IB GLOBAL POLITICS

THE ANNEXATION OF
CRIMEA
CASE STUDY

UWC COSTA RICA

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MAP

Map taken from the Economist website at

https://www.economist.com/europe/2019/06/08/crimea-is-still-in-

limbo-five-years-after-russia-seized-it
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INTRODUCTION
Ukraine’s most prolonged and deadly crisis By 2010, Ukraine’s fifty richest people

since its post-Soviet independence began as a controlled nearly half of the country’s gross

protest against the government dropping plans domestic product, writes Andrew Wilson in the

to forge closer trade ties with the European CFR book Pathways to Freedom.

Union, and has since spurred escalating

tensions between Russia and Western powers. A reformist tide briefly crested in 2004 when

The crisis stems from more than twenty years of the Orange Revolution, set off by a rigged

weak governance, a lopsided economy presidential election won by Yanukovich,

dominated by oligarchs, heavy reliance on brought Viktor Yushchenko to the presidency.

Russia, and sharp differences between Yet infighting among elites hampered reforms,

Ukraine’s linguistically, religiously, and and severe economic troubles resurged with

ethnically distinct eastern and western regions. the global economic crisis of 2008. The

revolution also masked the divide between

After the ouster of President Viktor Yanukovich European-oriented western and central

in February 2014, Russia annexed the Crimean Ukraine and Russian-oriented southern and

peninsula and the port city of Sevastopol, and eastern Ukraine.

deployed tens of thousands of forces near the

border of eastern Ukraine, where conflict Campaigning on a platform of closer ties with

erupted between pro-Russian separatists and Russia, Yanukovich won the 2010 presidential

the new government in Kiev. Russia’s moves, election. By many accounts, he then reverted

including reported military support for to the pattern of corruption and cronyism. His

separatist forces, mark a serious challenge to family may have embezzled as much as $8

established principles of world order such as billion to $10 billion a year over three years,

sovereignty and nonintervention. according to Anders Aslund of the Peterson

Institute for International Economics. He also

Why is Ukraine in Crisis? imprisoned his reformist opponent in the 2010

presidential race, Yulia Tymoshenko, on

The country of forty-five million people has charges of abuse of power.

struggled with its identity since the dissolution

of the Soviet Union in 1991. Ukraine has failed Yanukovich continued talks with the EU on a

to resolve its internal divisions and build strong trade association agreement, which he

political institutions, hampering its ability to signaled he would sign in late2013.

implement economic reforms. In the decade (Tymoshenko’s release was one of the

following independence, successive presidents conditions set by the EU for the trade

allowed oligarchs to gain increasing control association agreement.) But under pressure

over the economy while repression against from Russia, he dropped those plans in

political opponents intensified. November, citing concerns about European

competition.
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The decision provoked demonstrations in Kiev Ukraine is also a major economic partner that

on what became known as the Euromaidan by Russia would like to incorporate into its

protesters seeking to align their future with proposed Eurasian Union, a customs bloc due

Europe’s and speaking out against corruption. to be formed in January 2015 whose likely

members include Kazakhstan, Belarus, and

The Yanukovich government’s crackdown after Armenia.

three months of protests, in some cases

spurring reprisals by radicalized demonstrators, Ukraine plays an important role in Russia’s

caused the bloodiest conflict in the country’s energy trade; its pipelines provide transit to 80

post-Soviet period, with scores killed. percent of the natural gas Russia sends to

Yanukovich’s subsequent ouster sowed new European markets, and Ukraine itself is a major

divisions between the eastern and western market for Russian gas. Militarily, Ukraine is

halves of the country, and fighting between also important to Russia as a buffer state, and

pro-Russian separatists and government forces was home to Russia’s Black Sea fleet, based in

broke out in April 2014. Separatists in the the Crimean port city of Sevastopol under a

regions of Luhansk and Donetsk established bilateral agreement between the two states.

self-declared “people’s republics.”

Russia considers EU efforts to expand

Elections on May 25 brought pro-Western eastward to Ukraine, even through a relatively

businessman Petro Poroshenko into power, and limited association agreement, as an alarming

he moved to try to reassert central government step that opens the door to others Western

control over restive eastern cities. By August, institutions. The EU’s Eastern Partnership

the fighting had killed more than 2,000 people Program is aimed at forging tighter bonds with

and caused hundreds of thousands to flee their six former Eastern bloc countries, but Russia

homes, according to UN officials. Officials in sees it as a stepping stone to organizations

Kiev and NATO states accused Russia of such as NATO, whose eastward expansion is

arming the separatists and said rebels in regarded by Russia’s security establishment as

eastern Ukraine using Russia-supplied ground- a threat. Ukraine belongs to NATO’s

to-air missiles were responsible for the Partnership for Peace program, but is seen as

downing of a civilian airliner in July 2014, in having little prospect of joining the alliance in

which 298 people were killed. Russia denied the foreseeable future.

