The rising tensions between Russia and Ukraine have caused much concern in recent weeks, raising the spectre of a possible armed conflict between the two countries.
Relations between Moscow and Kyiv have been deteriorating for several years, but with Russian troops massing on the border with Ukraine, there has been a war of words in the media and frantic diplomacy to avert a military conflagration in eastern Europe.
For people watching on anxiously in the West, it can be difficult to know just what lies at the root of the current crisis. So what explains the current tensions between Russia and Ukraine?
