Written by Anastasiia Ratieieva, analyst – Hybrid Warfare Analytical Group/UCMC
As a result of the pseudo-referendum, on March 18, 2014, the “accession” of Crimea as a federal unit to the territory of the Russian Federation was imperatively announced. The Russian authorities chose 10 years of the annexation of the peninsula as an occasion for a parade of kitsch and celebrations. Russian propaganda, in turn, used the anniversary to repeat its manipulative narratives and create new ones. What these 10 years meant for Crimea and how the aggressor country is trying to portray them, we will consider in our weekly digest of Russian disinformation.
Russian Narrative: The annexation of Crimea took place according to the correct legal procedure
Maria Zakharova, Russian Foreign Ministry Spokeswoman, (475,000), Telegram Channel:
On March 18, 2014, the Agreement on the admission of the Republic of Crimea to the Russian Federation was signed. This became a fair and long-awaited decision for Crimeans and all citizens of our country.
RIA News, pro-government mass media:
The catalyst for the Crimean Spring was the coup d’état that took place in Kyiv in February 2014. The seizure of power in Ukraine by outspoken nationalists and Russophobes prompted the residents of the peninsula to take decisive action.
Amidst tensions in the region during the Ukrainian revolution, On February 27, Russian forces cut the Crimean Peninsula off from mainland Ukraine and took over the Supreme Council of Crimea. Under armed occupation, the Crimean regional government was dissolved and reconstituted under Russian supervision, and voted to hold a referendum on the status of Crimea. The pseudo-referendum was held under pressure on citizens and the military occupation of the peninsula. Russian equipment was moving on the streets, and administrative buildings and strategic objects were occupied by Russian military personnel without identification marks; since the end of February, the Russian authorities have taken advantage of the political instability in Ukraine caused by the Revolution of Dignity.
The pseudo-referendum was conducted with no international observers, and with leading Crimean Tatar and Ukrainian politicians boycotting the vote. Additionally, the referendum was hastily organized, and the vote was held in violation of Ukraine’s constitution. The annexation of Crimea was a planned operation that violated the territorial integrity of Ukraine, and there is a consensus about this in most countries of the world. That is why the list of states that recognize at the international level the “accession of Crimea” as annexation is much more comprehensive than the states that sided with the Russian Federation.
In the annexation process, Russian political figures, such as Serhii Markov, who now does not hide this fact, actively worked on the ground.
Photo from Markov’s Telegram channel with the caption “10 years ago in Crimea. Sevastopol. Sergey Markov with Chaly. And with the deputy head of the Public Chamber, Hryb.”
Russian Narrative: Russian Crimea – a formula of happiness and peace for Crimeans
Vladimir Putin, President of the Russian Federation:
Crimea is, first of all, people. Residents of Sevastopol and Crimeans are our pride. They never separated themselves from Russia. This is what allowed Crimea to return to our shared family.
Maria Zakharova, Russian Foreign Ministry Spokeswoman, (475,000), Telegram Channel:
After the reunification of Crimea with Russia, the situation is consistently improving. In recent years, an atmosphere of interfaith harmony has been reliably maintained in the Republic of Crimea and the city of Sevastopol, which is supported by the active participation of religious associations in the public life of the peninsula. The construction of the Main Cathedral Mosque in Simferopol is being completed.
Valentina Matvienko, Chairman of the Federation Council of the Russian Federation:
Over a relatively short period, dramatic changes have occurred in the region, which even our ideological and geopolitical opponents cannot deny.
The occupation of Crimea by Russia had profound negative consequences for population groups that did not agree with the fact that they suddenly became “citizens of the Russian Federation”. The Crimean Tatar population suffered persecution and political persecution, mainly on religious grounds. The occupying power of Russia unleashed repression against dissidents. Political persecution takes various forms. There are known cases of intimidation, kidnapping, and the use of punitive psychiatry.
The male population of Crimea is subject to military conscription, although the Russian Federation, as the occupying power, does not have the right to do so. This fact grossly violates international law and criminal prosecution, which the Russian Federation resorts to against persons who refuse to serve in its armed forces.
A separate milestone of the occupation was the so-called “nationalization of Ukrainian property for the benefit of the region.” This is the way the Russian Federation called the process of how local authorities illegally appropriated and then sold at auction the property of Ukrainian and foreign citizens. Often, the “nationalization” takes place in the style of a raider capture. In 2019, the Prosecutor’s Office of the Autonomous Republic of Krym estimated that in the first five years of annexation, Russia had illegally appropriated more than 4,000 enterprises, institutions and organizations that are state-owned by Ukraine.
Russian Narrative: The Crimean Peninsula is the historical land of Russia
Vladimir Putin, President of the Russian Federation:
Exactly 10 years ago, here on Red Square, when I got up on this stage, I remembered that Crimea is often called an unsinkable aircraft carrier. That prompted me to say that Crimea has returned to its home port. Crimea is not only a strategic territory but also our history, traditions and pride of Russia.
Margarita Simonyan, (500,000), Telegram Channel:
In honor of the 10th anniversary of Crimea’s return home, they decided to increase the education of foreign diplomats. A collection of documents, “Accession of Crimea to Russia”, was sent to the embassies. 1783-1796.’ The book contains facts about how Crimea became Russian and how it was developed. Let them read it at their leisure. Maybe they will be educated.
SIGNAL, (500, 000), Telegram Channel:
According to the monitoring survey results by the Central Committee of the Russian Federation, a significant part of those surveyed believe that Russia did the right thing by accepting Crimea as part of its membership, seeing in this action the restoration of historical justice. Many rely on the argument that Crimea is historically Russian land and also note its strategic importance for the country’s national security.
Crimea is the historical land of the Crimean Tatars. The history of the Russian Federation in Crimea is a history of occupation from century to century. At the current stage of this occupation, the Russian Federation is artificially and forcibly changing the demographic landscape of Crimea to intensify the integration of the occupied peninsula and for the sake of further manipulations of “historic lands”. While the indigenous population of the peninsula is being pushed out of it through persecution and is not allowed to return, Russians are being resettled from the territory of the Russian Federation to Crimea.
An August 2019 report by UN Secretary-General Antonio Guterres notes that the Russian Federation is violating the Geneva Conventions by deliberately moving people from the Russian Federation to the Ukrainian Crimea in an attempt to change the demography of the peninsula.
According to Oleg Nikolenko, vice-chairman of the UN Committee on Information from the Eastern European Regional Group, the Russian authorities are also putting pressure on those resisting the occupation to force them to leave the peninsula. At the same time, in 2014-2018, 140,000 Russian citizens were relocated to Ukrainian Crimea, including military personnel and their families, which is more than 5% of the increase in the population of the peninsula.
