US Demands Russian Troops Withdraw From Crimea

[okaawhatever]

39. That assumption hasn't been proved. If Crimea wanted to be annexed by Russia, there wouldn't be a

need to have the vote taken under military occupation. There wouldn't be a need to cut off the TV stations, newspapers and reporters from telling the pro-Ukraine side. There are only 58.5% ethnic Russians in Crimea. Considering a poll taken in 2011 found that 72% of Crimeans responded that they were "Ukrainians" should tell you something. Not only that, the population of ethnic Russians on Crimea vary greatly in their support for Russia with those under 30 being strong pro-Ukraine and over 70 being strong pro-Russian. When you only have 58.5% of the population to start with, it's unlikely that the referendum would pass in a fair unbiased election since it would only take ten percent of ethnic Russians to vote against it. The issue really isn't even pro-Russian and pro-Ukrainian because it seemed to boil down to many who just wanted to keep the status quo.