Crimeans voted overwhelmingly Sunday to join former political master Russia as tensions soared in the east of the splintered ex-Soviet nation, in the worst East-West crisis since the Cold War.
Partial results with more than half the ballots counted showed 95.5 percent of voters were in favour of leaving Ukraine.
Thousands in the regional capital Simferopol cheered the results, with the Russian national anthem ringing out on Lenin Square, later followed by a celebratory fireworks display. “We’re going home. Crimea is going to Russia,” revelled Crimean leader Sergiy Aksyonov
The results of the vote were not unexpected, coming several weeks after Kremlin-led forces took control of the region. But the crucial step toward official annexation by Russia will further raise tensions with Ukraine, as well as with the U.S. and Europe, which have promised an escalation of sanctions.
Ah well. Its back to the embrace of the Russian bear!
But for the ex-Soviet KGB officer, its importance runs much deeper
When Putin flew into the Ukrainian port of Sevastopol in Crimea last year, he made a pilgrimage to several sites associated with Russia’s tumultuous history. Crimea is vital to Putin legacy. For Putin, Crimea has been a small part of Russia, heavy with historic and symbolic importance, trapped in a foreign land since the 1991
And he is willing to go to war for it. And hte rest of the world be damned!