It's as close to an invasion as you can get. So what if they are situated there? How many times did they threaten Ukrainians back then from being in the area? How many times did they fire warning shots? Also, the referendum was probably rigged - 120% voter turnout? LOL Also, no option for 'status quo' - even though that would be a low percentage vote. It still needs to be an option. Pootin just utilizes the illusion of 'democracy' to get the desired result. But, of course, you Putinoids are rarely objective. There's a lot of Russian sites that even express this (check vk) so it's not 'Western' propaganda or 'Russophobia' as you'll contend. It's common sense (Deleted. L.).