Screenshot from RT video.
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Facts you need to know about Crimea published by www.russiatoday.com http://goo.gl/UxrcwL
Among the questions the article addresses:
• What is Crimea?
Now known as Autonomous Republic of Crimea, was for centuries colonized and conquered by historic empires and nomadic tribes. Soviet citizens got to know the region as an “all-Union health resort.’’
• Who lives there now?
Ethnic Russians – almost 1,200,000 or around 58.3 percent of the population.
• What's happening now?
“After the Ukrainian President was ousted and an interim government was established in Kiev, the Russian majority started protesting outside the regional parliament, urging local MPs not to support it. They want the Autonomous Region to return to the constitution of 1992, under which Crimea briefly had its own president and independent foreign policy.’’
• How was Crimea separated from Russia?
In 1954, Soviet leader Nikita Khrushchev, (an ethnic Ukrainian himself), in an act which sparked a storm of controversy, transferred the Crimea peninsula to the Ukrainian SSR, extracting it from Russian territory.
• Ethnic controversy
At the dawn of the 20th century, Russians and the Crimean Tatars were the predominant ethnic groups in Crimea, followed by Ukrainian, Jewish and other minorities. Crimea was both a royal resort and a destination for many of the great Russian poets, writers and artists, some of whom lived or were born there.
• What happens next?
The goal of the ethnic Russian population protesting is to hold a referendum to decide whether the region should retain its current status as an autonomous region in Ukraine, become independent, or become part of Russia again. Ethnic Russians claim they still have the right to disobey orders or the “illegal’’ central government.
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Agence-France Presse publishes INFOGRAPHIC: Map showing balance of forces and troop movements in Ukraine. http://goo.gl/NfTF8H
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If you’re aware of any outstanding works of journalism that you would like to see included at DailyNewsGems, send links to Bill Lucey at wplucey@gmail.com
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