Since 2014, Vladimir Putin's image as a successful military leader and conqueror has depended heavily on annexing Crimea to become an internationally recognized part of Russia.
This was stated by historian and Eastern Europe expert Klaus Gestva from the University of Tübingen, Tagesspiegel reported. Putin started his war against Ukraine in Crimea - and does not want to end it until the world approves the annexation.
Today, the Crimean peninsula is still part of Ukraine, but most Ukrainians no longer have access to it. It has been more than eleven years since Putin occupied and annexed the peninsula. The front now stretches between Odessa and Yalta. A military takeover by the Ukrainian army seems a distant prospect. But that is not enough for Putin. He wants Crimea to be internationally recognized as Russian territory. Not only factually, but also legally.
Such recognition would symbolize the successful completion of the imperial land grab, explains Klaus Gestva. However, any other scenario would seriously damage Putin's image, writes focus.de.
From Moscow's point of view, there is hardly any other place than Crimea that is so suitable for weaving propaganda myths to show why Ukraine supposedly does not exist as a sovereign state. Crimea is a classic example of Putin’s occupation of international law through imperial and revisionist policies.
One of those phrases one often hears in Russia that is based on historical distortion is: “Crimea has always been Russian.” In fact, the earliest inhabitants of the peninsula were mostly representatives of another ethnic group.
Until 1783, Crimea was primarily home to the Crimean Tatars for more than four centuries, who had developed an advanced Islamic culture there with the Khanate and later came under the protectorate of the Ottoman Empire.
Russia annexed Crimea in the late 18th century under Empress Catherine II. “The conquest at that time completed Russia’s rise to a powerful empire that began with Peter the Great,” the historian says. That symbolism continues to have an impact today: “With the annexation of Crimea, Putin emphasized his claim to go down in history as the heir to Catherine and Peter.”
In the 20th century, Crimea became a popular holiday destination for Soviet citizens. The fact that local Tatars were deported and killed in large numbers under Soviet dictator Joseph Stalin is hardly mentioned in Moscow.
It is also a myth that Putin’s annexation of Crimea was peaceful. Ukrainian soldiers did indeed surrender without a fight when Putin’s “little green men” – Russian soldiers without insignia – occupied the peninsula since late February 2014. But since then, Moscow-appointed governors have maintained their power through violence and intimidation. “The Russian occupation forces have used brutal repression to nip all forms of political resistance in the bud,“ says Gestva. There are documented cases of Russian soldiers terrorizing the civilian population and killing people indiscriminately.
Gestva's conclusion is clear: “Anyone who claims that “peaceful order” has been established in Crimea since 2014 demonstrates with such false claims that they have no idea about the political situation there and are clearly willing to buy into Moscow's narratives.“