tee-rex, yes, to NATO and their cohorts (including Souldream here) land is more important than people - the atrocities happening in Novorossia is the testimony to that. They are still butthurt that a promised NATO base had a audacity to pack up and walk away.
As Ron Paul said, if some people decided to secede from RF, then it would be hailed as triumph of democracy the the West, however questionable the procedure, and conversely, if other decide to ascend into RF, it will automatically be blackpainted by the West. Simple hypocrisy.
The whole question of Crimean referendum is actually moot, given that 60 years ago Crimea was transferred to Ukraine illegally and unconstitutionally. The transition was not noticed much, as all happened within the single space of USSR, so people continued to be Russian, speak Russian, and quietly grumbled in the kitchens about some idiot transferring them to Ukraine.
There is also a question of Sevastopol. In USSR is was a "city of state significance", and always reported directly to Moscow - it wasn't a part of Crimea and UkrainianSSR. After USSR, Sevastopol was supposed to retain its status within RF, but was occupied by force by the Ukraine. Ukraine even tried to Ukrainise it by changing the words of the Sevastopol's anthem from "Legendary Sevastopol/The city of Russian sailors" to "Legendary Sevastopol/The city of Ukrainian warriors".
The real forced Ukrainiasation started after the dismemberment of USSR. And the silent protest grew as well. You could often spot homes, where people had Russian flags hanging out of the balconies as a sign of protest. Crimeans' returning to Russia was a question of time, and it's good that it happened sooner and peacefully than later and in a violent protest. Ukraine hoped for the latter option - how else can one explain the Right Sector weapons caches uncovered in Yalta, that were planned to be used to disrupt the referendum?
I have a feeling that if it actually came to a land war (it won't) the Russians would quickly be shown up and routed.
They have lots of troops and good equipment, but even stuff that is 10 years old is pretty much antiquated now. I think their air defences would be fine to start with, but would be targetted pretty quickly and then the air dominance of the americans would show.
Do you know when Boeing B-52 Stratofortress bomber entered service?
And some stuff in Russian defence is pretty new. To watch the following, understanding Russian is a bonus, but not necessary.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=1uOnx3J5AxkA short summary: it's an interview with Russia's defence minister Shojgu from the new command center, showing some unclassified parts of it. This center is capable of controlling all of Russia's economy, communications and military activity and has a processing power that is several orders higher than the Western counterparts.