Ya, it's difficult to verify information, and I wish I could retrieve readings from college because academic reports cover foreign policy much better than what we're seeing now. The US and corporate media discredit everything previously published, but Russian troops already occupied Crimea through a lease, and I know Putin feared NATO would take control of the peninsula.

Ukraine's economy never rebounded after the collapse of the USSR, and things have been dire. Nationalists want a united Ukraine and refuse to allow separatists to have a say. So, the Crimea parliament decided to hold a vote, and nationalists tried to stop it, but pro-Russians asked the Russian military who were already occupying the area to keep them out (this is the info from Crimea).

Crimea hasn't endured the attacks Eastern Ukraine endures from the nationalists, and no one died in the process. However, according to the UN, over 14,000 people have died in Eastern Ukraine from nationalist attacks.

The problem with the situation is it's way more complicated than most of us know, and Western and Russian governments have been meddling in Ukraine's politics. The US, NATO, and Russia have increased an already volatile nation, and Ukrainians suffer for it. It's a mess.