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HISTORICAL BACKGROUND:   At the end of 1991, the USSR ceased to exist, and Ukraine became an independent republic.  After independence, political tension developed over the Crimea, which was part of Russia until 1954. Shortly after Ukrainian independence in 1991, a Russian-led movement to secede from Ukraine was formed in the Crimea, which succeeded in changing the status of the Crimean oblast to an autonomous republic. The Crimea also issued a declaration of independence, which was rescinded in May 1992. In the same month, however, the Supreme Soviet of Russia declared the 1954 transfer of the Crimea null and void. In January 1994 Yuryy Meshkov, a former Soviet border guard and legal prosecutor, was elected president of the Crimea on a platform of reunification with Russia. After his inauguration, Meshkov removed local appointees of the Ukrainian government, an action that the government declared illegal. Meanwhile, a second separatist movement had developed in eastern Ukraine, where coal miners and other workers went on strike in June 1993 to protest the poor state of the economy.
Also following independence, Ukraine and Russia both claimed ownership of the 350-ship Black Sea Fleet, stationed in the Crimean port of Sevastopol'. An agreement was reached in 1992 to share joint command of the fleet until 1995, when it would be divided between the two countries. However, tensions have continued over the issue, sometimes erupting into armed confrontations. In January 1994 President Kravchuk agreed to transfer part of Ukraine's nuclear arsenal to Russia for disposal in exchange for nuclear fuel for power generation. In February 1994, in an effort to support the disarmament process and prevent the total collapse of Ukraine's economy, the United States government pledged to double the amount of aid to Ukraine. Also that month, Ukraine agreed to join the Partnership for Peace program of the North Atlantic Treaty Organization (NATO), a plan designed to promote military cooperation between NATO and non-NATO members. In July former prime minister Leonid Kuchma was elected president with a narrow 52 percent of the vote.
TACTICAL SITUATION:   In 1997 Leaders of the Russian Federation decided to size the Crimean  by force in order to prevent further discrimination of ethnic Russians living on the peninsula.  Huge numbers of armored units were concentrated near the Russo-Ukranian border.  Also the Black Sea Fleet was reinforced with the missile cruiser Kirov and a new Russian carrier "Petr Pervyi".   But this move , however, didn't went unnoticed and the UN sanctioned the United States to send a task force (including two Nimitz class carriers) to the Black sea.  Unfortunately, an armed conflict wasn't prevented and on JANUARY, 1997 THE RUSSIAN TROOPS ATTACKED. 
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