The border news du jour is Crimea, a peninsula attached to the Ukraine, a country that once was subservient to Russia until the downfall of the Soviet Union.
The dispute, between the Ukraine, to which the Crimea is attached, and Russia, which has "interests" on the Crimean peninsula, including a naval base near 
The Crimea has had many diverse conquerors including, according to Wikipedia:
Cimmerians
Bulgars
Greeks
Scythians
Goths
Huns
Khazars
the state of Kievan Rus'
Byzantine Greeks
Kipchaks
Ottoman Turks,
Golden Horde Tatars,
Mongolseach controlled Crimea in its earlier history.
In the 13th century, it was partly controlled by the Venetians and by the Genoese; they were followed by the Crimean Khanate and the Ottoman Empire in the 15th to 18th centuries, the Russian Empire in the 18th to 20th centuries, Germany during World War II, and the Russian Soviet Federative Socialist Republic and later the Ukrainian Soviet Socialist Republic, within the Soviet Union during the rest of the 20th century until Crimea became part of independent Ukraine.
While Russia, at least in its present form, has no contiguous claim to the land, it has a long history there through conquest. It also is only a narrow strait away from the peninsula.
According to Wikipedia, the strait is between slightly less than 3 miles to a little more than 9 miles wide and connects the Azov Sea and the Black Sea and provides a water border between southern Russia and southern Ukraine.
The Question
Perhaps I missed it in all the rhetoric surrounding the "align with Russia" vs. "align with the European Union" question, but did anyone suggest ethic cleansing? Did anyone hear anything about dispossessing the ex-pat Russians living in the Crimea? Any threats at all?
The Russians and the Ukrainians have agreements allowing Russian naval vessels to continue using Crimean ports.
Has there been any hint that the Ukrainian politicians would cancel those agreements? Granted, Russia no longer owns the Black Sea in totality, but how big is a Ukrainian navy anyway?
The question begging to be answered is:"Who started this flap?"
Nationalists in the Ukraine? Considering that the Ukraine has its independence from Russia, that is not likely.
The "news" informs the world that Russia's boss, Vladimir Putin, would like to re-establish Russia to its former ocean-to-ocean glory. Western "news" paints Putin in an unflattering light.
At the same time, The U.S.' president is making noises that are mostly ignored by both former enemies and friends, fair weather and otherwise. Americans fear he will drag us into another distant war in which America has no interest.
Geographically, the Crimea is very much part of - and physically connected to - the Ukraine.
Politically, it is part of the Ukraine. That there happens to be a number of Russian ex-pats there, that there is a Russian navy base there is no different that say the U.S. claiming a chunk of Japan where it has bases, or Germany where the Air Force has facilities.
The whole "who owns the Crimean peninsula" question seems to me to be an excuse by Russia's Putin to pull a "Hitler invades Poland" act (that led to other "Hitler invades …" headlines.
A Russian-Ukraine war hopefully will be avoided, but if it is not, the U.S. should realize that it is not a U.S. war. If there is to be "outside" interference - and the Ukraine may need it - it should come from EU member states; Russia and the Ukraine are, after all, the EU's neighbors and trading partners.
I am neither Russian nor Ukrainian.,/I>
