Markets bounced back yesterday and recovered everything they had lost when the world worried that war could break out in the Crimea. Now we know that this was not Putin's goal and Ukraine's interim president Alexander Turchinov knew from the beginning that avoiding bloodshed was important.
Russia's interest in the Crimea is military and economic. Keeping a position on the Mediterranean assures access to natural gas resources there. By exploiting this resource, Ukraine could stand up to price pressuring from Russia and avoid an alliance with the EU or Otan. So Putin is inciting political and economic instability in his neighboring country because he wants them to bend to his economic and political interests, even if that compromises theirs.