I am deeply aware of the minutiae of the conflict. Crimea's status was indeed complex which is why independence with a strong Russian bent would have been acce

I am deeply aware of the minutiae of the conflict. Crimea's status was indeed complex which is why independence with a strong Russian bent would have been acceptable by all international players. In 2014 there is no excuse though for straight-up military annexation under false pretences without the slightest hint of respect for international law. In the end the populist appeal of healing the wound of a 'lost Crimea,' as you so aptly demonstrate, won over from respecting international norms, something which can aptly be called reckless and suicidal just by itself. Concerning the Donbass all of the world except for one country is remarkably clear on how the conflict came about. Just like happened in Georgia and Moldavia, Russian-backed forces were sent in to inflame moderate ethnic tensions and use unmarked mercenaries supported by surplus Russian military material to turn the conflict violent and eventually create a frozen conflict allowing Russia to prevent NATO expansion and exert geopolitical control over the region. In Ukraine that almost worked again except that MH17 drew international attention at an inopportune time giving Ukraine the time to mobilise a counter-attack eventually causing the Russian regular army to have to be sent in unmarked to keep the conflict going which led the global community to escalate its economic warfare to the point where the intent became to cripple the Russian economy to the point of unsustainability... which sounds even more reckless and suicidal to me. Also notice that nowhere do you hear me arguing it's okay for Ukrainian forces to fire shells at Russian positions which strategically locate themselves next to urban targets. The conflict is intensely brutal with both sides indiscriminately firing shells and rockets into civilian areas and well documented evidence of even Russian forces sending false-flag shells into their own civilian areas and even more evidence of the Ukrainian army using that as a permanent excuse for inappropriate and overreaching bombing... And as far as finger pointing goes; I'm pointing at the Russian government. I have however also been deeply shocked by the degree to which the Russian population considers annexation of a region an OK-ish thing and directly causing the loss of several thousands of lives through escalating a conflict by military intervention a 'complex issue.'