Russia has taken over Crimea, wreaking havoc on the native Crimean Tatars by upsetting the balance of power in that region. Effectively driving Ukraine into civil war. Crimea, a region that heavily depends on Ukranian utilities and general consumer goods. It has been a year, and Russia has turned it into a shit hole. There used to be no nuclear weapons on Crimea, now there will be. The minorities were free to express their religion, now they have express their religion under government oversight or pay fines-- and in most cases both since as anyone who ever did to do business in Russia knows that it corrupt as fuck. The Russian government initially made good on promises to hike doctors’ and teachers’ salaries after the annexation, but those raises were cut back in April. Since January prices for food have risen over 19%, almost twice as steeply as in Russia. Among those who opposed the annexation some want Ukraine to impose a total blockade. The rationale for this is to have “Putin try to deliver it all”. The peninsula’s main industry, tourism, is, as we all know, is left completely fucked. The ferry service from Russia’s mainland brings nothing like enough tourists to make up for the absent Ukrainians and the Europeans whose cruise ships once docked in Yalta. Western credit cards do not work. Many businesses have been expropriated by “self-defence” units, paramilitaries controlled by the peninsula’s Russian-installed prime minister, Sergei Aksyonov. Meanwhile again, the fucking “authorities” are eliminating the political and cultural space for Crimea’s Tatars and ethnic Ukrainians. Cool right? Go Russia. In March a group of Ukrainians who laid flowers at a statue of Taras Shevchenko, their national poet, were fined some $200 each for “employing Ukrainian attributes”. Which is not at all unlike KGB tactics where they jail journalists for three days. Kick 'm around hold a gun to their head. Oh shit this already happens. Google "Crimea voting fraud" for a dozen examples. The Irony of the “Crimea Is Ours!” slogan: http://www.tandfonline.com/doi/full/10.1080/15387216.2015.1038574 well researched for your comic relief. Because in Russian Federation occupied territory even basic infrastructure like a busted sewer-pipe won't be fixed. Last month, authorities detained seven Ukrainians for taking selfies while wearing /vyshyvanki/, their traditional embroidered shirts. Police also detained a dozen Tatars who gathered in Simferopol’s Lenin Square on May 18th to commemorate Deportation Day, the anniversary of the date in 1944 when Stalin deported all 180,000 Crimean Tatars to central Asia. Meanwhile Russia 85% of Crimea’s budget is now supplied by Russia’s federal government. In April Dmitri Medvedev, Russia’s prime minister, put the overall costs incurred due to the annexation (including the cost of sanctions) at $27 billion in 2014 alone. Russian citizens may grow less happy about bearing such costs as time goes on. An opinion poll in May found only 16% of Russians would support budget cuts in Russia proper in favor of developing Crimea. But after the propaganda commitment Mr Putin has made, it would be politically inconceivable to roll back the annexation. These numbers are the official ones from Moscow, Google Natalia Zubarevich who is a Russian economist at Moscow University if you'd like to know more about how Putin fucks over his own population for the benefit of his own fucking ego. /In addition the EU extends restrictions: / On 19 June 2015, the Council extended the EU restrictive measures in response to the illegal annexation of Crimea and Sevastopol until 23 June 2016. The sanctions include prohibitions on: - imports of products originating in Crimea or Sevastopol into the EU; - investment in Crimea or Sevastopol, meaning that no Europeans nor EU-based companies can buy real estate or entities in Crimea, finance Crimean companies or supply related services; - tourism services in Crimea or Sevastopol, in particular, European cruise ships cannot call at ports in the Crimean peninsula, except in case of emergency; - exports of certain goods and technologies to Crimean companies or for use in Crimea in the transport, telecommunications and energy sectors and related to the prospection, exploration and production of oil, gas and mineral resources. Technical assistance, brokering, construction or engineering services related to infrastructure in these sectors must not be provided either. As stated by the European Council on 19 March 2015, the EU continues to condemn the illegal annexation of Crimea and Sevastopol by the Russian Federation and remain committed to fully implement its non-recognition policy. So, Putin just created an economically isolated economic dead-zone with 2.4 million people. And this is something that EVERY FUCKING ONE knew ahead of time. So there is a reason he's dicking around on Ukraine's border. He NEEDS to annex at least the east of Ukraine. Or lose face regarding Crimea because he is going to feel the pressure internally supporting an economic dead zone. 2.4 million mouths to feed with no place to go. So, yea, Russia invades. And they do this without regard for the population they are invading. Whenever I read such an exceptionally retarded opinion piece... I suggest you go troll someone else with it. Again EVERY FUCKING ONE KNEW that Crimea is an island and that it will be hard to supply. Especially since it is almost completely dependent on Ukraine to power it's economy. Also the referendum oh my fucking god. Russian Invasion > Russian Referendum > Russian Troops overseeing said referendum > turnout bigger then 100% > like 95%+ victory. Yea right. Also, the Russians shot down a commercial flight. On 6/20/2015 8:45 PM, Zenaan Harkness wrote:

Grab a coffee for this one.

http://russia-insider.com/en/russian-non-invasion-causing-concern-european-c...

I hope it's not too shocking for folks around here.