Anyone have a clear idea what happened in Ukraine these last several months?

[Little-Acorn]

I know, some sort of revolution, the head of the Ukrainian govt was run out of town, then suddenly a bunch of troops from Russia showed up in a part of Ukraine called Crimea (sort of an islands barely attached to the mainland) and have taken that over.

"60 Minutes" tonight had a story about some of the people supposedly behind the revolution, if that's what it was. If the story is accurate (always a big IF with CBS), it was mostly a popular movement by Ukrainian citizens (plus at least one rich guy), that resulted in the top guy being booted out.

Here's a transcript of the CBS story: http://www.cbsnews.com/news/ukraine-the-heart-of-the-revolution/

From what I gather (I'm mostly guessing), Russia decided to make hay while the sun shone, and just in the last week or two, sent in a bunch of troops to take over the Crimea peninsula. Partly because there's a major Russian naval base on it, in Sevastopol.

Russia is interested in Ukraine because it borders the Black Sea... but so does some of Russia itself. Sochi, the Russian city where the Olympics were just held, is a port city on the Black Sea. Unlike most Russian port cities (like Murmansk etc.), the ports on the Black Sea are pretty much ice-free year round, so they are very valuable. Russia is also the largest exporter of Natural Gas in the world, and most of its sales to Europe, flow through pipelines in Ukraine. So Russia is very interested in Ukraine staying stable, and friendly to Russia.

But, why did the revolution of the past several months, occur? I keep hearing it was because of government corruption. The top guy who was kicked out, apparently had a house that rivaled the Palace of Versailles, and people found $billions missing from the treasury.

Anyone have details?

[Gaffer]

I know, some sort of revolution, the head of the Ukrainian govt was run out of town, then suddenly a bunch of troops from Russia showed up in a part of Ukraine called Crimea (sort of an islands barely attached to the mainland) and have taken that over.

"60 Minutes" tonight had a story about some of the people supposedly behind the revolution, if that's what it was. If the story is accurate (always a big IF with CBS), it was mostly a popular movement by Ukrainian citizens (plus at least one rich guy), that resulted in the top guy being booted out.

Here's a transcript of the CBS story: http://www.cbsnews.com/news/ukraine-the-heart-of-the-revolution/

From what I gather (I'm mostly guessing), Russia decided to make hay while the sun shone, and just in the last week or two, sent in a bunch of troops to take over the Crimea peninsula. Partly because there's a major Russian naval base on it, in Sevastopol.

Russia is interested in Ukraine because it borders the Black Sea... but so does some of Russia itself. Sochi, the Russian city where the Olympics were just held, is a port city on the Black Sea. Unlike most Russian port cities (like Murmansk etc.), the ports on the Black Sea are pretty much ice-free year round, so they are very valuable. Russia is also the largest exporter of Natural Gas in the world, and most of its sales to Europe, flow through pipelines in Ukraine. So Russia is very interested in Ukraine staying stable, and friendly to Russia.

But, why did the revolution of the past several months, occur? I keep hearing it was because of government corruption. The top guy who was kicked out, apparently had a house that rivaled the Palace of Versailles, and people found $billions missing from the treasury.

Anyone have details?

I've been watching with interest. It's going to be a hot spot for some time and I don't expect the russians to be backing off any time soon. They still have forces in Georgia. Just another expansionist grab on the part of putin. He wants the empire back. The new excuse now seems to be if you have russian speaking people in your country your ripe for invasion.

[Tyr-Ziu Saxnot]

I do... Putin saw that we have a cowardly leftist muslim loving community organiser in the Presidency that is actively weakening this nation and its military and thought it an opportunity to good to pass up. Why not just do as I please , Europe is too weak to oppose me and now USA IS TOO THANKS TO THE BOYWONDER. So he did and when bamscum CRIED ABOUT IT PUTIN STUCK UP HIS MIDDLE FINGER AND TOLD THE PUNK TO FF OFF. --Tyr

[gabosaurus]

I can tell you exactly what happened.
Putin has been assailed by hardliners in his government about his weakness leading up to the Sochi Olympics. He has made gestures of good faith to appease Westerners worried about traveling to Russia. The whole situation with the dissident band Pussy Riot and corruption in building Olympic facilities caused Putin to lose face.
The situation in Ukraine gave Putin a chance to flex his muscles. Ukraine has been on the brink of civil war for quite some time. The tipping point was a referendum that would decide whether Ukraine would do most of its trade with Europe or Russia. Of course, the Crimea region wants to trade with Russia. The western area wants to retain its links to the west.
The Ukraine government decided to remain allied with the west. This caused a tremendous amount of dissent by the Eastern citizens, who were backed by the Russians. When the government moved to shut down the protest, Russia sent troops into Crimea under the pretense of "protecting its citizens."

Allowing Russia to annex Crimea would embolden Putin and perhaps signal a repeat of the events of 1936. When Hitler annexed Austria and was appeased by one of history's great cowardly politicians, Neville Chamberlain.
Dictators are never satisfied with one conquest.

[Tyr-Ziu Saxnot]

I can tell you exactly what happened.
Putin has been assailed by hardliners in his government about his weakness leading up to the Sochi Olympics. He has made gestures of good faith to appease Westerners worried about traveling to Russia. The whole situation with the dissident band Pussy Riot and corruption in building Olympic facilities caused Putin to lose face.
The situation in Ukraine gave Putin a chance to flex his muscles. Ukraine has been on the brink of civil war for quite some time. The tipping point was a referendum that would decide whether Ukraine would do most of its trade with Europe or Russia. Of course, the Crimea region wants to trade with Russia. The western area wants to retain its links to the west.
The Ukraine government decided to remain allied with the west. This caused a tremendous amount of dissent by the Eastern citizens, who were backed by the Russians. When the government moved to shut down the protest, Russia sent troops into Crimea under the pretense of "protecting its citizens."

Allowing Russia to annex Crimea would embolden Putin and perhaps signal a repeat of the events of 1936. When Hitler annexed Austria and was appeased by one of history's great cowardly politicians, Neville Chamberlain.
Dictators are never satisfied with one conquest. Like I said.


I do... Putin saw that we have a cowardly leftist muslim loving community organiser in the Presidency that is actively weakening this nation and its military and thought it an opportunity to good to pass up. Why not just do as I please , Europe is too weak to oppose me and now USA IS TOO THANKS TO THE BOYWONDER. So he did and when bamscum CRIED ABOUT IT PUTIN STUCK UP HIS MIDDLE FINGER AND TOLD THE PUNK TO FF OFF. --Tyr ;)-Tyr