Part 1, Crimea; part 2, east-Ukraine; part 3, airplane.
So, today Russia reacted to sanctions by shutting down food imports from the US, EU, and an assortment of pro-western nations.
I'd have to say, it seems a pretty desperate move. Russia imports 50% of their food from the West, and I doubt the BRICS can cover Russia's needs fast enough to avoid a dent in people's food supplies.
Also, Russia, for the second year, has to dig into the Russians retirement funds to support their budget. One of the primary reasons many east-Ukrainians looked to Moscow was the promise of a pension, one which now evidently is going to be used on maintaining the conflict and supporting Crimea.
Putin is a dangerous man, but I strongly suspect that this will not work out the way he wants it to. There are voices saying the West is now aiming for a regime change in Russia, which seems likely. I'm just wondering if the EU is willing to step up and take the hard choices. It will be interesting to see how Russia's economy is going to do it the next few years.
One silver lining in the sky: Call of Duty campaign fiction of a Russia-gone-bad just became more realistic