Ukraine crisis: Crimea's troubled history is dictating modern day events скачать в хорошем качестве

Ukraine crisis: Crimea's troubled history is dictating modern day events

Telegraph's Moscow Correspondent Roland Oliphant says it is Crimea's own history, scarred by war and divided over the question of nationhood, that have led to it becoming a flashpoint for the whole of the country's future Ukraine lurched toward the break-up yesterday as policians in Crimea unanimously declared they wanted to join Russia and would put the decision to voters in a referendum on March 16. But it is Crimea's own history, scarred by war and divided over the question of nationhood, that has led to it being a flashpoint in the wider struggle between Russia and the West over the future of Ukraine. Crimea's people are 58 per cent ethnic Russians, 24 per cent Ukrainians, and 12 per cent Tatars, descendants of the Turkic people that ruled the peninsula until the Russian Tsars annexed it in 1783. This year will mark 160 years since 600 British cavalry charged Russian guns across the fields below in one of the most infamous military disasters of the Franco-British campaign to capture Russia's naval base and strong hold at Sevastopol. Nearly a century later, The Russians defended in the face of a Nazi onslaught in 1941, holding out for a remarkable eight months in second siege. It was this violent episode, followed by the Red Army reclaiming the region 1943-44, which has lead to so many Russians regard the peninsula rightfully part of the Motherland, said Telegraph's Moscow Correspondent Roland Oliphant. "This why the Russian, i would say propaganda, about fascists coming down from Kiev has such resonance," he said. Get the latest headlines http://www.telegraph.co.uk/ Subscribe to The Telegraph http://www.youtube.com/subscription_c... Like us on Facebook   / telegraph.co.uk   Follow us on Twitter   / telegraph   Follow us on Google+ https://plus.google.com/1028913550727... Telegraph.co.uk and    / telegraphtv   are websites of The Daily Telegraph, the UK's best-selling quality daily newspaper providing news and analysis on UK and world events, business, sport, lifestyle and culture.