What do you think of Russia invading the Crimea Peninsula? It has the only warm water port for Russia in the Black Sea, was this expected?

SSgt George Brown — Fri, 28 Feb 2014 23:41:08 -0500

What do you think this will do?

Response by SSgt George Brown made Feb 28 at 2014 11:41 PM

SSgt George Brown — Fri, 28 Feb 2014 23:41:47 -0500

I am not sure Putin is afraid of us.

Response by LTC Private RallyPoint Member made Mar 1 at 2014 2:20 PM

LTC Private RallyPoint Member — Sat, 01 Mar 2014 14:20:51 -0500

If we look at this from their perspective Russian troops are only protecting the home port for the Russian Black Sea Fleet that is now in a unstable country.

I haven't seen Russian troops gunning anyone down.......yet.

Response by SSG(P) Private RallyPoint Member made Mar 1 at 2014 3:18 PM

SSG(P) Private RallyPoint Member — Sat, 01 Mar 2014 15:18:43 -0500

As long as we stay out of the 2nd Crimean War. We have no capability to mount any type of credible military action there, unless you are talking about a Clintonesque cruise missile attack, or using UAVs exclusively.

Response by MAJ Private RallyPoint Member made Mar 2 at 2014 12:55 PM

MAJ Private RallyPoint Member — Sun, 02 Mar 2014 12:55:07 -0500

It's not good. This seems a lot like when Nazi Germany invaded Poland to regain their lost territory. I sincerely hope we are not on the verge of another world war.

Response by Cpl David Hall made Mar 6 at 2014 11:34 PM

Cpl David Hall — Thu, 06 Mar 2014 23:34:14 -0500

Technically they are not invading as the treaty in place with Ukraine and Russia allow 25000 Russian Troops at key Ukraine bases... the number is well below that but I digress..I don't believe it will be the next war or cold war; the reasoning why is Russia can hurt the U.S. far easier with the dumping of our debt to them and just refusing to pay loans they took out from us totaling in the billions and billions; with out a shot fired they could literally cripple our already fragile economy over night. The European countries will not side with us as Russia controls over half over there natural gas and could easily turn it off. No I think it would be best if we just kept our noses out of this one.

Response by LTC Private RallyPoint Member made Aug 25 at 2014 7:45 PM

LTC Private RallyPoint Member — Mon, 25 Aug 2014 19:45:52 -0400

Yes in many ways. Russia has always pined for a warm water port, they want a lane to place their natural gas pipeline and want access to Black Sea Oil. The stage for this invasion also took place after the fall of the Soviet Union. Many of the former Soviet Satellite Countries retaliated against Russian Decedents in their midst. That doesn't justify the current invasion but it is an accurate backdrop/context. Many of these Russians were denied the right to speak their native tongue (Russian), some had homes or other assets taken from them, many were treated badly. Just like the stage for WWII occurred with a harsh settlement of WWI, this mistreatment enraged Ethnic Russian and has acted as a cancer in former soviet republics like Georgia, Ukraine, Moldova, Etc. Russian Federation Special Forces didn't need to raise a angry Army in those nations, it existed in their midst.

Response by SSgt Boyd Herrst made Oct 23 at 2017 8:23 AM

SSgt Boyd Herrst — Mon, 23 Oct 2017 08:23:00 -0400

I would say it is.. they want to control that access.. and not have to pay duties to use it..

Response by SSgt Boyd Herrst made Oct 23 at 2017 8:31 AM

SSgt Boyd Herrst — Mon, 23 Oct 2017 08:31:04 -0400

I think I can agree with the Cpl on this one. If the U.N. Wants to snd in troops. We got to let Russia know we are abstaining our vote and our money and Personnel for this contingency.

Response by 1SG Private RallyPoint Member made Oct 23 at 2017 9:34 AM

1SG Private RallyPoint Member — Mon, 23 Oct 2017 09:34:29 -0400

There are plenty of ports on the Black Sea's East end that Russia already controls, and it's Navy held berthing and basing rights in Sevastopol and elsewhere on the peninsula. That isn't the reason.
The primary motivation for Russia in my opinion is to bring down the Nationalist government currently ruling in Kiev. No more than that.
The event that motivated this level of urgency was probably the discovery of oil and natural gas fields off the Crimean coast. Russia has used electrical, heating oil, and natural gas supplies at discounted rates to influence former east block countries for years. Discovering a domestic source of fuel was a direct threat to Russian statecraft in eastern Europe, and they decided to deal with it forcefully... all the while claiming to be ever so helpful in Syria to keep the world from answering back more assertively.
The West got punked on this one.