With the dissolution of the [[Union of Soviet Socialist Republics]], the Sevastopol Naval Base was leased to the Russian Federation by [[Ukraine]]. Since the presidency of the last Soviet leader [[Mikhail Gorbachev]], Soviet and Russian Federation leaders have repeatedly made it absolutely clear to the leaders of the [[NATO]] alliance that the Sevastopol naval base will never be used by NATO, absent Russia itself joining the NATO alliance.<ref>https://www.quora.com/Why-is-Crimea-so-important-to-Russia</ref><ref>https://www.paulcraigroberts.org/2019/11/02/the-obama-regimes-plan-to-seize-the-russian-naval-base-in-crimera/</ref><ref>https://www.theguardian.com/world/2014/mar/07/ukraine-russia-crimea-naval-base-tatars-explainer</ref> At the time of the violent, U.S.-backed [[fascist]] and [[neo-Nazi]] [[Maidan coup]] in 2014, [[NATO]] powers aggressively sought to seize the Sevastopol Naval Base by illegally overthrowing the [[democracy|democratically]] elected government of Ukraine. | With the dissolution of the [[Union of Soviet Socialist Republics]], the Sevastopol Naval Base was leased to the Russian Federation by [[Ukraine]]. Since the presidency of the last Soviet leader [[Mikhail Gorbachev]], Soviet and Russian Federation leaders have repeatedly made it absolutely clear to the leaders of the [[NATO]] alliance that the Sevastopol naval base will never be used by NATO, absent Russia itself joining the NATO alliance.<ref>https://www.quora.com/Why-is-Crimea-so-important-to-Russia</ref><ref>https://www.paulcraigroberts.org/2019/11/02/the-obama-regimes-plan-to-seize-the-russian-naval-base-in-crimera/</ref><ref>https://www.theguardian.com/world/2014/mar/07/ukraine-russia-crimea-naval-base-tatars-explainer</ref> At the time of the violent, U.S.-backed [[fascist]] and [[neo-Nazi]] [[Maidan coup]] in 2014, [[NATO]] powers aggressively sought to seize the Sevastopol Naval Base by illegally overthrowing the [[democracy|democratically]] elected government of Ukraine. |