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Originally Posted by ikalugin
Russian troops were already in Crimea and (as far as I know) did not exceed the 25 thousand troop strength limitation. Thus I do not see why you call this an invasion.
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because it was an invasion of Ukraine by Russia, as "legitimate" as the invasion of Kuwait by Iraq in 1990.
Under the Kharkov agreements, Russian troops were confined to their bases and could only leave them to travel to and from Russia. Once they leave their bases to occupy Crimea, they were invading Ukraine.
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What grounds do you have to doubt the referendum results? Similar results were achieved in 90s, local ethnic make up and the voting patterns are also indirectly showing that the results (majority for joining Russian Federation) were true.
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let's see, where to start:
-referendum held at gunpoint by an invading force;
-referendum held in a two week period with only one side represented;
-no independent tabulation of results; etc., etc.
Now perhaps if a legitimate referendum had been held, the results would have been similar, but we will never know.
Only the Russians think invading a country, carving off a piece of its territory and holding a referendum at gunpoint is "legitimate".