This March marks five years since the annexation of Crimea and the return of that long contested peninsula to Russia. As
with everything relating to this subject, most of what people know about this incident is misleading, so on this anniversary we're going to look at the facts surrounding the event and the circumstances that led to it.
The "official" sequence of events as promoted by the West is a simple one: Russia annexed Crimea and invaded eastern
Ukraine, sparking a brutal civil war that still rages in the country. The actual story is more complex; far too complex,
in fact, to fully analyze in anything shorter than a book. To boil it down to its most basic essence: a number of ultra right-wing neo-Nazi groups overthrew the pro-Russian government of Ukraine over the removal of ultra nationalist Stepan Bandera from recognition as a "hero of Ukraine". This triggered a massive confrontation and calls by many in these radical groups for the purging of ethnic Russians in Ukraine. Did the Kremlin get involved to some extent with pro-Russian forces in the East? I have little doubt but the fact remains that the nationalist groups Right Sector, Svoboda and Trident are responsible for the explosion of violence across the country.
Obviously this attracted the attention of the United States, whose intelligence agencies had been involved with the nationalist groups of Ukraine since 1947 as a means of gathering intel on the Soviet Union. Since the mid-2000's NATO had been eyeing Ukraine for possible membership, to which Vladimir Putin commented in 2007 that pulling Ukraine into NATO would inevitably lead to the secession of Crimea from Ukraine.
As for Crimea itself, it had historically been a part of Russia since the 17th century and was gifted to the Ukrainian
oblast by Soviet leader Nikita Khruschev, who was a native Ukrainian, in 1954. Crimea had been considered the heart of the USSR by the Soviets, many of whom had fond memories of vacations there, summer camps, falling in love. With the dissolution of the Soviet Union in 1991, that loss was felt by many and the people of Crimea, at least 90% of whom were ethnic Russian, held several referendums to separate from Ukraine and rejoin Russia, but none were successful. Crimea ultimately adopted the identity of an autonomous republic.
Meanwhile in the Ukrainian civil war, the U.S. State Department became openly involved. John McCain, Joe Biden and
Assistant Secretary of State for European and Eurasian Affairs Victoria Nuland were on the ground in Kiev, handing out
supplies to the neo-Nazi groups and delivering rousing speeches to encourage the protesters. A phone call was even
intercepted between Nuland and U.S. Ambassador to Ukraine Geoffrey Pyatt debating about how to "midwife" this thing and throwing around names of candidates they could pick for running the interim government of Ukraine. "Yats is the guy," Nuland says in the recording, referring to Arseniy Yatsenyuk, who indeed became the prime minister, with his party receiving every major office in the cabinet.
What the U.S. really wanted, and what they would use NATO membership to get, was the Crimean peninsula and the Russian naval base in Sevastopol, Russia's only deep-water port. With that threat looming - and Russia already paranoid about its borders, particularly in the Crimean peninsula - and increasing acts of anti-Russian violence spreading into Crimea at the hands of nationalists, a referendum was held with the majority of Crimean citizens choosing to leave Ukraine and rejoin Russia, to which Vladimir Putin accepted.
There are still many arguments that Crimea was invaded and forcibly taken, yet the people of Crimea were seen celebrating and dancing in the streets after the deal was done and today, five years later, celebrations were held on the peninsula commemorating the anniversary. That's some strange invasion. Or what about the allegations that Putin is buiding an empire and Crimea was the first step in violently reintegrating Ukraine into a new Soviet Union? Shortly after the secession of Crimea, the Ukrainian provinces of Donetsk and Lugansk, both ethnic Russian, also petitioned to leave Ukraine and rejoin Russia and were denied by Putin. One would think building an empire is much easier when people actually want to be a part of it but maybe Putin just wants to do it the hard way.
There are criticisms of the way in which all sides handled the issue but I feel the Crimean people have made their decision and have gone back to where they belong and the rest of the world should accept that. Meanwhile, the war in Ukraine continues as lines are increasingly drawn there and now in Venezuela in the new cold war.
For more in-depth information check out the following resources:
Ukraine in the Crossfire by Chris Kaspar De Ploeg
Frontline Ukraine by Richard Sakwa
Ukraine on Fire documentary film