title: Justifying War in Ukraine: An Analysis of Speeches, Excerpts and Interviews by Vladimir Putin
abstract: For two years now the war in Southeast Ukraine has claimed approximately 10, 000 lives and countless casualties. Pegged as a civil war, the conflict is waging on between pro-Western nationalists and pro-Russian separatists. The war ignited after the public ousting of President Yanukovch in Maidan Square in the midst of thousands of protesters, and the subsequent annexation of Crimea. Although the Russian Federation maintains it does not have a military presence in Ukraine, U.S. intelligence and 