Crimea is 80% ethnic Russian. You’d think Westerners always mouthing off about democracy and self-determination would take that into account in their attempts to regain Crimea as a naval bastion to neutralize Russian access to the Black Sea.
Ok... Cool... Now do Southern California...
the more informed know the history
i figure many are being paid and don’t let it worry them.
So what? What makes you think that just because someone is ethnic Russian that they'd prefer to be part of Russia rather than Ukraine? Zelensky himself is of Russian ancestry.
When the issue of Ukraine becoming independent was put to voters in 1991, 55% of voters in the Crimea voted for independence rather than remaining with Russia. Percentages varied across Ukraine -- as you'd expect in a legit election -- and there were no claims that the election was rigged. Accepted as fair by Russia itself.
So in terms of respecting "democracy" and "self-determination", the only ones who aren't respecting it are the Russians, who are trying to annex by force areas that freely voted to leave Russia and become part of Ukraine. And which Russia itself agreed in 1994 would forever remain part of Ukraine.
That is a blatant untruth!
When I visited there in 2001, it was about 40% ethnic Russian, 40% ethnic Ukrainian, and 20% Tatar.
But they were practically ALL Ukrainian citizens - and citizenship trumps ethnicity (otherwise, many parts of the U.S. could then be legitimately claimed by, e.g., Mexico or Somalia).
Regards,