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Russo-Ukrainian War

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Russian invasion of Crimea
Part of 2014 Crimean crisis
Date27 February 2014 – present
Location
Crimea and Sevastopol, Ukraine
Status Ongoing
Belligerents
 Russia  Ukraine
Commanders and leaders
Vladimir Putin Oleksandr Turchynov

The Russian invasion of Crimea began at the end of February 2014, when Russian forces seized control of civil buildings, airports, and military bases on the Ukrainian peninsula of Crimea. The Ukrainian response has been muted, with no military action on the part of Ukraine's government, which was installed in Kiev less than a week before the invasion.

Prelude

Main article: 2014 Crimean crisis
See also: Euromaidan and 2014 Ukrainian revolution

A civil uprising in Ukraine culminated in ousting President Viktor Yanukovich who fled from Kyiv Kiev, the Ukrainian capital, on 22 February 2014 as protesters overthrew his regime and the opposition took control of the capital city and national government. [1] Shortly thereafter, the Ukrainian Parliament Verkhovna Rada voted to restore the 2004 version of the Constitution of Ukraine and impeach the former president, Yanukovich. While on the run, Yanukovich declared his unwillingness to resign and some politicians from Ukraine's east and south regions, including Crimea, declared continuing loyalty to Yanukovych.[2]

On 27 February 2014, a pro-Russian politician, Sergey Aksyonov, was hastily voted in as Crimea's prime minister when armed men in Russian military uniforms seized government buildings in Simferopol, the capital city of the Autonomous Republic of Crimea and ousted the prime minister appointed by the President of Ukraine. Aksyonov declared himself in charge of local military and law enforcement. On 1 March, the acting president of Ukraine, Oleksandr Turchynov decreed the Crimean legislature's appointment of Sergei Aksyonov as unconstitutional. The Crimean legislature has declared its intention to hold a referendum on greater autonomy from Kyiv on 25 May 2014.[3]

Councilors in the Crimean city of Sevastopol, home to the Russian and Ukrainian Black Sea naval fleets, selected a Russian citizen as mayor, as pro-Russian demonstrators chanted "a Russian mayor for a Russian city". Furthermore, Sevastopol's police chief said he would refuse orders from Kyiv.[4] In Sevastopol, Kerch, and other Crimean cities, pro-Russian demonstrators pulled down the flag of Ukraine and replaced it with the flag of Russia.[5][6]

The Russian invasion into Crimea started immediately after the press conference of former President Viktor Yanukovych, held on 28 February 2014 in Rostov-on-Don, near the eastern border of Ukraine, where he called for Putin to "restore order" in Ukraine. Sergey Aksyonov also appealed to Russian President Vladimir Putin to provide assistance in ensuring the peace in the Autonomous Republic of Crimea. Putin swiftly responded and both houses of the Russian legislature (State Duma) voted on 1 March 2014 to send Russian troops into Crimea. [7][8].

Russian invasion

On 26 February 2014, Russian-speaking gunmen in Russian military uniform, said to be Russian soldiers, established a checkpoint between the major Crimean cities of Sevastopol and Simferopol.[9][10] On 27 February, gunmen in military uniform seized the Crimean parliamentary building and the Council of Ministers building and replaced the Ukrainian flag with the Russian flag.[11]

On 28 February, gunmen accused by the Ukrainian government of being Russian soldiers occupied Simferopol International Airport and Sevastopol International Airport, while Western and independent media reported Russian troop movements in Crimea, including Russian military helicopters moving into the peninsula and Russian Army trucks approaching Simferopol, the Crimean capital.[12][13] Ukrainian officials said Russian forces took over a military airbase in Sevastopol, landed troops at another airbase,[14] and surrounded a coast guard base.[15]

By 1 March, Russian troops reportedly seized control over most of Crimea. [16] The same day, the Russian legislature approved the invasion of Crimea, while Russian officials continued to claim that their military forces in Crimea were not a breach of existing agreements between Russia and Ukraine.[17] Russian President Vladimir Putin reportedly told his U.S. counterpart, Barack Obama, that Russia was acting to "protect" ethnic Russians and Russian-speakers in Crimea and eastern Ukraine.[18]

Ukrainian military bases in Crimea were "surrounded and sealed off" by Russian military forces as they seized control of the peninsula. [19]

Reactions

Crimean response

Crimean Prime Minister Aksyonov asserted control over all security forces in Crimea and appealed to Putin for assistance in maintaining "peace and tranquility". He said officers who disagreed with his decision should resign.[20]

Ukrainian response

Interim Ukrainian President Oleksandr Turchynov accused Russia of "provoking a conflict" by invading Crimea. He compared Russia's military actions to the 2008 Russia–Georgia war, when Russian troops occupied parts of the Republic of Georgia, and the breakaway enclaves of Abkhazia and South Ossetia were established under the control of Russian-backed administrations. He called on Putin to withdraw Russian troops from Crimea and stated that Ukraine will "preserve its territory" and "defend its independence".[21] On 1 March, he warned, "Military intervention would be the beginning of war and the end of any relations between Ukraine and Russia."[22]

On the first day of war, Acting President Oleksandr Turchynov placed the Armed Forces of Ukraine on full alert and combat readiness. [23]

As Russia claimed that its invasion of Crimea was aimed at protecting Russians abroad, many rightfully compare the current crisis in Crimea with the Sudeten Crisis of 1938 in Czechoslovakia, which triggered the start of World War II.

