[BBC] Ukraine says it has put its army on full combat alert after Russia's parliament approved the deployment of Russian troops to Ukraine.Acting President Olexander Turchynov said he had also stepped up security at key sites, including nuclear plants.
Russia's Vladimir Putin
...Second and fourth President of the Russian Federation and the first to remain sober. Putin is credited with bringing political stability and re-establishing something like the rule of law, which occasionally results in somebody dropping dead from polonium poisoning. Under Putin, a new group of business magnates controlling significant swathes of Russia's economy has emerged, all of whom have close personal ties to Putin. The old bunch, without close personal ties to Putin, are in jail or in exile or dead...
requested extra troops to protect Russian interests in Ukraine. It came on a day of pro-Russia rallies in the country.
The move has been met with alarm from Western leaders.
President Putin had a 90-minute phone call with US President Barack Obama
Republicans can come along for the ride, but they've got to sit in the back...
in which, the Kremlin said, he made clear that Moscow reserves the right to protect its interests and those of Russian speakers in Ukraine.