You appear to be looking at only one side of the coin, flodner. I am sure that there are abuses on both sides of the conflict. You seem to forget/neglect the fact that the Western orchestrated coup of Ukraine did nothing to bring peace to Ukraine. Russia re-taking Crimea was essential, to themselves, as they would have been denied access to their only warm water port. My own view is that this divide/impera mentality has only exasperated the problem. The only way this conflict will be resolved is when the two sides sit down and talk, but any agreement has to be respected by both sides which evidently, in the past, it has not been so. I have perused Patrick Lancaster on other social media forums and, to be honest, it is most refreshing to receive up to date reporting from the side that western media neither cares about nor bothers to offer us. This is also true of the ongoing genocide in Yemen. Continue, Mr Lancaster. I, for one, am an avid reader of your material.
"Russia re-taking Crimea was essential, to themselves, as they would have been denied access to their only warm water port"
Why do you think so? That's the excuse, although more often those who think so say another excuse about NATO installing military bases in Crimea.
I see you have pro-russian position, which country are you from if not a secret?
I'm in France Flodnor, although I'm not sure what that has to do with it. There is no need to stipulate your country of origin as I have no interest in knowing it. Do you think the Western backed coup in Ukraine has helped the situation? I think not. That 'coup' forced Russia's hand re Crimea. That is what I believe.
The thing is that I don't believe in Russian propaganda's invention of the term "Western backed coup". I remember that Western politicians said "no violence, only negotiation, you need to come to agreement with Yaniukovych (that time president), and these negotiations were going on with the help of Western politicians. And when Yanukovych ran away, parliament voted for change in power in a legitimate way. So it was not coup, but my words probably won't persuade you as you are already biased.
I think the reason that it is referred to as a 'Western backed coup' is because it was in the West's interest to aid and abet it. As for Yanukovych running away.......that just indicates 'partisanship' on behalf of yourself. You generally reap what you sow. For the West it has not turned out to be as easy as they thought it would be, and there is no fat lady about to appear any time soon. Some have recently predicted escalation on the part of Kiev. We shall have to see what this will bring apart from more deaths.