Russia annexed Crimea in 2014 so in their (Russian) eyes its theirs now. Why hasn't Putin reacted the way he is now to the attacks by the Ukrainians on Crimea....by trying to land grab with these elections in Donbas and Luhask he is now threatening the nuclear option by saying they will defend Russian territory ( Donbas and Luhask) as an attack on the ^Motherland^