AI Summary:
Crimea was home to Turkic-speaking Tatars when the Russian empire first annexed it in the 18th century. It briefly regained independence as a Tatar republic two centuries later before being swallowed by the Soviet Union. In 1944, Soviet dictator Josef Stalin deported nearly 200,000 Tataris to Central Asia, 3,200 kilometers (2,000 miles) to the east. Ukraine needs Crimea in order to have control over activities in the Black Sea. In 2014, a popular uprising in Ukraine forced pro-Moscow President Victor Yanukovich from office. Putin responded by sending troops to overrun Crimea — they initially appeared on the peninsula in uniforms without insignia. Moscow threw its weight behind insurgents, even though the Kremlin denied supporting them with troops and weapons. There was abundant evidence to the contrary, including a Dutch court’s finding that a Russia-supplied air defense system shot down a Malaysia Airlines passenger jet over eastern Ukraine in July 2014. Russian hard-liners later criticized Putin for failing to capture all of Ukraine that year.

Original: 893 words
Summary: 164 words
Percent reduction: 81.63%

I'm a bot and I'm open source

no comments (yet)

sorted by: hot top controversial new old

there doesn't seem to be anything here