(CNN) -- As Crimea held a bogus referendum on independence under the watchful eye of Russian occupation force on March 16, I confess that my mind and heart were elsewhere. I have never experienced war or the threat of annihilation. But now, thanks to the Internet, like thousands of other Ukrainian-Americans I am living at the edge of an existential abyss. The violence—the war—that threatens Ukraine does not threaten me. I am in New York and Ukraine is thousands of miles away. But war will threaten my friends, colleagues and family in Ukraine. We Ukrainian-Americans must now live with the very real possibility that their lives could be extinguished if Russian President Vladimir Putin chooses to do so. Indeed, Ukraine could even disappear as a state, if he chooses to make it disappear.Alexander Motyl: Crimea vote a joke: Many believe war with Russia inevitableHe says when Yanukovych was overthrown, Ukrainian-Americans were euphoricMotyl: Then Putin made threats; Russia stole Crimea and massed troops at borderMotyl: Ukrainian-Americans fear for friends and relatives in Ukraine
We, like the demonstrators in _, could live with that. After _ fled and a democratic government assumed power, we rejoiced. On Saturday, March 1, Putin claimed to have the right to "defend" "_ citizens" anywhere in Ukraine, thereby giving himself carte blanche to invade any part of Ukraine he chooses. It's hard to believe that Putin will stop with _.