Man, I love russia. I was doing a lot of research about them before dis. I was coming up with roleplay characters who were all ex-Afghanistan war veterans and whatnot, since I love the U.S. military and decided to branch out. I like their crazy history, being under the control of the mongols, the prussians, the czars, the communists, this, and up until recently I liked their progress. Their people have gone through a lot, from famines, to invasions, to horrible leaders killing more than their enemies, even as far back as WWII! Did you know they lost more than 20% of their population in WWII? That entire areas were starved? On purpose?
It's fricking horrible. That being said, that can't excuse their actions, and it can't be allowed to make their leaders exonerated for all their actions. Countries have a right to self determination, and putin has no right to invade a territory just for strengthening ties with the EU, and refusing to be dependent on Russia.
The thing is, it's going to suck to go to war with them, what with the threat of nukes, and the fact that most of their people are mostly innocent. It's easier to fight terrorists when they beat their waves who are practically sex slaves, blow up hospitals and schools, lay down land mines, attack civilians directly as a result of systematic violence. But when most your enemies are brainwashed, and they're mostly innocent ,sure that their enemies are nazi fascists or what have you, it's a lot harder.
I don't think this can be resolved without violence though, unless we give them Crimea and eastern ukraine, and even then, I doubt they're going to stop there, since it's obvious he has aspirations to take over other countries, like Georgia and the eastern european countries that used to be soviet states. Maybe putin gets assassinated or resigns, that would be fun. Maybe the Russian mob who are threatening his family step down, idk (just a nice thought). But, it doesn't seem like it's going to be this easy.
See, though?
F-35's and F-22's which are stealthy could avoid S-300 missiles, and the Zumwalt destroyer would have been useful with the missile defense system. Screw the people who said these projects were a waste of money, given that Russia has been giving the S-300's to Iran, syria, and everyone else, this is the future of warfare. And yes, Che, being strike by lighting and landing itself after the fuel tank explodes does mean the aircraft can still fly.