Russia Using Realist Power on Ukraine

Crimea has been a part of several different countries throughout history, Russia and Ukraine having had control over it the most. In recent history, up until 2014, Crimea was part of Ukraine. Due to the passing off between these countries over the years, Crimea was made up pretty evenly of both Russians and Ukrainians, and split into Eastern and Western sides of Crimea. The current conflict between Russia and Ukraine started in 2014, when Ukraine agreed to a new trade deal with the EU. There were many violent protests against this deal as Russia and the Russians in Ukraine did not want to integrate more into the EU. Russia threatened to sanction this deal, and then brought their military into Crimea and took over a large portion of it. They claimed they wanted to protect the rights of citizens who did not want to integrate into the EU, but they also wanted more access to the Port of Sevastopol and other ports in the Sea of Azov, and Crimea was the best route to it. More recently, Russia has been taking over more of Crimea and the waters around it, and has been harassing Ukrainian ships and blocking their entry to ports. Over 10,000 people have been killed in this conflict so far.
This is a very brief outline of a current example of a realist approach to power being used. Russia used military power and the threat of sanctions to get what they wanted. I would consider this to be offensive realism, because Russia took over Crimea to gain access to more ports, expanding their power. Russia’s actions have also sparked realist power to be used against them. Since the conflict started in 2014, many sanctions have been put on their overseas assets by the US and EU. This is defensive realism, because the US and EU are not looking to gain any power, they just want to keep Russia from gaining power.  
Sources:
“Crimea profile.” BBC News, 17 January 2018. 
https://www.bbc.com/news/world-europe-18287223. 
Amadeo, Kimberly. “Ukraine Crisis, Summary and Explanation.” The Balance, 25 June 2019.

https://www.thebalance.com/ukraine-crisis-summary-and-explanation-3970462. 

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