Originally Posted by Hangarshuffle
A worst case scenario would be what, a breakout of fighting between the rival factions followed by a military invasion from the east for "peacekeeping" reasons?
Would he dare?
Yes, he would.
Soviet collapse a 'tragedy,' Putin says - World news | NBC News
4/25/2005
Russian President Vladimir Putin told the nation Monday that the collapse of the Soviet empire “was the greatest geopolitical catastrophe of the century” and had fostered separatist movements inside Russia. In his annual state of the nation address to parliament and the country’s top political leaders, Putin said the Soviet collapse also was a tragedy for Russians.
“First and foremost it is worth acknowledging that the demise of the Soviet Union was the greatest geopolitical catastrophe of the century,” Putin said. “As for the Russian people, it became a genuine tragedy. Tens of millions of our fellow citizens and countrymen found themselves beyond the fringes of Russian territory.
The part of Ukraine that is pro-Russia, and supports Yanukovych, is the ethnic-Russian and Russian-speaking south-east.
Putin certainly considers those Ukrainians to be Russians, and would prefer to bring at least that part back into Russia.