DISINFO: If Russia had not annexed Crimea, Ukraine would have drowned...
SUMMARY
If Russia had not annexed Crimea, Ukraine would have drowned this peninsula in blood.
RESPONSE
The annexation of Crimea by the Russian Federation took place in February-March 2014, almost two months before the pro-Russian protests in Donetsk and Luhansk oblasts escalated into an armed separatist insurgency: bbc.in/1FfegIv, . So this was clearly not a case of preventing the escalation of a conflict which had not even started. // There were no confirmed reports prior to Russian intervention of any ethnic Russians being threatened in Ukraine; only allegations perpetuated by pro-Kremlin outlets.