the charges but has continuously deployed

thousands of troops near the Ukrainian border Russian president Vladimir Putin has portrayed

his country’s role in Ukraine as safeguarding

What are Russia's concerns? ethnic Russians worried by lawlessness

spreading east from the capital, charges that

Russia has strong fraternal ties with Ukraine leaders in Kiev dismiss as provocations. In the

dating back to the ninth century and the case of Crimea, Putin has stressed Moscow is

founding of Kievan Rus, the first eastern Slavic not imposing its will, but rather, supporting the

state, whose capital was Kiev. Ukraine was free choice of the local population, drawing

part of Russia for centuries, and the two parallels with the support Western states gave

continued to be closely aligned through the to Kosovo’s 2008 declaration of independence

Soviet period, when Ukraine and Russia were from Serbia. Shortly before moving to annex

separate republics. “The West must understand Crimea on March 18, Putin told the Russian

that, to Russia, Ukraine can never be just parliament that Russia would protect the rights

aforeign country,” wrote former U.S. secretary of Russians abroad.

of state Henry Kissinger in a Washington Post

op-ed
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What is the role of the European Union? he peninsula only became part of Ukraine in

1954, when Soviet leader Nikita Krushchev

The EU’s Eastern Partnership Program was transferred it from the Russian Soviet Socialist

established in 2009 to expand political and Republic to the Ukrainian Soviet Socialist

economic ties between the EU and Armenia, Republic in what was seen as a largely

Azerbaijan, Belarus, Georgia, Moldova, and symbolic administrative move. The majority-

Ukraine, while stopping short of offering Russian residents of Crimea continued to have

membership to partner countries. The ill-fated strong ties with Russia. Following the

association agreement negotiated by EU dissolution of the Soviet Union in 1991, the two

officials and the Yanukovich government new countries reached an agreement to permit

involved a comprehensive free-trade deal. A the Russian Black Sea fleet to remain based at

number of analysts fault EU officials for the Crimean port of Sevastopol.

neglecting the broader geopolitical

implications of the deal for Russia, and Overall, Russians make up an estimated 59

declining to map out strategic aims for Europe. percent of the population of Crimea,

Ukrainians make up about 23 percent, and

After Poroshenko’s election, he pressed Muslim Tatars about 12 percent.

forward plans to sign the association

agreement and Ukraine did so along with Do Russian moves in Ukraine violate
Moldova and Georgia on June 27, 2014. international law?
Poroshenko said after signing the agreement:

“Ukraine is underlining its sovereign choice in U.S. officials say Russia’s actions in Crimea and

favor of membership of the EU.” eastern Ukraine are in breach of international

law, including the nonintervention provisions in

What is the status of Crimea? the UN Charter; the 1997 Treaty on Friendship

and Cooperation between Russia and Ukraine,

Prior to the crisis, Crimea was an autonomous which requires Russia to respect Ukraine’s

republic of Ukraine of two million people with territorial integrity; and the 1994 Budapest

its own parliament and laws that permitted the Memorandum on Security Assurances. Signed

use of the Russian language in everyday life. by the United States, UK, and Russia, that

After the ouster of Yanukovich in February document provided security guarantees to

2014, Crimea’s parliament called for a Ukraine in exchange for relinquishing its

referendum, in which the peninsula’s 1.5 million nuclear arsenal.

voters opted overwhelmingly for union with

Russia. Following that vote, Russian legislators For its part, Russia has rejected charges that it

passed a resolution nullifying Ukrainian laws in is violating international law.

Crimea and putting in force Russian legislation.

Parliament set a deadline of January 1, 2015 for What are U.S. and European policy options
the integration of Crimea’s economic, in Ukraine?
financial, credit, and legal systems into the

Russian Federation, reported Itar-Tass. It said In response to the developments in Crimea and

matters related to military service in Crimea eastern Ukraine, EU and U.S. policymakers

and Sevastopol will be settled by then as well. have taken a series of steps that include:
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Economic aid: The IMF in the spring approved Military aid: The United States has bolstered
a loan package for Ukraine for $17 billion over NATO’s air presence over the Baltic states and

two years. The EU has delivered hundreds of deployed about six hundred soldiers in Latvia,

millions of dollars of an announced $15 billion Lithuania, and Estonia, as well as Poland to

support package for Ukraine, with payments train with local forces as part of Operation

conditioned on Ukraine enacting tough reforms Atlantic Resolve. NATO secretary-general

like ending gas subsidies. Washington has Anders Fogh Rasmussen called the crisis the

promised more than $1 billion in U.S. loan greatest threat to European security since the

guarantees and technical assistance. In late end of the Cold War, and reasserted alliance

August 2014, German chancellor Angela ties with Ukraine through the Partnership For

Merkel pledged nearly $700 million in aid to Peace Program. The 2014 NATO summit in

help Ukraine rebuild war-damaged areas in the Wales is expected to be dominated by

east and aid refugees. the alliance’s response to the crisis in Ukraine.

