Photo Courtesy of CNN.com
The decision is final, Russia’s house of parliament voted unanimously Saturday to approve sending Russian military forces into Ukraine, despite tensions. The interim government in Ukraine’s capital of Kiev are hoping to prevent an increase of rivalry in Crimea, which has a majority of the Russian population. Ukraine’s government has already accused Russia of having sent troops into its territory.
President Vladimir Putin requested for approval to send troops into Crimea to regulate the political situation. Due to the “extraordinary situations in Ukraine,” Putin said, there are threats to the lives of Russian citizens and Russian military personnel based in the southern Crimean region.
According to CNN, the new pro-Russian leader of Crimea, Sergey Aksyonov, asked Putin for help in maintaining peace in the Black Sea peninsula — where Russia has a major naval base at Sevastopol.
Russia has already received warnings from the United States and other Western powers that it should respect Ukrainian sovereignty.
