Do you believe that Putin's invasion of Ukraine was justified?

[ProSense]

61. Right,

"Apparently, the people of Crimea do."

...because Putin didn't invade, huh?

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Ukraine’s southern-most region has been increasingly cut off from the outside world after Russia seized effective military control of the peninsula two weeks ago.

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http://www.amnesty.org/en/news/ukraine-clashes-and-abductions-ahead-disputed-crimea-vote-2014-03-14

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However, Human Rights Watch observations on the ground in Crimea and interviews with people who had – or were witnesses to – interactions with self-defense units, suggest that these units operate outside any legal framework. Some wear camouflage clothes without insignia, others are in civilian clothes. Many wear armbands that symbolize loyalty to Russia with the colors of the Russian flag, or the black and orange St. George flag, the symbol of the highest Russian military honor. Units patrolling the streets are usually unarmed and do not wear masks, while those manning checkpoints, or other strategic locations, wear black balaclavas and carry automatic weapons, including AK-47s.

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http://www.hrw.org/news/2014/03/14/crimea-attacks-disappearances-illegal-forces

Under Watch of Russian Troops, Crimea Votes on Secession

By DAVID M. HERSZENHORN

SIMFEROPOL, Ukraine — With thousands of heavily-armed Russian troops occupying this perenially embattled peninsula, the voters of Crimea went to the polls on Sunday to vote on secession from Ukraine in a public referendum that Western leaders have declared illegal...With the outcome of the vote virtually a foregone conclusion in a region that shares a language and centuries of history with Russia, the greater suspense lay in how swiftly and forcefully the United States and its European allies would levy threatened sanctions against allies of President Vladimir V. Putin, including senior Russian officials and business leaders. The answers were likely to depend to some degree on whether Mr. Putin showed any signs of acting quickly to annex Crimea or order further military incursion beyond Crimea’s borders, perhaps to seize vital infrastructure including water and energy supplies.

“Our people must be united in Russia,” Yelena Parkholenko, 27, a manicurist with violet hair, said matter-of-factly after casting her vote at School No. 21 here in Simferopol...It was a sentiment repeated over and over again at polling stations as citizens with misgivings about joining Mr. Putin’s Russian Federation, particularly Crimean Tatars, a Muslim Turkic people with a history of persecution by Russia, generally opted to stay home rather than participate in what they called a rigged vote. The referendum offered no option that would maintain Crimea’s current status of limited autonomy from the Ukrainian government in Kiev.

The referendum asked voters: “Are you in favor of the reunification of Crimea with Russia as part of the Russian Federation?” or “Are you in favor of restoring the 1992 Constitution and the status of Crimea as a part of Ukraine?” The second choice would effectively grant Crimea independence without immediately breaking from Kiev, but such a break would be inevitable and the Ukrainian government, like the West, has rejected the vote as illegal.

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Russia on Saturday used its veto power as a permanent member of the United Nations Security Council to reject a resolution championed by the West that would have declared the referendum illegal. That left American and European officials scrambling to prepare a list of Russians to penalize, possibly including senior members of Mr. Putin’s inner circle.

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http://www.nytimes.com/2014/03/17/world/europe/crimea-ukraine-secession-vote-referendum.html

The other was called a “March for Peace,” convened by the opposition to President Vladimir V. Putin. Holding paper doves aloft, they chanted “Putin Is Afraid of the Maidan” and a Ukrainian phrase that translates as “Putin, Get Out!” The police estimated that there were 3,000 people in this crowd, but it seemed many times larger, in the tens of thousands, filling a boulevard with bodies for many blocks. The split reaction here reflects domestic tensions. Mr. Putin, who was shaken by large antigovernment demonstrations in Moscow two years ago, is using the confrontation to consolidate the public behind his rule, tapping into the deep well of emotion about the Soviet Union’s suffering at the hands of Nazi Germany. The authorities have tried to mobilize support on federal television channels, and have muted independent voices on the Internet.

http://www.nytimes.com/2014/03/16/world/europe/as-putins-popularity-soars-voices-of-opposition-are-being-drowned-out.html

Damn!