Sanctions: The United States, the EU, Japan,

and Canada have imposed sanctions on scores

of Russian and Ukrainian officials and

This content is taken directly from the Council
businesses said to be linked to the seizure of
on Foreign Relations website and is available
Crimea and the escalation in tensions. The
at
measures include travel bans and the freezing
https://www.cfr.org/backgrounder/ukraine-
of assets. The United States and European
crisis
Union announced more severe measures in late

July that blocked some Russian banks from U.S.

and European capital markets, and generally

target Russian finance, energy, and defense

industries. Russia was hit by a slowdown in

growth and investment in the first quarter of

2014, and the scope of the new sanctions

suggest a substantial, longer-term cost to the

Russian economy,says CFR’s Robert Kahn.

Russia retaliated by banning imports of food

stuffs from the United States and many

European states in July 2014.

Energy aid: Some experts and U.S. lawmakers

have called for accelerating the approval of

U.S. natural gas proposals, which would take

advantage of booming U.S. production to help

lessen the reliance of European partners and

Ukraine on Russian natural gas. U.S. law

currently excludes the sale of natural gas to

countries that are not free-trade partners, but

the Energy Department can approve sales that

are deemed in the public interest. But some

analysts caution that even with the lifting of

export restrictions, it could take years and cost

billions of dollars to set up the necessary

infrastructure.
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'DEAR TO OUR HEARTS'

THE CRIMEAN CRISIS FROM THE KREMLIN'S
PERSPECTIVE

The EU and US have come down hard on

Russia for its annexation of the Crimean
Peninsula. But from the perspective of the
Kremlin, it is the West that has painted
Putin into a corner. And the Russian
president will do what it takes to free
himself.

Last September, Vladimir Putin invited Russia

experts from around the world to a

conference, held halfway between Moscow

and St. Petersburg. At the gathering, the

Russian president delivered a passionate

address.

"We will never forget that Russia's present-day

statehood has its roots in Kiev. It was the

cradle of the future, greater Russian nation,"

Putin said. He added that Russians and

Ukrainians have a "shared mentality,

shared history and a shared culture. In this

sense we are one people."

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At the time, German and European leaders still Or is it the beginning of a wave of re-

believed that it would be possible to bind conquests from a country that has seen itself

Ukraine to the European Union by way of an for centuries as a hegemonic power in Eastern

Association Agreement and to free the country Europe? Is Putin a neo-imperialist or is he just a

from Moscow's clutches. But Putin had national leader with his back to the wall, one

long before made the decision to prevent such who is merely interested in protecting his

an eventuality. country's security interests?

Indeed, he had already used the Crimean Specter of War

Peninsula as his stage for a symbolic and

vaguely menacing appearance in the summer The world has changed since last week. The

of 2012. Astride a three-wheel motorcycle, a Ukraine crisis represents the most recent

black-clad Putin was photographed at the culmination of an extended process of

head of a group of staunch nationalist bikers. estrangement between Russia and the West.

Like a group of modern-day knights, they tore The biggest country in the world will now likely

across Ukrainian territory. Even then it was turn its attentions more to China and India.

clear who Putin thought was the true leader of

Ukraine: himself. In Europe, meanwhile, the specter of war has

returned, according to European Parliament

Putin knows that the vast majority of Russians President Martin Schulz.

are on his side when it comes to his Crimean

policy. His cool and calculated -- and thus far "Ever since Putin's speech at the Munich

remarkably peaceful -- annexation of the Security Conference in 2007, everyone should

peninsula led to celebrations across Russia. have known that Russia would no longer

After all, the conviction that Crimea -- with its accept Western games within its sphere of

"Hero Cities" of Sevastopol and Kerch in influence," says Fyodor Lukyanov, Chairman of

addition to Russia's Black Sea fleet -- is the Presidium of the Council on Foreign and

Russian soil is widespread and shared even by Defense Policy in Moscow. "But the West never

many in the opposition camp. These are took Putin seriously and never developed a

places, Putin said in his address last week, that strategy to deal with Russia's legitimate

are "dear to our hearts" and for which Russian interests."

soldiers fought and died. Even Nobel Peace

Prize laureate Mikhail Gorbachev said last The West, says Lukyanov, disregarded every

week that the West should accept the results initiative from Moscow to discuss a new

of the Crimea referendum. "This should be security regime for Europe, constantly

welcomed instead of declaring sanctions," he suspecting that Russia was seeking to drive a

said. wedge between Europe and the United States.

