Russia’s annexation of Crimea
Dette innlegget er også tilgjengelig i: Norsk bokmål Русский Українська
In the spring of 2014, something happened that has not happened in Europe after World War II. One country annexes part of another country. In this case, it was Crimea that was annexed by Russia. A carefully planned annexation as a direct result of Putin’s desire to control his Slavic neighbors as he has always done. The annexation of Crimea was a direct result of Ukraine wanting more contact with the EU and Western Europe, not as a substitute for contact with Russia, the people of Ukraine wanted a continued close relationship with Russia, but also wanted an equally close relationship with the rest of Europe . Putin felt his hand on the Russian sphere was threatened.
Maidan in winter 2013-14
Ukraine had negotiated a co-operation agreement with the EU. A closer relationship with the EU was central to the 2010 election when Viktor Yanukovych was elected president. He promised a closer relationship with the EU. When an agreement was negotiated and was to be signed, Putin used force against Viktor Yanukovych. Thus, Viktor Yanukovych refused to sign the agreement, instead he wanted to sign a new agreement with Russia that linked Ukraine even closer to Russia. This was a betrayal of the people who elected him president, also a betrayal of the 2010 election promises. See my previous blog.
A revolt of the people against Viktor Yanukovych started as a spontaneous protest. Initially, the demand was that the agreement with the EU should be signed, when Viktor Yanukovych refused and deployed the military on Maidan Square in Kyiv, the demand was also that Viktor Yanukovych had to resign as president. A massacre took place in central Kyiv, blood flowed in Maidan Square as the president’s security forces fired on peaceful protesters and many were killed.
Viktor Yanukovych lost most of his support in parliament and fled to Russia. Parliament then deposed Viktor Yanukovych as president.
Olympics in Sochi just before annexation
The Winter Olympics in Russian Sochi came to an end in March 2014, just after Viktor Yanukovych was ousted as president. Not before was Putin’s propaganda Olympics over before Russia sent large numbers of military personnel to the border with Ukraine. At the same time, the first green soldiers appeared on the Crimean peninsula, soldiers who were not Ukrainian but completely without any visible identity.
The world was taken aback. Ukraine claimed that these were Russian soldiers, to whom all identification had been taken away. Europe and the United States gradually understood that it was a matter of pure Russian forces, mainly from Russia’s naval base on the Crimean peninsula.
On the 27th. February, they took control of government offices and even the local parliament in Simferopol. On the same day, Prime Minister Anatoly Mohilov was replaced by pro-Russian politician Sergei Aksyonov, who led a party with 4% of parliamentary representatives.
Putin initially denied that these were Russian soldiers. Of course he did because it would be a violation of international law. It would also be a breach of the agreement Ukraine made with Russia, the United States and Britain in 1994 when Ukraine gave away all its nuclear weapons to Russia. In the agreement, these guaranteed Ukraine’s borders. Putin later admitted that Russian troops took an active part in the annexation of Crimea.
Annexation and a fictitious referendum
An inferiorly poorly equipped Ukrainian army tried to resist these green soldiers without identification. The Ukrainian army struggled partly with poor equipment, partly with some officers being lured over to Russia for the sake of money. The soldiers eventually take over the management of all public offices. A so-called referendum will now be triggered where the people will have two alternatives to choose from. A fictitious referendum where in reality both alternatives are equally hopeless. Voting for the alternative that was in Crimea 1.1 2014 was not possible. These two alternatives were
- Crimea will be reunited with Russia.
- The Constitution of the Republic of Crimea from 1992 must be reinstated.
The last option can initially look perfectly fine. The 1992 law lasted for 13 days. In contrast to the current Ukrainian constitution, the 1992 constitution did not state that Crimea is an inseparable part of Ukraine and that Ukraine’s constitution takes precedence over Crimea’s own constitution.
The actual referendum conducted on March 16, 2014. It is worth noting that the parliament in Crimea already March 11, that is, before the referendum declared independence from Ukraine.
Not international election observers
The election in Crimea took place without international election observers and led to great international condemnation. Russia’s closest ally, Belarusian President Alexander Lukashenko has even he criticized the annexation of Crimea.
It has later emerged that Russia has for a long time had detailed plans for the annexation of the Crimean peninsula. The popular uprising in Maidan Square in Kyiv was used as an opportunity to implement the plans.
The voice of the Crimean Tatars
For the traditionally large ethnic group on the Crimean peninsula, Russia’s annexation became a new abuse. I wrote for some time ago about the forced relocation of the Crimean Tatars from the Crimea under Stalin in 1944.
While the Ukrainian state and military power remained passive, the Crimean Tatar authorities Meilizen became the main organized opposition to the occupation. Meilizen boycotts referendum 16th March, and was eventually declared extremist and even banned by the occupiers. Former and current leaders of Meilizen Dzhemilev and Chubarov were banned from visiting Crimea. Early in the Russian occupation, Putin tried unsuccessfully to gain Dzhemilev’s support.
Crimean Tatar protests are being ignored by Russia. Several Crimean Tatars were imprisoned or disappeared without a trace in the time before the referendum and afterwards. Both Crimean Tatars and others in Crimea protesting against Russia’s annexation have been systematically imprisoned with false accusations. One of these was the filmmaker Oleg Sentsov who was sentenced to 20 years in prison allegedly for planning terrorism. During the interrogations, both he and others were subjected to torture. Sentsov was exchanged in a prisoner exchange in the autumn of 2019 and is now back in Ukraine.
I wrote a blog earlier about Crimean Tatars and the forced relocation in 1944. Soon I will look at human rights in Crimea today, both above the opposition in general, but also above the Crimean Tatars.
Thanks to Sigurd Lydersen for his contribution in this blog.
Sources
Danmarks Radio: The referendum in Crimea: Yes or Yes
Swedish Radio: Oleg Sentsov directed a film from a Russian prison cell