International reactions

International organizations

  •  United Nations - The UN Security Council held a special meeting on Russia's aggression against Ukraine [27]. Ukraine urged the Security Council to do "everything possible" to stop Russian aggression against the country after the upper house of parliament in Moscow endorsed military action.

References

  1. ^ "Ukraine Protestors Seize Kiev As President Flees". TIME. 22 February 2014. Retrieved 1 March 2014.
  2. ^ "Ukraine President Yanukovich impeached". Al Jazeera English. 22 February 2014. Retrieved 1 March 2014.
  3. ^ "Crimean Tatars Deported by Stalin Oppose Putin in Ukraine". Bloomberg. 27 February 2014. Retrieved 1 March 2014.
  4. ^ "Ukraine: Sevastopol installs pro-Russian mayor as separatism fears grow". The Guardian. 25 February 2014. Retrieved 1 March 2014.
  5. ^ "Demonstrators raise Russian flag in Kerch". Focus News. 23 February 2014. Retrieved 1 March 2014.
  6. ^ "No Ukrainian flags left on Sevastopol administrative buildings". Kyiv Post. 27 February 2014. Retrieved 1 March 2014.
  7. ^ {{ Putin declared war against Ukraine (in Ukrainian)
  8. ^ "Russian Troops Take Over Ukraine's Crimea Region". abcnews.go.com. Retrieved 1 March 2014.
  9. ^ http://www.theglobeandmail.com/news/world/tension-in-crimea-as-pro-russia-and-pro-ukraine-groups-stage-competing-rallies/article17110382/
  10. ^ http://edition.cnn.com/2014/02/26/world/europe/ukraine-politics
  11. ^ "Armed men seize Crimea parliament". The Guardian. 27 February 2014. Retrieved 1 March 2014.
  12. ^ "Ukraine crisis: 'Russians' occupy Crimea airports". BBC News. 28 February 2014. Retrieved 1 March 2014.
  13. ^ http://edition.cnn.com/video/data/2.0/video/world/2014/03/01/nr-magnay-russian-soldiers-present.cnn.html
  14. ^ "Pro-Russia separatists flex muscles in Ukraine's Crimean Peninsula". The Washington Post. 28 February 2014. Retrieved 1 March 2014.
  15. ^ "Ukraine's State Border Guard says coast guard base surrounded by about 30 Russian marines". St. Louis Post-Dispatch. 28 February 2014. Retrieved 1 March 2014.
  16. ^ "Russian troops seize Crimea". POLITICO. 1 March 2014. Retrieved 1 March 2014.
  17. ^ "Russian Parliament approves use of army in Ukraine". The Hindu. 1 March 2014. Retrieved 1 March 2014.
  18. ^ "Russian troops take over Ukraine's Crimea region as Putin gets approval to use military". The Globe and Mail. 1 March 2014. Retrieved 1 March 2014.
  19. ^ "Moscow Seals Off Ukrainian Bases in Crimea". The Wall Street Journal. 1 March 2014. Retrieved 1 March 2014.
  20. ^ "Crimea PM Takes Control Of Army, Police And Seeks Russian Help". NBC News. 1 March 2014. Retrieved 1 March 2014.
  21. ^ "Turchynov: Russia starts aggression in Crimea". Kyiv Post. 28 February 2014. Retrieved 1 March 2014.
  22. ^ "Ukraine live: Prime Minister of Ukraine says Russian military intervention would lead to war". The Telegraph. 1 March 2014. Retrieved 1 March 2014.
  23. ^ {{cite news/url=http://online.wsj.com/news/articles/SB10001424052702303801304579413443251173188?mg=reno64-wsj&url=http%3A%2F%2Fonline.wsj.com%2Farticle%2FSB10001424052702303801304579413443251173188.html}}
  24. ^ Россия отозвала своего посла из-за непонятной ситуации в Украине - Медведев
  25. ^ [1]
  26. ^ "Ukraine: Tony Abbott tells Russia to 'back off'". Sydney Morning Herald. 2 March 2014. Retrieved 2 March 2014.
  27. ^ UN Security Council meets on Ukraine
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