Russian military intervention in Ukraine Following the events of the 2014 Ukrainian Revolution, a secession crisis began on Ukraines Russian-leaning Crimean Peninsula. In late February 2014, unidentified armed forces began to take over the Crimean Peninsula in Ukraine. Ukraine and Western observers allege the gunmen were Russian Special Forces and allied paramilitaries. Russia, which has various strategic interests in and historical ties to Crimea, insists that the forces did not include Russian troops, but only local self defense forces, and that the up to 25,000 troops stationed in Sevastopol under the 2010 Kharkiv Pact remained uninvolved and within the treatys limits prior to the referendum and reunification of Crimea with Russia. Their subsequent open involvement was said to be in response to the will of the local population and as a humanitarian effort to protect ethnic Russians in the region. Russia does not recognize the newly installed interim government in Ukraine, instead recognizing ousted-President Viktor Yanukovych, whose request for intervention has also been cited. The Ukrainian response so far has been muted as its leaders seek diplomatic solutions, with military reaction on their part limited to a mobilization of Ukraines armed forces and reserves. Russia, however, has vowed that its troops will stay until the political situation has been normalised. The Supreme Council of Crimea voted to secede from Ukraine, and held a referendum on 16 March 2014 on whether Crimea should join the Russian Federation or remain part of Ukraine with the autonomy it had in 1992. The referendum resulted in a reported turnout of over 81%, where over 95% of voters supported Crimea joining the Russian Federation. The events caused alarm among the Crimean Tatar ethnic group, whose members were deported en masse to Central Asia in 1944 under orders from Joseph Stalin, claiming a huge death toll. While the President of Ukraine Oleksander Turchinov believes there is a real danger that Moscow will seize the Crimea region after a referendum in the region, Sunday (16/3). He accused agents of the Kremlin orchestrating the turmoil in the region. Turchinov said, it is likely that Russia will go deeper into Ukraine after Sundays polls. The West calls the referendum as illegal. Internationally, the United States, the United Kingdom, France, Germany, Italy, Poland, Canada, Japan, South Korea, Georgia, Moldova, Turkey, Australia and the European Union condemned Russia, accusing it of breaking international law and violating Ukrainian sovereignty. The US, EU, and Canada threatened[ and later implemented sanctions against Russian individuals considered to be involved based on Russias clear violation of Ukrainian sovereignty and territorial integrity, to which Russia responded in kind. China, India and many developing countries remained relatively neutral. On March 27, 2014, the United Nations General Assembly declared Crimea referendum invalid and called on all States, international organizations and specialized agencies not to recognize any alteration of the status of the Autonomous Republic of Crimea and the city of Sevastopol on the basis of the 16 March referendum. The leaders of countries in the world, said the Russian invasion of Ukraine, threatening the situation that led to the biggest crisis the world since the Cold War. The statement, delivered the leaders of the European countries, USA, Canada, to Japan.
Posted on: Tue, 01 Apr 2014 07:55:42 +0000
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