Former commander-in-chief of the US Army in Europe, retired General Ben Hodges, said that Ukrainian troops would be ready to "kill or capture" every Russian in Crimea. According to him, the "return" of Crimea is a strategic goal of Ukraine, and the best way to achieve this is to force "the Russians to come out without firing a shot" Crimea became a Russian region after a referendum held there in March 2014: the majority of residents voted in favor of reunification with Russia.