“Most people in the Crimea are ethnically Russian and have been part of Russia for 8 years now. They don’t want to be dragged back into the Ukraine, only to be ruled over by people who now hate them because of this war, that would be a disaster.”
That is not the history of Crimea.
Ukraine will not hate the residents of Crimea. They know the ‘real’ political situation of Crimea.
Semirecent history:
During the civil war that broke out in the wake of the 1917 Russian Revolution, Crimea was the scene of brutal fighting between Tsarist, Bolshevik and anarchist forces.
Following the Bolshevik victory, Crimea was made part of the Russian Soviet Socialist Republic. Then In 1944, Soviet dictator Josef Stalin deported the entire Crimean Tatar population to Central Asia and other parts of the Soviet Union.
In 1954, the Soviet Union, now under the leadership of Nikita Khrushchev, transferred Crimea to the Ukrainian Soviet Socialist Republic.
After the fall of the Soviet Union in 1991, Crimea became an autonomous republic part of independent Ukraine, and Moscow and Kyiv agreed to divide up the former Soviet Black Sea Fleet.
However, many “carpetbagging Russians” did come to Crimea after Crimean residents were told to leave, i.e. In 2014, I remember one Crimean resident leaving for church service across bridge was told by “Russian” military not to return. Others had their tires slashed.
HIGHLY RECOMMEND: https://www.youtube.com/playlist?list=PLw613M86o5o7DfgzuUCd_PVwbOCDO472B
The invasion of Ukraine as it occurred is documented in a photo journalism series by VICE news: “Russian Roulette” with dispatches by reporter Simon Ostrovsky is a Russian-born American documentary filmmaker and journalist. Amazing behind the scenes interviews & coverage. At one point, he was captured by Russians.
He is known for his coverage of the 2014 crisis in Ukraine for VICE News and for Selfie Soldiers, a 2015 documentary in which he re-enacted a Russian soldier’s social media posts to track him to Ukraine.
Will not disappoint:
I don’t know if this link is a complete record but also found at: https://archive.org/details/Dispatch1RussiasLittleGreenMenEnterUkraineRussianRouletteInUkraine
You called the Russian majority in the Crimea “carpetbaggers”, even though the Russians have had a presence in the Crimea for centuries. You may as well call most Americans “invaders”.
More importantly, you presented no evidence that the Ukraine has any legitimate claim to that land, let alone why the US or NATO should be fighting to force the Crimea back into the hands of a country that hates them.
Finally, suggesting that the Russians in Crimea should be ethnically cleansed from the land is flat-out advocating for war crimes, truly beyond the pale.