arrival of a new age in the Ukraine, one where it would be more closely aligned with the west.
Then, western powers began to criticize Russia's role in the region. There were reports that the Russian military was moving much of it's forces to the western border with Ukraine. President Viktor Yanukovych suddenly reemerged (in Russia) with the message that he was still President. And the Russian flag flies over Kiev, with many in the eastern Ukraine, which consists of a majority of ethnic Russians. Many in that part of the country are holding pro-Russian counterprotests against the earlier protests.
Now, there are military maneuvers. Russia denies involvement, but the west is not buying it, President Obama warned Russia that there would be a cost for it's involvement in Ukrainian affairs.
No one knows exactly what to expect next. What no one wants is for this situation to get explosive. The problem is that the present-day Ukraine consists almost of two different countries that, like Yugoslavia, were brought together during the days when this was a Soviet Republic, but no sense of national identity among the entirety of the country was ever established. Premier Khruschev gave the Ukraine the Crimea, traditionally part of Russia.
Right now, Russians have military bases in the Ukraine, as if this was still their territory. They took control of the airport, and ceased all air traffic within the Crimea, even though Ukraine has urged Russia to cease it's activities.
So, then, how did things get so bad, so quickly? Was it simply a matter of politicians making decisions based on political theories or ideology, and then people having to pay the price many years (in this case, many decades) later?
Well, here is one article that I found that actually may help to give a good background as to what the situation was in the Ukraine, and how it developed to become what it is now:
Explainer: The Budapest Memorandum And Its Relevance To Crimea by Ron Synovitz of Radio Free Europe Radio Liberty, February 28, 2014:
http://www.rferl.org/content/ukraine-explainer-budapest-memorandum/25280502.html
Russia has approved of what amounts to a de facto military takeover of the Crimea, as the Russian Parliament empowered Putin to go ahead with a limited invasion. Russia now controls the Crimea, although they have not gotten involved (yet) in the rest of the Ukraine.
The situation continues to develop now, with an ousted President claiming to still be the leader, a replacement leader and government in the Ukraine claiming that they would resist any foreign invasions, yet allowing Russia to go into Crimea completely unopposed (not a shot was fired is how the media has been playing it up). The western nations have blasted Russia's involvement, but Russia does not seem to care all that much, and there is no real backbone to western opposition. It hardly seems possible that this situation would escalate to the point that western nations would actually even consider getting involved military, and a nation already divided by chaos, now trying to find some semblance of normality again.
The world is watching to see what will happen next.
"Russia executes de facto takeover of Crimea region" by DAVID McHUGH and VLADIMIR ISACHENKOV of the Associated Press, March 1, 2014:
http://news.yahoo.com/russia-executes-facto-takeover-crimea-region-182516139.html
"Mikheil Saakashvili: Lessons From the Putin Wars" by Mathew Kaminsky of the Wall Street Journal, February 28, 2014:
http://online.wsj.com/news/articles/SB10001424052702304026804579411362742506066
"WATCH: The Russian Invasion of Ukrainian Crimea Begins" by Noah Rothman of mediaite.com, February 28, 2014:
http://www.mediaite.com/online/watch-the-russian-invasion-of-ukranian-crimea-begins/
"Ukraine gets look at fugitive leader's documents" by David McHugh of the Associated press, February 28, 2014:
http://news.yahoo.com/ukraine-gets-look-fugitive-leaders-documents-201017628.html
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