Putin's proxy, former President Dmitry

Putin's popularity rating had already begun Medvedev, even presented a draft for a

climbing as a result of the Winter Olympics in European security treaty in 2009, one which

Sochi, with even Kremlin-critical pollsters addressed territorial disputes and renounced

reporting 67 percent approval. Now, that the use of violence. "We are now paying the

number is approaching an astonishing 80 price for not having sat down at the table

percent. But what does it mean? Is the then," Lukyanov says.

"reunification" with Crimea merely the last

twitch of a former Soviet superpower as its

successor state Russia rebels against a future

as a less meaningful regional power?

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Now, when the US and EU threaten to turn Putin has a decisive advantage in the struggle

away from Russia, few in Moscow are for Ukraine: He has the initiative. He acts and

particularly impressed. Aside from a couple of the West reacts. And Moscow has plenty of

billion-dollar deals that benefited both sides, options.

people close to Putin say, the only approach

from the West consisted in NATO's steady The first option involves Putin making no further

eastward advance. Instead of appreciation for advances, an eventuality that many in the West

Gorbachev's having ushered in a peaceful end quietly see as the best way to end the crisis. In

to the Cold War, the Russian view holds, the exchange for Western toleration of Russia's

West has sought to waltz all the way into Red Crimean land grab, Putin would refrain from

Square. meddling in eastern Ukraine and would still be

able to bask in the admiration of the Russian

The view from the windows of the Kremlin is people.

first and foremost a geo-political one. During

Soviet times, the distance between the Russian But there are other options available. Putin

capital and the Western military alliance was could use pro-Russian groups, economic

1,800 kilometers (1,120 miles). Were Ukraine to pressure and his own secret service to

become a member of NATO, as the US has destabilize Ukraine to such a degree that it

long desired, this distance would be reduced plunges into civil war. For such a scenario, the

to less than 500 kilometers. The Russian military weak and chaotic government and parliament

is afraid that they would lose once and for all in Kiev are ideal partners, not to mention the

the strategic distance that allowed the country radical nationalists who rose to prominence

to survive the invasions of both Napoleon and during the Maidan demonstrations. Indeed, the

Hitler. divisions within Ukraine are already prominent.

It was only due to intense pressure exerted by

This fear is partially the result of the traumatic, Berlin and Brussels that the acting government

post-Cold War reordering of Eastern Europe. in Kiev abstained from signing a law that would

Eight years after the Soviet Union's collapse, have prohibited Ukrainian regions from making

Poland, the Czech Republic and Hungary Russian a second official language. The

joined NATO. In 2004, they were followed by planned measure had triggered outrage in

Bulgaria, Romania, Slovakia, Slovenia and the eastern Ukraine.

three Baltic states; in 2009, Albania and

Croatia followed suit. When NATO intervened One-quarter of all Ukrainian exports go to

in the Kosovo War by bombing Belgrade in 1999, Russian, with 2.9 million Ukrainian workers in

Russia was furious; Serbia had been a close Russia having sent $3 billion ( €2.17 billion) to
ally of Moscow's for centuries. In 2008, US relatives back home last year, an amount

President George W. Bush's proposal to extend equivalent to roughly 10 percent of the

NATO membership to Georgia and Ukraine was country's budget. A Russian boycott would

seen by Russia as a humiliation. likely mean a rapid end to the current Ukrainian

government, unless the US and Europe were to

Plenty of Options jump in with a hefty aid package.

Now, Putin is releasing his people from their As such, Putin could simply play for time in the

collective feeling of shame. "If you compress a hopes that sooner or later Ukraine will simply

spring all the way to its limit, it will snap back fall into his lap like a ripe fruit -- perhaps even

hard," the Russian president said during his a Ukraine bloated by Western aid. Under no

address in the Kremlin last Tuesday. circumstances, however, will Putin simply leave

Ukraine to the West.

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Some close to Putin even believe that the When it comes to Ukraine, Putin feels deceived

Russian president would be willing to go to war by German Chancellor Angela Merkel, whose

to prevent that from happening. power instincts he admires, as well as by the

US. "The West's true aim is that of toppling the

Other Regions? bothersome Putin," says the Moscow-based

political scientist Sergei Markov, one of Putin's

Hardliners in the Kremlin are urging Putin not to most loyal acolytes. That is why initial sanctions

stop at Crimea, arguing that areas that belong targeted the president's billionaire friends. The

to Russia anyway should be reunited with the West, he says, is trying to turn Russia's financial

motherland. Never before, they say, has the elite against Putin.

opportunity been quite as auspicious. Putin's

reputation among the Western elite is already 'Can't Treat Us Like That'
at a low point and NATO would certainly not

risk a nuclear war on Ukraine's account. Kremlin But on the short- and mid-term, at least,

leaders are fully aware that Germany's sanctions are likely to strengthen Putin. His

willingness to make sacrifices on behalf of, for propaganda machine will present any

example, the Russian-speaking industrial city of economic difficulties as being the fault of the

Donetsk is rather limited. West, which will likely draw together the

country's anti-Western, conservative majority.

