Quote Originally Posted by Sarmatian View Post
That is not true. I've seen the documentary in it's entirety.

According to the documentary: After Korsun Massacre/Ambush*, they realized that Crimeans are in danger. After that it is explicitly mentioned by Putin that Yanukovich, who was moving from Kharkiv to Donetsk, on the the night of 22nd of February, was in danger. Russian intelligence was sure that he was supposed to be assassinated. His motorcade was shot at, his bodyguard wounded. They moved off road to avoid further attacks. After almost entire night, Russian helicopters located the motorcade and extracted Yanukovich. By that time, Maidanistas already took control of parliament and other government buildings in Kiev. The rescuing of Yanukovich took entire night between 22nd and 23rd February. After the operation was over, around 7 AM, Febrary 23rd, Putin said to his associates that they must take into account what is happening and that they must make sure the people of Crimea are safe and that they must allowed to decide their own future in safety, whether it's staying with Ukraine or joining Russia. The first time Russian soldiers were used was February 27th, to assist local militia in taking over the airport in Simferopol.
And I don't see how it refutes my claim. Read carefully what I wrote. I never claimed that the invasion was started with the appearance of little green men. More than once I said that the starting point of it was the adoption of the decision to invade. And that happened on the night between 22 and 23, when Yanukovych was still officially the president. Moreover, for quite a time (I believe until presidential elections in May) Yanukovych was considered by Russia the legal head of Ukraine, so the invasion was an illegal thing to do for Russians whether it started on 22 or 27 of February.
But again, this is if we believe Putin. I'm sure the decision has been ripening since the middle of February at the latest. I also have never heard of the massacre he metioned (in fact, this toponym doesn't belong to the Crimea, but it is an old name of Khersones which now is an archeological excavation site within Sevastopol with a few museums and a church) and attempts at assassination of Yanukovych are not proved either, same as his claims of his grandson being attacked in the kindergarten or shooting at Rybak's (the then Speaker of the Parliament) car (refuted by Rybak himself).