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Understanding the Crimean Crisis

NASA
Satellite image of Crimea.

Russia has warned that any use of force in Ukraine's eastern region could lead to civil war. This comes as Kiev seeks to regain control after pro-Moscow uprisings in three cities.  This hour, host Ben Kieffer listens to two perspectives on the crisis.

Roman Skaskiw is a Ukrainian-American software developer and graduate of the Iowa Writers' Workshop living in the western Ukrainian city of Lviv.  He sees most of the pro-Putin sentiment as fake and orchestrated

Also Marina Zaloznaya, a sociologist at the University of Iowa, is an ethnic Russian who grew up in Crimea during the 1980s and '90s. She explains that many ethnic Russians in Ukraine fear oppression in light of recent events.

Ben Kieffer is the host of IPR's River to River