Ukraine and Russia, a few notes

(This post has been corrected and combined with two other posts, to create the more complete Ukraine: The Great Game, v2.0. I am leaving it here so that links and references stand. I have struck out my exceptionally egregious errors so that misinformation is not spread, but am leaving them for completeness.)

Situation, as I so far understand it:

1. Russia wants Ukraine firmly under control because of its agricultural productivity and its ports on the Black Sea.
2. Ukraine wants out of the Russian sphere of influence because of over a century of oppression, culminating in a genocidal famine, the Holodomor, which was the work of Stalin.
3. Ukraine is currently energy-dependent on Russia. Fuel shipments from Russia to the rest of Eastern Europe also pass through Ukraine. Pipelines from Russia to Milan and Frankfurt also run through Ukraine.
4. Chernobyl is in Ukraine, making nuclear power an unlikely method for achieving Ukrainian energy independence.

A few links:

• “Russia under Putin,” Greg Afinogenov
• “Ukraine. I break radio silence,” “The Blog Fodder”
• "Ukraine vs Russia: Tales of pipelines and dependence," "Jerome a Paris," Dec 30, 2005.
• “The Fascism Lurking Under the Winter Games”, David Neiwert
• Buzzfeed: Ukraine Paid Right Wing Bloggers to Post Talking Points. This looks like a Russian disinformation campaign.
• Ukraine: What emergency measures and what long-term changes are needed?

There seems to me a risk of Russian invasion, or Russia simply cutting off the fuel next winter. How will the world react?