There was more of that going on than shooting. Actually, there was no shooting.
There was no shooting from Coalition forces for over 5 months after Saddam overran Kuwait. The most prepared military in the world, one that spent more than all of its allies and adversaries put together, spent almost 6 months getting ready to push Saddam back into Iraq. Ukraine may or may not resist the Russian onslaught. But its peacetime shoestring military will take weeks or months to get ready to fight. And if Ukraine fights, the body counts will pile up in ways that shock both participants and outside observers.
” Actually, there was no shooting.”
Indeed.
One must understand that Crimeans never considered themselves “Ukrainians”. 98% of the population speak Russian and have Russian ancestry, as Crimea is Russian since 1774, when Catherine’s the Great’s army conquered it from Ottomans.
The few Tartars living there are the remnants of Ottomans.
They were the only ones in Crimea to welcome with open arms the German occupiers in WWII.
Two seconds to decide. Would you rather walk the sidewalk in downtown Simferopol or Kiev today?