"Russia should support the pro-Russian areas in Even in Moscow, where never-published

southern and eastern Ukraine and establish a surveys from a year ago showed that Putin had

line of security from Kharkiv to Odessa, without lost his majority, sanctions will be seen as yet

absorbing these areas into the Russian another indignity visited on Russia by the West.

Federation," advises political scientist

Alexander Nagorny. A referendum could then "First the German and Polish foreign ministers

transform Ukraine into a kind of federal state. make appearances on the Maidan, and now

Moscow would have influence in Kiev, a NATO they want to punish us for no longer being

membership for Ukraine would be prevented willing to simply accept everything," says one

and a bloody war avoided. senior bank manager who has never voted for

Putin in her life. She wants Putin "to deliver a

The West is now attempting to force Putin to strong response so that the West understands

back down by way of sanctions. It is a strategy that you can't treat us like that."

that is much more comfortable for the US than

it is for Europe, with just 1 percent of American Russia, as one proverb would have it, has great

trade being conducted with Russia and a lack patience, but its response will be all the more

of reliance on Russia oil and natural gas. severe. Russian confronts pressure with

Germany's trade with Russia, by contrast, pressure and external critique has traditionally

represents 3 percent of Berlin's imports and been met with defiance. In 1830, France angrily

exports, with a value of €76.5 billion. One-third protested against czarist Russia's violent

of Germany's oil and natural gas imports come crushing of an uprising in areas including

from Russia. It has always sounded good when present-day western Ukraine and the Baltic

EU politicians insisted that Russia cannot be states. Paris even threatened military action.

allowed to have a say in Ukraine's future. But it

was never particularly realistic.

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Renowned Russian poet Alexander Pushkin Russia's recent reaction to European and US

penned a response in a poem entitled "To the sanctions was not dissimilar. Putin announced

Slanderers of Russia." "What are you sounding that he intended to open an account with

off about, you orators of nations? Why do you Rossiya Bank, which had been targeted by

threaten Russia with anathema? Leave off: It is Washington, and Kremlin advisors expressed

a battle of Slavs amongst themselves, a pride at having been included on the list. Fully

domestic, ancient quarrel, already weighed by 353 of the 450 parliamentarians in the Duma

fate. A question you will not decide." published a request that they too be added.

Not much would seem to have changed in

Russia since the times of Pushkin.

Questions to consider:
This article was published on Spiegel Online and can
What role does nationalism play in the
be accessed at
Russian view of Crimea?
https://www.spiegel.de/international/world/a-look-

How can theories of international relations at-the-crimea-crisis-from-the-perspective-of-the-

such as structural realism help us to make kremlin-a-960446.html

sense of Putin's decision making in regard to

the annexation of Crimea?

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VIDEO: INSIDE STORY

WHAT HAS RUSSIA GAINED FROM ANNEXING
CRIMEA?

This Al-Jazeera English report, presented by

Hazem Sika on the fifth anniversary of Russia's

annexation of Crimea, explores what Russia

has gained from this and discusses the issue

with Ilya Ponomarev - exiled Russian politican;

Mark Sleboda - international relations and

security analyst Oleksiy Haran - professor at

the National University of Kyiv-Mohyla

Academy.

Click the image on the left to watch the video

Questions to consider:
How has Russia gained from its annexation

of Crimea? What were the costs? Overall,

was it worth it?

What has been the role of sanctions

throughout this period and what can we say

about the effectiveness of these sanctions?

To what extent does Russia have legitimacy

in Crimea?
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THE LEGITIMACY OF RUSSIA'S

ACTIONS IN UKRAINE
IN THIS POST FOR LSE INTERNATIONAL HISTORY, BJÖRN ALEXANDER DÜBEN ANALYSES THE RECENT OUTBREAK
OFCONFLICT IN UKRAINE. IN THE ARTICLE, DR DÜBEN EXAMINES RUSSIA’S MILITARY CAMPAIGN IN UKRAINE AND
ITSANNEXATION OF UKRAINIAN TERRITORY. DR DÜBEN ARGUES THAT RUSSIA’S CLAIMS TO PARTS OF UKRAINE
AND ITSANNEXATION OF TERRITORY IN THE COUNTRY HAS LITTLE BASIS IN HISTORY AND THE PARAMETERS OF
INTERNATIONALLAW.

