Russia is like the big bully in the schoolyard. Except, it is the big thug in the international community.
Russia cannot realise that the days of the Soviet Union are over. It's been 23 years, they are over. (Well with the Eurasian Union, they will be ushered in again with Russia, Kazakhstan, Belarus, etc)
They invaded Georgia, and installed two puppet states in Georgian land (South Ossetia, and Abkhazia). Now they have invaded the Ukraine, and it seems that instead of installing a puppet state, they want to reincorporate it into Russia. And they want to do this near the eve of 50 years of Crimea being Ukrainian.
I fear that this will turn into WW3. It seems that the EU and NATO will intervene, and they should. However, if they do, it will certainly turn into a huge war.
Some people try to play this down as Russia defending it's Black Sea Fleet. This is Russia try to take Crimea back.
The first settlers of Crimea were the Greeks. The Greeks should be given the Crime. They would govern it better, they would incorporate it into the European Union, and they would tolerate, and encourage diversity; both ethnic and linguistic.
However, I consider it unlikely that the Greeks would get the Crimea.
In such a case, then either the Tatars or the Ukrainians should be given/keep the Crimea. The Tatars were a majority for a very long time, and their presence only diminished because of the Soviet Union's policies towards them under Stalin. All Tatars should be offered residence in Crimea, and it should become the first Tatar state in modern times.
This scenario is possible, but will probably not happen (though the Greeks or the Tatars really deserve the Crimea as for the Greeks; it was their's first, and for the Tatars; it was their's the longest.)
If these two scenarios cannot happen, then the Ukrainians should keep the Crimea. I know that Russians are the linguistic majority in the Crimea. However, if given to Russia, the Crimean people's rights would be taken away, and they would become just another oblast. And if given independence, they would be like South Ossetia, or Belarus; a Russian puppet state. However, it is unlikely that the Russians will cede to Ukrainian demands that the Russians retreat. They have not ceded to EU, NATO, and American warnings and demands, so they will not cede to Ukrainian ones. Putin is an *******, he doesn't care what the Ukrainians want, or what The West wants, Putin doesn't even care about the Russian people. Putin cares about what Putin wants. So if the Russians don't retreat (which they won't), it is not likely that Ukraine will be able to regain Crimea by themselves, they would have to regain it by force with the help of NATO, EU, and/or the US.
At the moment Crimea is Russian, they have control of it. I hope that either the Greeks or the Tatars get Crimea, or that Ukraine regains control of the Crimea.
But about Putin.
Perhaps Putin does all of these things to express his anger, his anger for hiding his homosexuality. If he just came out of the closet, and embraced who he is, perhaps he would not act in this manner. We all now he's gay, he should just come out of the closet already! There isn't anything wrong with being gay!
If he came out, he would probably act like he does now, though I hope he would change.
But to answer the title of this thread, "Should Crimea be an independent country", I would say it should incorporated into Greece, or become an independent Tatar state. Otherwise, it should not get independence. (Also, if it was a Tatar state, it would probably align itself with Turkey, which would be better than with Russia, and if Turkey joins the EU, Crimea would probably join shortly after.)
Oh, and to Russians, the Slavs who call themselves "Soviets and "Yugoslavians" who have posted on this thread, you need to get unbrainwashed, they have many classes that can help you with that. Also, stop reading the Russian propaganda! Read factual, Western news such as the BBC!
