Russian's invasion

     The political crisis erupted in Ukraine in November, 2013 when the Cabinet announced the suspension of the country's integration with the European Union.  In January, mass protests called "Euromaidan" were held throughout Ukraine and resulted as public street fights and armed clashes. Ukrainian parliament voted to impeach the president, Victor Yanukovych, on February 22, 2014. At the same time, there was a violent seizure of power made by an opposition party. In the environment of the political crisis, Crimean referendum passed a vote with 96 % of the population agreeing to join Russia. At that same time, Russian parliament authorized a law on accession Republic of Crimea and Sevastopol.
     I disagree with Russian methods to take over in Ukraine. First, Crimea’s referendum took place on the territory that had been already occupied by Russian troops and military. According to Putin’s words, the armed forces involvement was introduced as protection of life, liberty, and the health of citizens of Ukraine. He pretended that as a response at the request of the deposed President of Ukraine, Yanukovych. On the day of the referendum Russian flags could be seen waiving on many administrative buildings. Certainly, it set some sort of pressure to people’s choice of the referendum.  Also, the high percentage (96.7 %) of votes for joining Crimea to Russia makes me feel doubtful about its accuracy because Crimea has approximately a 17% native population- Crimean Tatars and 25% regular Ukrainians.
     There are some difficulties that have not been resolved yet before Crimea's annexation. For instance, Russia has no land borders with the peninsula, so it is unclear how Crimea is going to be supplied with food, water and energy resources. Another important question is what currency will be used. As it has been stated, Crimea will be a region with two currencies - the ruble and the hryvnia until 2016. The issue with the minority (Crimean Tatars), who refuse to participate in the referendum due political reasons, is still left unresolved.
     I believe that Crimia’s annexation by Russia can serve as an example which would provocate protests among other countries to separate their territories from the current borders. Several European regions such as Catalonia, Spain; Scotland, UK; Venice, Italy; have expressed their desire to secede and fight for independence. The Italian island of Sardinia is also requesting for referendum. And it is not only about independence — some Italian activist groups urge Rome to sell the Sardinia island to Switzerland, as they believe that the Italian political and administrative system is ineffective to solve the country's problems.
     As for me, it does not seem like Putin is going to be satisfied with just Crimea, he may want continue to occupy other regions of Ukraine under the banner of protection interests of the Russian population. From my perspective, Russians aggressive actions toward Ukraine are linked with a desire to prevent Ukraine's integration with the European Union, and as a result possible accession to NATO. Recent events have shown that Ukraine has favored its choice to Europe, and Russia has fear about that. In my opinion, Russia should not force Ukraine to unite with them, but they have done a gross interference in the internal affairs of another country. It is every nation’s right to decide its own future, although only by political means rather than military force and aggression. We do have examples of countries separating, sometimes peacefully.  Czechoslovakia split in the Czech Republic and Slovakia peacefully; they still trade with each other and share travel rights but they are separate countries. Yugoslavia broke into 5 separate countries not so peacefully but the West supported that break-up. In this way, separation is also a possible solution to the conflict.