"If Russia can keep Crimea, it will be an important strategic victory for Russia. Keeping parts of eastern Ukraine would be helpful too.'
Why stop there? Go for the whole kit and kaboodle. Ukraine SSR was part of the Soviet Union so Putin can just say I'm taking it back? Why not? Many morons say that Russia was not occupying Crimea yet they had troops there. Oh, they were there all along as they have navy ships and ports there. Right. That's why when any Ukrainian personnel show up, Russian troops fire warning shots? Also, they started replacing governors with Kremlin friendly (Russia-controlled) individuals and unplugging all the Ukrainian channels and instead, airing Russian State (Kremlin-fed) tv channels like Russia 1, NTV etc. etc.

http://lenta.ru/news/2014/03/09/stop...dMgE8zn9jFkKIQ

Ukraine is occupied either way. By the U.S./Israeli-led organizations and their lackeys in Ukraine, especially. Most Ukrainians just haven't realized it yet.