Moscow says the current situation is the result of years of failed talks to end the bloodshed in eastern Ukraine after the 2014 coup in Kiev.

Source: Russian military attack on Ukraine: How we got there – Daily Telegraph NZ

KW: I was writing the chain of events as I understand it for readers. THEN I found that someone else has done it for me and I agree this impartial view is pretty much what I would have posted anway. Here it is