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TEN YEARS SINCE ITS ANNEXATION, CRIMEA SERVES AS A GRIM WARNING TO
ANY UKRAINIAN LANDS THAT FALL UNDER RUSSIAN OCCUPATION  
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Shane O'Rourke
March 26, 2024
The Conversation
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_ The ten years since the annexation of Crimea has been a dismal
exercise in the suppression of a multi-ethnic and multi-cultural
society by a ruthless regime that tolerates no identities apart from
the one that it prescribes _

Vladimir Putin speaking during a concert in Moscow’s Red Square to
mark the 10th anniversary of Crimea’s reunification with Russia,
Sergei Ilnitsky / EPA

 

Basking in his wholly expected re-election victory, Russian president,
Vladimir Putin, addressed
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crowd in Moscow’s Red Square on March 18 to mark the 10th
anniversary of his country’s annexation of Crimea.

The familiar themes of rectifying a historical injustice, the
unbreakable unity of the Russian people and the importance of Crimea
to Russian identity were trotted out once again. The crowd duly
applauded.

Yet compared to ten years ago, when the whole country appeared to be
in the grip of collective ecstasy
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the celebrations seemed muted. Much has changed in the intervening ten
years, not least that Putin’s miscalculations have put the status of
Crimea in doubt again.

On the peninsular itself, life has changed profoundly. The “land of
milk and honey” promised to the population of Crimea at the time of
annexation has not materialised. International sanctions, high prices
and increasing uncertainty have left the mainstay of the economy,
tourism, in the doldrums
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And the democratic freedoms that existed under Ukraine have
disappeared, not only for the Ukrainian and Tatar populations, but for
the Russians too.

The security of Crimea is also under threat as at no time since 2014.
Ukrainian rockets and drones have destroyed about 20% of the Russian
Navy’s Black Sea Fleet, including the flagship Moskva
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And the Kerch bridge – the symbol of Putin’s triumph – has been
subject to repeated attacks
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The Russian navy has been driven ignominiously from its bases in
Crimea to the safer haven of Novorossisk
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in Russia itself. Ships carrying Ukrainian grain can now exit the
Black Sea due to defeats inflicted on the Russian fleet.

In one area, however, the Russians have enjoyed success. The
Russification of the peninsula is continuing apace.

‘Russian World’

Russification of Crimea is not an ad hoc policy imposed after the
occupation. It is rooted in the ideology of Russkii MIr
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(“Russian World”). This concept, which is espoused by Putin, is
itself part of a long historical tradition going back to the
annexation of the Crimea by Catherine the Great
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The Russian World ideology insists that Russia is a supra-national
civilisation that extends far beyond the present borders of the
Russian Federation to include Ukraine, Belarus, Kazakhstan and other
parts of the former Soviet Union. At the same time, the ideology is
intolerant of any other expression of identity within its sphere and
justifies the elimination of that identity, as is taking place in
Crimea.

The Imperial Russian state (1721–1917), the Soviet State
(1917–1991) and now the Russian Federation under Putin have at
different times all sought to Russify the population of the Crimean
peninsular. The Imperial government encouraged the migration of Tatars
from the peninsular and Stalin completed the process in 1944 by
deporting
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the entire Tatar population – some 200,000 people.

A partial return
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place under Krushchev (premier of of the Soviet Union between 1958 and
1964), which greatly accelerated when the Crimea became part of a
democratic Ukraine. Putin has now reversed that policy, seeking the
destruction of both the Tatar and Ukrainian identities.

Eradicating non-Russian identity

Putin swore to safeguard
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national traditions that existed in Crimea when he launched the
annexation. These promises were broken immediately and have continued
to be broken ever since.

Ukrainian and Tatar languages have been suppressed, political
activists arrested
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and any expression of cultural identity other than Russian is
forbidden. The national body of the Crimean Tatars, the Mejlis, has
been suppressed and all other representative institutions are a sham,
as those in Russia itself.

Religious persecution against the Ukrainians and the Tatars, which is
actively assisted
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by the Russian Orthodox Church, is also an essential part of the
Russification policies.

What is striking about the Russification of Crimea is its
comprehensive nature and the ruthlessness with which it is being
carried out. A major instrument of Russification has been the
imposition of Russian citizenship on the population of the peninsular.
This has been achieved through a combination of incentives and crude
threats.

Access to vital services such as health, education, banking, pensions
and jobs are dependent on acceptance of Russian citizenship
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passport means that these services are not available. The refusal of
Russian citizenship has lead to confiscations of property, expulsion
from the peninsular and even threats to take away the children of
those retaining Ukrainian citizenship.

Acceptance of citizenship makes men eligible for military service. And
Putin’s government has ruthlessly mobilised men
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from the Crimea and the Donbas. A new citizenship law
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in April 2023 extended these practices to the territories occupied
since 2022.

These changes have been accompanied by demographic changes that have
taken place since the annexation. According to Russian figures, at
least 200,000 Russians have migrated to Crimea
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since 2014. Ukrainian figures
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suggest that 50,000 Ukrainians and Tatars have left over the same
period.

This is a form of ethnic cleansing designed to make the Crimea
irrevocably Russian and protect it against any fair referendum that
might return the peninsular to Ukraine.

The ten years since the annexation of Crimea has been a dismal
exercise in the suppression of a multi-ethnic and multi-cultural
society by a ruthless regime that tolerates no identities apart from
the one that it prescribes. Russification in Crimea has also provided
a model that has been imposed on Ukrainian territory taken since 2022
and is a grim warning to any future lands that fall under Russian
occupation.[The Conversation]

_Shane O'Rourke
[[link removed]] is Senior
Lecturer in Modern History, University of York
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_This article is republished from The Conversation
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the original article
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* Crimea
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* Russia
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* Ukraine
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* Vladimir Putin
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