The Russian parliament passes unanimous vote for armed troops to be deployed in Crimea.
It seems odd that so much goodwill was sent toward Russia just a week ago when the Sochi Olympics closed. Putin is an odd throwback to a different era; he was in the KGB during the cold war years.
To the degree he has support in Russia, I wonder if it's because the chaos after the breakup of the Soviet Union was unnerving for the older population. Putin's form of a new kind of communism and dictatorship may bring comfort to people. Even if it's more aggressive, it's the aggressive a portion of the population understands.
The Russians have a base in the Crimean Black Sea and a lot of Russian speakers and supporters in Crimea. So, in that sense, wouldn't we do the same to protect our interests?
Ukraine is having a lot of trouble economically, and Russia wants to make sure the part of Ukraine that has people who would naturally look to Russia for support (there are lots of retired Russian navy people in Crimea) are in their control.
I guess it's odd, but maybe expected that Russia would want this. My question would be, who cares if Russia keeps Crimea? Does it matter? If most of those people support Russia, why not let them be part of Russia?
The problem would be if Putin tries to take the rest of Ukraine. That's a different story.
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