Insofar as I can tell, a regional struggle which has been going on since the beginnings of the independent Ukraine blew up. (And yes, this goes back at least to Khmelnytsky, if not back to the Kievan Rus'. But proximate causes first.)
The basic issue was integration - with the EU, or with Russia. The pro-western parties, from western Ukraine, supported the former, whereas the pro-Russia parties, from eastern Ukraine, supported the latter. The two were almost equally balanced in terms of electoral support. (To add another layer of entertainment, the pro-Western parties are also highly nationalistic, and have been actively suppressing minority rights, as well as supporting Ukraninan "national heroes" who were Nazi collaborators. Which is not popular in the East, to say the least.)
Viktor Yanukovych, the now-deposed president, was elected from the Eastern provinces. He had generally pursued a pro-Russian policy, but had been flirting with an association agreement with the EU, only to back out at the last minute under pressure from Putin. This triggered pro-Western rioting in Kyiv, and eventually, the overthrow of Yanukovych's presidency by the congress - even his own party turned on him. Under pressure from pro-Western protestors, the new government pushed forward quite a few nationalistic pieces of legislation, including the suppression of minority languages (although I believe that was eventually voted down.)
In response, protests broke out in Crimea against the new government. The region is highly pro-Russian, both in terms of language and ethnic mix, and political opinion - it was one of Yanukovych's strongholds, and his overthrow was seen as (I think) breaking the balance of power in favour of the Western areas, and against Crimea. As auxilliaries to these protests, combat-dressed but non-uniformed "volunteers" popped up in cities around Crimea. These are almost certainly Russian troops. As the situation has deteriorated, these troops have seized control over larger and larger portions of Crimea, which has now fallen under de facto Russian control.
The local Crimean government, under heavy Russian influence, then held a referendum on whether to join Russia. The legitimacy of this was very sketchy indeed, but the result was an overwhelming majority wanting to join Russia. (Many minority groups boycotted the vote, although it is unclear what effect this would have had in the largely pro-Russian Crimean electorate.)
Now, Russia is taking over. Panic ensues. The questions are, among others: Is Putin trying to take over all of Eastern Ukraine? Is he satisfied with Crimea? Is this just step one in taking back the Russian Empire? Will Ukraine start a war it will inevitably lose, gambling on NATO support? Will the West back Ukraine if this turns into a real hot war?
That's about what I understand about all this, anyway.
-Jester
The basic issue was integration - with the EU, or with Russia. The pro-western parties, from western Ukraine, supported the former, whereas the pro-Russia parties, from eastern Ukraine, supported the latter. The two were almost equally balanced in terms of electoral support. (To add another layer of entertainment, the pro-Western parties are also highly nationalistic, and have been actively suppressing minority rights, as well as supporting Ukraninan "national heroes" who were Nazi collaborators. Which is not popular in the East, to say the least.)
Viktor Yanukovych, the now-deposed president, was elected from the Eastern provinces. He had generally pursued a pro-Russian policy, but had been flirting with an association agreement with the EU, only to back out at the last minute under pressure from Putin. This triggered pro-Western rioting in Kyiv, and eventually, the overthrow of Yanukovych's presidency by the congress - even his own party turned on him. Under pressure from pro-Western protestors, the new government pushed forward quite a few nationalistic pieces of legislation, including the suppression of minority languages (although I believe that was eventually voted down.)
In response, protests broke out in Crimea against the new government. The region is highly pro-Russian, both in terms of language and ethnic mix, and political opinion - it was one of Yanukovych's strongholds, and his overthrow was seen as (I think) breaking the balance of power in favour of the Western areas, and against Crimea. As auxilliaries to these protests, combat-dressed but non-uniformed "volunteers" popped up in cities around Crimea. These are almost certainly Russian troops. As the situation has deteriorated, these troops have seized control over larger and larger portions of Crimea, which has now fallen under de facto Russian control.
The local Crimean government, under heavy Russian influence, then held a referendum on whether to join Russia. The legitimacy of this was very sketchy indeed, but the result was an overwhelming majority wanting to join Russia. (Many minority groups boycotted the vote, although it is unclear what effect this would have had in the largely pro-Russian Crimean electorate.)
Now, Russia is taking over. Panic ensues. The questions are, among others: Is Putin trying to take over all of Eastern Ukraine? Is he satisfied with Crimea? Is this just step one in taking back the Russian Empire? Will Ukraine start a war it will inevitably lose, gambling on NATO support? Will the West back Ukraine if this turns into a real hot war?
That's about what I understand about all this, anyway.
-Jester