[url=http://www.bbc.com/news/world-europe-26413953]Source[/url] Looks like Crimea is going to become a part of Russia. [url=http://www.washingtonpost.com/blogs/worldviews/files/2014/01/ukraine-map-composite.jpg]Some maps of Ukraine[/url] [spoiler]I'm going to play the devil's advocate her for and state some facts. [url=http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Sevastopol#Russian_naval_base_and_ownership_dispute]Russia has a naval base in Sevastopol in Crimea which is an important strategic location because it's located by the Black Sea[/url] [url=http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Sevastopol#History]Some important information about Sevastopol and Crimea[/url] (I'm too lazy to summarize it) If all of Ukraine were to join the EU then NATO would pretty likely set up a base somewhere in Ukraine. This is something Russia obviously does not want since it's literally on their doorstep. Crimea was the last part of of Ukraine to become independent from the USSR (1954) and there has been a lot of disputes whether the region should belong to Ukraine or not. It is also historically important to Russia since the city of Yalta which was host to one of history's most important meetings, [url=http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Yalta_Conference]the Yalta Conference[/url], is located there. So it doesn't surprise me at all that Russia wants to take (back) Crimea.[/spoiler]