When Russia’s President Vladimir Putin signed

the treaty on the ‘Restitution of Crimea and

Sevastopol inside the Russian Federation’ on

18 March 2014, Russia became the first state in

continental Europe to have annexed part of

another state’s territory since the 1940s. The

outbreak, shortly thereafter, of separatist

violence in eastern Ukraine made it evident

that Moscow’s territorial pretensions did not

exhaust themselves in the annexation of

Crimea. The Russian government has

consistently defended its startling moves in

Ukraine, denying all accusations that its

encroachments on the country’s sovereignty

have been illegitimate. Does it have any valid

grounds for doing so?

From a legal perspective, the answer is clear:

Having forcibly occupied parts of a sovereign

country’s territory, having formally annexed the

occupied territory, and having flooded another

part of the country with heavy weaponry and

irregular combatants (‘volunteers’ who were

permitted to cross the border in large numbers,

as well as regular soldiers), Moscow has acted

in violation of some of the most basic

principles of international law.

WWW.GLOPOIB.WORDPRESS.COM 13

The clarity of this legal breach was gunmen first began to seize administrative

underscored in dozens of UN Security Council buildings across eastern Ukraine in April 2014,

sessions devoted to the Ukraine crisis, where and there can be little doubt that Moscow has

Russia’s ambassador, Vitaly Churkin, found been stoking it ever since. Moscow has thus

himself completely isolated in his legal done its part to initiate and aggravate the very

interpretation of the unfolding events. Russia’s humanitarian crisis that it has since used as a

moves in Ukraine were not formally approved justification for threatening further

by more than a handful of states, and even intervention.

some of Russia’s closest allies have refused to

recognise Crimea’s de facto shift injurisdiction. Spurious though Moscow’s claims for a

Russia’s actions also violate its pledge in the ‘responsibility to protect’ may be, its

1994 Budapest Memorandum to respect intervention in Ukraine has ultimately been

Ukrainian sovereignty within its existing based in equal measure on Russia’s purported

borders. historical, ethnic, and cultural claims to Crimea

and (less explicitly) to large stretches of south-

Moscow repeatedly invoked the ‘responsibility eastern Ukraine frequently referred to as

to protect’, an increasingly popular concept in ‘Novorossiya’. Few recent conflicts have been

the West, as a justification for its intervention in as centrally focused on historical claims and

Crimea. However, two factors set Russia’s (mis)representations as the Ukraine crisis.

Ukrainian intervention apart from previous Among the Russian public it is commonly

interventions carried out by the West: For one, regarded as self-evident that Crimea has

the formal annexation of territory, which is historically been Russian territory, but also that

entirely unjustifiable in terms of the all of Ukraine is in essence a historical part of

‘responsibility to protect’. And secondly, the Russia – a brother state that owes its existence

fact that there was objectively no humanitarian to a mere accident of history. Leaving all legal

crisis that would have warranted invoking this concerns aside for a moment, could the case

responsibility. Notwithstanding the alarmist be made that Russia has a legitimate historical

news broadcast on Russia’s state-controlled and cultural claim to Crimea, or any other part

media networks, at the time when Crimea was of Ukraine? What does the Russian case for its

seized by Russian forces the peninsula was at interventions in Ukraine look like when taking

peace and there was no discernible threat to into account historical and cultural factors

the lives and well-being of its inhabitants (a alone?

fact that was later confirmed by independent

United Nations investigations). Crimea: A “primordially Russian land”

More recently, arguments focused on Russia’s The Crimean peninsula has traditionally had a

‘responsibility to protect’ have featured special status within modern Ukraine. Unlike

particularly prominently in Moscow’s demands any other part of the country, it was organised

with regard to eastern Ukraine and the as an ‘Autonomous Republic’, enjoying a

ongoing conflict there. Unlike in Crimea, the certain degree of political autonomy. Prior to

humanitarian crisis in eastern Ukraine has been its formal transfer to the Ukrainian Soviet

very real indeed. But Russian irregular Socialist Republic in February 1954, Crimea

combatants were apparently involved in had been a part of the Russian Soviet

spurring the conflict in eastern Ukraine from Federative Socialist Republic (RSFSR) within

the very beginning, when heavily armed the Soviet Union. Among Russians, it is a

commonly-held assumption that Crimea has

‘always’ been a part of Russia.

