On the night of February 22–23 the Kremlin decided to act. Taking advantage of local protests and activating plans prepared in 2008 to counter a fast-track NATO application, on February 27, 2014, Russian troops in perfunctory disguises seized control of the Crimean peninsula.47 A few days later, to further ramp up the pressure on Kiev, Russia put its muscle behind a separatist uprising in the eastern region of Donetsk.
