In 2014, Russia sent soldiers without insignias to take control of important positions and key infrastructure within Ukrainian territory. Beginning with Crimea which Russia annexed after a disputed vote had took place. The conflict became violent when protesters and supposed Russian armed forces clashed. This has resulted in the breakout out of a full scale war between the two countries. Since then Russia has slowly exerted more control over Ukraine. There was however an alternate chain of events that could have happened that I believe should have been the correct thing to do between both countries. Instead of a forceful occupation, Russia along with Ukraine should have held a nationwide vote or something to that degree to decide if the country of Ukraine wanted to become part of Russia. As many of the citizens of Ukraine Are Pro-Russian I believe that this was supposed to be the correct course of action.

Ukraine has been an independent country since 1991, but has been seen as a part of the collection of countries that are basically controlled by Russia. After the breakdown of the Soviet Union both nations had very close ties, however there was still tension between the two countries.

 In 2010, a Pro-Russian president, Viktor Yanukovich, was elected. Russia felt that many ties with Ukraine could be repaired due to the mentality of the new Ukrainian president. Before this, Ukraine had not renewed the lease of Black Sea Naval base at Sevastopol, this means that Russian troops would have to leave Crimea by 2017. However, Yanukovich signed a new lease along with allowing an increase troop presence and the training of new soldiers. Many citizens in Ukraine viewed the extension as unconstitutional as Ukraine's constitution states that no permanent foreign troops shall be stationed in Ukraine after the Sevastopol treaty expired.

In the Fall of 2013, the Kremlin warned the government of Ukraine that if the country agreed to the free trade contract with the European Union, it would face financial crisis and possibly the total economic collapse of the country. Russia had already placed import restrictions on some Ukrainian products and Russia did not rule out further economic sanctions if the agreement was signed. Russia suggested that if Ukraine signed the agreement, Russia would consider the treaty that establishes the countries' borders to be void. Russia could no longer guarantee Ukraine's status as a country and could possibly intervene if pro-Russian regions of the country appealed directly to them.

On 22, February 2014, protesters overthrew the government of Ukrainian president Viktor Yanukovych, who had been elected in 2010. The protesters took control of the central government buildings in the capital city of Kyiv, along with the city itself. The opposition established control over key intersections and the parliament. President Yanukovych fled Kyiv for the eastern city of Kharkiv, where he has traditionally has had more support. After the revolution, the Ukrainian parliament voted to restore the 2004 Constitution of Ukraine and remove Yanukovych from power. Yanukovych stated that the vote was unconstitutional and refused to resign. After this, politicians from eastern and southern regions of Ukraine, including Crimea, declared continuing loyalty to Yanukovych.

One of the first issues the parliament approached was that of the language, crafting a bill that provided for Russian to be used as a second official government language. This angered citizen in regions with large Russian-speaking populations. The proposal alienated many in the Russian-speaking regions of Ukraine. The bill was later vetoed, but the effect of it lasted.

The people opposed to close ties with west Europe are called Anti-Maidan and those that were for it are called Euromaidan. In late February 2014, armed men belonging to the Anti-Maidan movement began to take control of the Crimean Peninsula.

Checkpoints were established by unmarked soldiers with green military-grade uniforms and equipment in Crimea, Simferopol, and the independently-administered port-city of Sevastopol, which was home to a Russian naval base.

After the occupation of the Crimean parliament by these unmarked troops, believed to be Russian special forces, the Crimean leadership announced it would hold a vote on secession from Ukraine. This heavily disputed Vote was followed by the annexation of Crimea by the Russian Federation in mid-March. Ukraine and most of the international community refused to recognize the legality of the vote or the annexation. On 15 April, the Ukrainian parliament declared Crimea a territory temporarily occupied by Russia.

Since annexing Crimea, the Russian government increased its military presence in the region, with Russian president Vladimir Putin saying a Russian military task force would be established there. However, since Russian military operation in Crimea began on 20, February 2014, Russian propaganda could not argue that the Russian aggression was the result of Euromaidan. The war in Ukraine did not happen all of sudden, but was pre-planned and the preparations began as early as 2003.

From the beginning of March 2014, demonstrations by Pro-Russian and anti-government groups took place in the Donetsk and Luhansk which are districts in Ukraine, together form the Donbass. In the aftermath of the 2014 Ukrainian revolution and the Euromaidan movement, these demonstrations, which happed after the annexation of Crimea by Russia, escalated into an armed conflict between the separatist forces of the self-declared Donetsk and Lugansk People's Republics, and the Ukrainian government. Prior to a change of the top leadership within the two separatist states, they were largely led by Russian citizens. Russian paramilitaries were reported to make up 15% to 80% of their armed forces.

During the conflict between separatist forces and the Ukrainian government in 2014. There were many cases of which Ukraine accused Russia of sending forces into their country to fight alongside the separatists along with other acts of aggression. There have been reports of captured soldiers along the border between the two countries. Along with military convoys and reports of artillery shelling coming across the border for Russia.

The 76th Guards Air Assault Division allegedly entered Ukrainian territory in August and engaged in a battle. The Russian government denied the battle ever took place. The division was then rewarded the "Order of Suvorov", one of Russia's highest honors, sometime after.For at least one week before to the incursion, Russia shelled Ukrainian units from across the border, but there have been reports of this since mid-July. At the time, Russian government spokesman denied this.

The stance that Crimea should have taken to begin with should have been to hold open elections over seen by a third party to decide if they should have succeeded from Ukraine and joined Russia. I feel that this is the correct path due to the culture of the rejoin. Most of Crimea population has strong ties to Russia as that rejoin was once part of the Soviet Union.

Ukraine did not help ease the situation either. With things such as relegation the Russian language to be considered second class along with other careless remarks and actions. This further alienated the people with strong ties to Russia.

This conflict was caused by a lack of communication between the two different ethnonational groups within Ukraine. If they had communicated with a higher level of understanding for each other's views this conflict would not have taken place at all. This dispute could have been settled peacefully without the need for violence.