WWW.GLOPOIB.WORDPRESS.COM 14

Vladimir Putin himself, during his 18 March This was a seminal event in the development of

address to parliament marking Crimea’s the Eastern Orthodox churches (both in Russia

annexation to Russia, declared that “in and in Ukraine), since Vladimir then oversaw

people’s hearts and minds, Crimea has always the conversion of the entire Kievan Rus’ to the

been an integral part of Russia”. The following Orthodox faith. Notwithstanding the symbolic

month, an expedition of the Russian Military importance of this event, which was duly

Historical Society visited the peninsula, with invoked by Vladimir Putin in his annexation

one of their stated intentions being “to remind speech on 18 March, the period of rule by the

the global community that Crimea has always Kievan Rus’ did not leave a deep cultural or

been Russian.” As recently as late October, political imprint on Crimea. In the centuries

Nikolay Ryzhkov, a prominent member of following the demise of the Rus’ in the 1200s,

Russia’s upper house of parliament, claimed the peninsula was the site of sporadic Cossack

that Crimea “since ancient times … was raids, but it remained firmly in Tatar and

primordially Russian land”. This view is now Ottoman hands. Throughout its history, Crimea

extremely common in Russia. It is also totally has thus been a crucible of cultures. It was not

false. until 1783 that it became Russian territory,

following Catherine the Great’s victory over

In actual fact, the Crimean peninsula, for most the Ottomans and her conquest of the Tatar

of its history, had nothing to do with Russia. Khanate, and it remained Russian for the next

Since antiquity, Crimea’s mountainous south- 170 years.

eastern shores have been dominated by Tauri,

Greek, Roman, Byzantine, Venetian, and In 1954, the Soviet leadership transferred

Genoese principalities, before they were Crimea from the RSFSR to the Ukrainian Soviet

conquered by the Ottoman Empire in 1475. The Socialist Republic (UkrSSR). In spite of frequent

vast inland steppes of Crimea were ruled and claims that the Soviet leader Nikita Khrushchev,

populated by Scythians, Greeks, Goths, Huns, bypassing all legal norms, single-handedly

Bulgars, Khazars, Mongols, and Karaites, and assigned the peninsula to Ukraine, the transfer

eventually, from 1441, formed the heartland of was in fact carried out legally and in

the Crimean Tatar Khanate, a tributary of the accordance with the 1936 Soviet Constitution

Ottoman Empire. The Ottomans and the Tatars (which, admittedly, was in essence a legal

continued to rule over their respective parts of fiction). The measure was approved by the

the peninsula until 1783. Presidium of the Soviet Communist Party,

paving the way for an authorising resolution of

Throughout the pre-modern era, Crimea’s only the Presidium of the Supreme Soviet, which

substantial historical connection to either formally sealed the transfer; by all

Russia or Ukraine was the fact that the inland appearances, both the RSFSR and the UkrSSR

section of the peninsula was controlled by the gave their consent via their republic

Kievan Rus’ – the precursor state of both parliaments. Vladimir Putin’s claim, during his 18

modern Ukraine and Russia – from the mid-10th March address to parliament, that the decision

to the early 13th century. At the onset of Kievan to transfer Crimea “was made in clear violation

rule (which did not extend to the mountainous of the constitutional norms that were in place

south-eastern parts of the peninsula that even then” is patently false.The 1954 transfer of

contained its most important settlements and Crimea was most likely motivated both by

ports and remained under Byzantine control), tactical considerations on the part of

the Crimean city of Chersonesos, now a part of Khrushchev (who was then involved in an

Sevastopol, was the site where the leader of internal power struggle for the leadership of

the Rus’, Vladimir I. of Kiev, converted to the Communist Party) and by economic and

Christianity. infrastructural considerations; the Meeting of

WWW.GLOPOIB.WORDPRESS.COM 15

the Presidium of the Supreme Soviet of the Crimea has long occupied a special place in

USSR on 19 February 1954 where the transfer the Russian national consciousness, but this

was finalised made reference, among other should not obscure the fact that, while its

things, to “the commonality of the economy, historical and cultural connection to Ukraine

the territorial proximity, and the close has been weak, its historical and cultural

economic and cultural ties between the connection to Russia has scarcely been any

Crimean Oblast’ and the Ukrainian SSR”. stronger. Even a cursory glance at its history

reveals that the recurrent proclamations of

For the next six decades, Crimea was formally various Russian officials regarding Crimea’s

a part of Ukraine. Its ties to Kiev always “primordial” historical and cultural importance

remained somewhat loose, but much the same for Russia range from vast exaggeration to

can be said about its ties to Russia throughout downright fantasy. Given that the Kremlin has

the preceding seventeen decades when it had invoked such claims in the attempt to justify a

been a part of the Russian Empire and the grave violation of international law and

RSFSR. Throughout most of these 170 years, intrusion upon another sovereign state, it is

while it was politically controlled by Russia, important to spotlight how little they

Crimea had remained culturally distinct, and its correspond to historical reality.

cultural connection with Russia was relatively

tenuous. In spite of substantial Russian

colonisation efforts throughout the 19th

century, around 1900 the Tatars still formed the

Taken from

largest ethnic group on the peninsula. The https://blogs.lse.ac.uk/lseih/2015/03/04/does-

demographic pre-eminence of ethnic Russians russia-have-a-legitimate-claim-to-parts-of-ukraine/

in Crimea was only firmly solidified following

the mass deportation of the entire Crimean

Tatar population, as well as the smaller

populations of ethnic Armenians, Bulgars, and

Greeks, at Joseph Stalin’s behest in 1944. This

de facto ethnic cleansing of the peninsula’s

native inhabitants led to the death of between

20 and 50 percent of the Crimean Tatar

community; the remainder were only able to

return to Crimea in the 1990s.

