Anyone with a passing interest in the "
the most seismic geopolitical event since 9/11", learned quite a bit about Ukraine, Crimea, and Russia over the weekend. In particular we learned how three Soviet stooges have done enormous damage to the small semi-autonomous region of Crimea over the last 75 years. The most recent destabilizing damage was just inflicted on the region by Vladimir Putin (stooge "Larry"). Yeah, I know - The Union of Soviet Socialist Republics (USSR) is long gone so, strictly speaking, Putin is not a "Soviet" stooge. He just plays one on the world stage.
Here is the stage where we find him performing his schtick today:
The important part of this map is that brown bit hanging out the back end of Ukraine. That is Crimea, the region of Ukraine
recently annexed by Russia. You'll note it is the only part of Ukraine shaded brown - i.e.
Crimea is the only region of Ukraine with a majority ethnic Russian population. Among the Crimean population not ethnic Russian, are the original inhabitants of the region - the
Crimean Tatars. The history of why this region has a majority ethnic Russian population and why it is (was?) part of Ukraine is an important story. To understand that story, we need to go back to our Soviet stooges.
