Then Putin admitted he sent troops into Crimea. Boy, did they shut up quickly.
Russia had a status of forces agreement with old Ukraine that permitted 20-25K of its troops to be deployed in Crimea. Those levels were never exceeded during the time period leading up to the reincorporation of the Crimean peninsula by Russia.
Kerry-hawks can whine about ‘little green men’ all they’d like, but the fact is the Russians were deployed in Crimea in compliance with an existing SOF.