WWW.GLOPOIB.WORDPRESS.COM 16

RUSSIAN ROULETTE
VICE NEWS DISPATCHES FROM CRIMEA
CLICK ON THE VIDEOS TO WATCH THE REPORTS

1. Russia's Little Green Men Enter Ukraine

Russia has invaded the Crimean peninsula of Ukraine

and taken over its civilian and military infrastructure.

Not a shot has been fired so far, but Russia is using its

superior force to intimidate Ukrainian troops in

an attempt to get them to surrender.

Russia claims it wants to stabilize the situation on the

peninsula, which has a large Russian population, but

Ukraine's new government regards the move as an

occupation of its sovereign territory.

2. Sneaking Into A Ukrainian Military Base

Angry crowds of Russia supporters as well as Russian

military units surrounded and entered Ukraine's Naval

High Command in Sevastopol blocking all exits and

demanded that its officers switch allegiance to

Crimea's new Kremlin-aligned government. Naval

Command has so far remained mostly loyal to Kiev, but

its fall would represent a significant psychological

victory for Russian forces.

WWW.GLOPOIB.WORDPRESS.COM 17

3. Getting Stuck on a Ukrainian Battleship

The blockade by Russia of Ukrainian military

installations in Crimea continues. VICE News

correspondent Simon Ostrovsky spoke with families of

personnel barricaded inside, who complained about

the difficulty of getting food past the pro-Russian

protesters outside. Russia's supporters explained why

they want Crimea to separate from Ukraine, andSimon

negotiated his way through a Russian checkpoint to

interview an officer on the Slavutych, a Ukrainian

battleship stuck in the harbor of Sevastopol.

4. Ship Sinked to Block Port

With Crimea's parliament voting to secede from

Ukraine, Russia's blockade of Ukrainian military

installations in the peninsula has moved seaside. The

Russian Black Sea Fleet prepared a special operation:

the sinking of a decommissioned ship in the middle of

Donuzlav Bay in order to prevent traffic in and out of

Crimea's port.

VICE News correspondent Simon Ostrovsky noticed

that the unidentified men in military fatigues had

suddenly disappeared from the bases — locals said

that they'd gone to obstruct a mission of observers

from the Organization for Security and Cooperation in

Europe (OSCE) from entering the region.

5. Serbian War Veterans Operating in

Crimea
As Russians stream into Crimea to help wrestle it away

from Ukraine, an unlikely group of Serbian war

veterans, who have experience fighting in Bosnia,

Croatia and Kosovo, are turning up at the checkpoints

too. VICE News reporter Simon Ostrovsky follows

Russian troops as they continue their occupation of

Ukrainian military bases, and learns about unidentified

men in masks attacking journalists reporting on the

situation in the peninsula.

WWW.GLOPOIB.WORDPRESS.COM 18

6. Reporter''s Confrontation at Ukrainian

Checkpoints
In dispatch six, VICE News correspondent Simon

Ostrovsky travels to the Kherson region of mainland

Ukraine to both the Ukrainian and Russian checkpoints.

At the Ukrainian checkpoint, Simon goes inside one of

their tanks, and speaks to the commander, who says

that despite his Russian blood he will defend all

invaders. But at the Russian checkpoint, the exchange

isn't quite as cordial.

7. Pro-Russia & Pro-Ukraine Protesters Face

Off
In dispatch 7, Simon is back in the Crimean capital of

Simferopol, where both pro and anti-Russia

demonstrations are dividing the region. Pro-Russia

protesters believe that the country's strong economy

will help Crimea, while anti-Russia protesters feel that

their land has been taken over by bandits.

8. Civilians Clash Over Crimea Referendum

As Russia moves 10,000 troops to the Ukrainian border

and Crimea prepares for a secession referendum,

tension remains high all over Ukraine, especially in the

East.

On the night of Thursday, March 13 VICE News reporter

Robert King captured this scene on the streets of

Donetsk, where a large group of pro-Russian activists

attacked a group of pro-Ukrainian demonstrators

calling for unity

9. Protest Turns Fatal

With Crimea's referendum quickly approaching, tension

has spread across Ukraine, especially in the east.

Before Thursday's protests in Donetsk escalated into

violence, VICE News correspondent Robert King

interviewed pro-Russia and pro-Ukraine demonstrators

about their opinions on the standoff