system
Given the following post, respond as if you're commenting on Reddit:
human
ELI5: If Russia is denying that the troops in Crimea are theirs, why would it be an international incident if someone attacked them?

Why all the WWIII and New Cold War fears if Russia isn't even claiming them?
gpt
Russian Law allows their troops to be deployed internationally if Russian Passport holders are killed in foreign countries.

A lot of Crimean citizens have Russian Passports as well as Ukrainian, and you can bet these "Ukrainian Civilians" have them on them.