It was "little green men" annexing Crimea. Putin later admitted they were in fact active duty Russian soldiers wihtout identifications.
Armed para-military people like Girkin, an ex-KGB agent, and other RF "volunteers" funded, armed and backed by Russian millitary, were also part of the annexation doing tasks like rounding up Crimean parlamentarians to put lipstik on Russian annexation pig.
Months after that Girkin's team then headed into Donbass area, spearheading seperatists to take over cities like Sloviansk and Kramatorsk.
Russian national Igor Strelkov, a former commander of pro-Moscow separatists in eastern Ukraine, has claimed personal responsibility for unleashing the conflict in which 4,300 people have been killed since April.
www.themoscowtimes.com