More accurately...
Russia responded to pleas for help from the Russian majority populations in Crimea and in the Donbas.
And, the Black Sea is Russia's only warm water port.
Are you old enough to remember when Panama evicted the USA from the Canal Zone?
Republican Senators and Congressmen were openly advocating for a USA military occupation.
In 1989, Panama President Noriega was accused of drug trafficking by GHW Bush, and the USA military invaded the country.
Noriega spent the last 30 years of his life in prison or home confinement.
“Russia responded to pleas for help from the Russian majority populations in Crimea and in the Donbas.”
>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>
That was a complete scam. Those so called “pleas” were just noise coming from Russia’s “little green men” and Kremlins deceit machine, which had already pre-invaded Parts of Ukraine anyway, Donbas in particular.
It’s just like Hitler pretending the Polish people were not nice to a few Germans living in a tiny enclave in Poland, which later gave Hitler the bad excuse to attack ALL of Poland. Putin pulled the exact same trick on Ukraine!
An old trick.
When it comes to Crimea:
Before the invasion and annexation of Crimea, most of the Russian Federation’s forces based in Crimea according to the terms of the Kharkiv Pact were navy ships of the Black Sea Fleet and their support staff. Of ground combat units, only the 510th Naval Infantry Brigade in Feodosiia and the 810th Naval Infantry Brigade in Simferopol were legally stationed on Ukrainian territory.
From February 20, 2014, a number of Russian army and airborne units entered Ukraine without permission, to occupy the Crimean peninsula, including elements of the following:[1]
7th Air Assault Division (Novorossiysk)
3rd Spetsnaz Brigade (Tolyatti)
10th Spetsnaz Brigade (Krasnodar)
16th Spetsnaz Brigade (Tambov)
18th Motor Rifle Brigade (Grozny)
22nd Spetsnaz Brigade (Stepnoy)
31st Air Assault Brigade (Ulyanovsk)
291st Artillery Brigade (Troitskaya)
25th Spetsnaz Regiment (Stavropol)
45th Spetsnaz Regiment (Kubinka, Moscow region)
382nd Naval Infantry Battalion (Temryuk)
727th Naval Infantry Battalion (Astrakhan)
Special Operations Forces Command (Prokhladny)
Donbas
The first wave of the invasion of regular troops of the Russian Federation came in August 2014.[2]
As of November 2016, troops from 75 Russian military units were identified in the Donbas according to investigations of the InformNapalm volunteer community.[3]
On the basis of some units of the invasion, as well as the mercenaries and collaboration, a regular structure was created with two Army Corps: 1st Army Corps in Donetsk and 2nd Army Corps in Lugansk.
July 2014
Diversion and reconnaissance teams, which entered Ukrainian territory beginning on July 14, 2014, were formed from elements of the following units:[4]
2nd Spetsnaz Brigade
10th Spetsnaz Brigade
45th Guards Independent Reconnaissance Regiment (Kubinka, Moscow Oblast)
173rd Separate Guards Reconnaissance Company, 106th Guards Tula Airborne Division (Tula)
Reconnaissance Battalion, 9th Separate Motor Rifle Brigade (former 84th Separate Reconnaissance Battalion)
Reconnaissance Battalion, 18th Guards Motor Rifle Brigade (formerly 18th Separate Reconnaissance Battalion)
August 2014
Battalion tactical groups, which entered Ukrainian territory beginning on August 11, 2014, were formed from elements of the following units:[4]
17th Guards Motor Rifle Brigade
18th Guards Motor Rifle Brigade
21st Guards Motor Rifle Brigade
33rd Mountain Motor Rifle Brigade
247th Guards Air Assault Regiment, 7th Guards Mountain Air Assault Division
104th Guards Air Assault Regiment, 76th Guards Air Assault Division
331st Guards Airborne Regiment, 98th Guards Airborne Division
137th Guards Airborne Regiment, 106th Guards Airborne Division
31st Guards Air Assault Brigade
2nd Spetsnaz Brigade
February 2015
As of February 2015, elements of the following Russian units were fighting in the Donbas:[4]
Northern Operational Area
2nd Guards Tamanskaya Motor Rifle Division (elements)
8th Guards Mountain Motor Rifle Brigade
18th Guards Motor Rifle Brigade
19th Motor Rifle Brigade
20th Guards Motor Rifle Division
23rd Guards Motor Rifle Brigade
27th Guards Motor Rifle Brigade
28th Motor Rifle Brigade
32nd Motor Rifle Brigade
33rd Mountain Motor Rifle Brigade
37th Guards Motor Rifle Brigade
31st Guards Air Assault Brigade
104th Guards Air Assault Regiment, 76th Guards Air Assault Division
217th Guards Airborne Regiment, 98th Guards Airborne Division
137th Guards Airborne Regiment, 106th Guards Airborne Division
10th Spetsnaz Brigade
346th Spetsnaz Brigade
25th Spetsnaz Regiment
FSB Special Operations Centre
Dzerzhinsky Division (elements)
107th Operational Brigade
Chechen Ministry of Internal Affairs Combined Battalion
5th Guards Tank Brigade
6th Tank Brigade
13th Guards Tank Regiment, 4th Guards Kantemirovskaya Tank Division
1st Guards Rocket Brigade
79th Guards Rocket Brigade
232nd Rocket Artillery Brigade
288th Artillery Brigade
291st Artillery Brigade
385th Guards Artillery Brigade
1065th Guards Artillery Regiment, 98th Guards Airborne Division
573rd Separate Artillery Reconnaissance Battalion
67th Anti-Aircraft Rocket Brigade
74th SIGINT Regiment
78th Materiel Support Brigade
7015th Armaments Maintenance Base
7016th Armaments Maintenance Base
282nd Armaments Repair Base
29th Railway Brigade
Southern Operational Area
2nd Guards Tamanskaya Motor Rifle Division (elements)
9th Separate Motor Rifle Brigade
138th Guards Motor Rifle Brigade
11th Guards Air Assault Brigade
45th Guards Independent Reconnaissance Regiment
561st Naval Spetsnaz Battalion
54th Reconnaissance Units Training Centre
Dzerzhinsky Division (elements)
12th Guards Tank Regiment, 4th Guards Kantemirovskaya Tank Division
200th Artillery Brigade
268th Guards Artillery Brigade
1140th Guards Artillery Regiment, 76th Guards Air Assault Division
59th Communications Brigade
95th Communications Brigade
31st Engineer Regiment
3rd Tactical Infantry Division (Yüksekova)