Putin ready to invade Ukraine, troops seize Crimea

[pampango]

109. They are bad guys but a very small part of the Ukrainian government.

...people like the "Right Sector" and "Svoboda" fascists are capable of causing almost any imaginable kind of damage and mayhem in the border regions of Russia.

There is a lot of hyperbole there. But even if it were true, you don't get to invade countries because of what that country MIGHT do at some point on the future - much less what a small group in that country might do one day.

The far-right is stronger in France, the Netherlands, Austria among other European countries. That does not give Germany the right to invade those countries to prevent the damage that those fascists could do to Germany one day.

The Russian media continually make the claim that the Ukrainians who protest are Nazis. Naturally, it is important to be attentive to the far right in Ukrainian politics and history. It is still a serious presence today, although less important than the far right in France, Austria, or the Netherlands. Yet it is the Ukrainian regime rather than its opponents that resorts to anti-Semitism, instructing its riot police that the opposition is led by Jews. In other words, the Ukrainian government is telling itself that its opponents are Jews and us that its opponents are Nazis.

http://www.nybooks.com/articles/archives/2014/mar/20/fascism-russia-and-ukraine/