That is why, soon after Yanukovych decided to flee to Russia, Putin’s “little green men” began to appear openly in Crimea, while Russian Buk anti-aircraft missiles and Russian battalion battle groups appeared in Ukraine’s eastern Donbas region not long after. In annexing Crimea and stoking separatist violence in Donbas, the Kremlin’s aim has clearly been to destabilize Ukraine in order to bring it under Russia’s thumb.
因此，亚努科维奇决定逃往俄罗斯后，普京的“小绿人”马上开始在克里米亚公开露面，而俄罗斯Buk防空导弹和俄罗斯营级战斗编队不久后也出现在乌克兰东部的顿巴斯地区。克里姆林宫吞并克里米亚，煽动顿巴斯的分裂主义暴力，其目标显然是动摇乌克兰使之屈服于俄罗斯。事实上，包括普京在内的俄罗斯领导人公开质疑乌克兰的国家独立性。