{"id":27199,"date":"2019-03-18T15:58:34","date_gmt":"2019-03-18T15:58:34","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/one.sightlinemg.com\/armytimes\/uncategorized\/2019\/03\/18\/this-is-why-putin-made-a-provocative-visit-to-crimea\/"},"modified":"2026-08-08T19:16:03","modified_gmt":"2026-08-08T19:16:03","slug":"this-is-why-putin-made-a-provocative-visit-to-crimea","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/one.sightlinemg.com\/armytimes\/flashpoints\/2019\/03\/18\/this-is-why-putin-made-a-provocative-visit-to-crimea\/","title":{"rendered":"This is why Putin made a provocative visit to Crimea"},"content":{"rendered":"\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">MOSCOW \u2014 <a href=\"https:\/\/www.britannica.com\/biography\/Vladimir-Putin\" target=_blank>Russian President Vladimir Putin <\/a>on Monday marked the fifth anniversary of Russia\u2019s annexation of Crimea from Ukraine by visiting the Black Sea peninsula.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">Putin began his trip by attending the launch of new power plants in Crimea, part of Moscow&#8217;s efforts to upgrade the region&#8217;s infrastructure.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">Ukraine has cut off energy supplies to the peninsula and blocked shipments of Crimea-bound cargo via its territory after Moscow annexed the region in 2014.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">&#8220;The situation has changed radically,&#8221; Putin said, adding that the new power facilities will fully cover Crimea&#8217;s needs.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">Russia\u2019s modernization effort has included the construction of a 19-kilometer (11.8-mile) bridge which opened last year across the <a href=\"https:\/\/www.navytimes.com\/news\/your-military\/2018\/12\/19\/ukraine-plans-another-naval-foray-into-sea-of-azov\/\" target=_blank>Kerch Strait<\/a> that links the Black Sea and the Sea of Azov.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">The $3.6-billion project gave Crimea a land link to Russia. Previously, ties between the two depended on a ferry crossing that was often interrupted by gales.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">Russia&#8217;s annexation of Crimea drew U.S. and EU sanctions against Russia. On Monday, NATO and the European Union reaffirmed their strong condemnation of the land grab.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">NATO allies said in a statement that \u201cwe strongly condemn this act, which we do not and will not recognize.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">They also criticized Russia\u2019s military buildup in Crimea and alleged rights abuses including \u201carbitrary detentions, arrest, and torture\u201d against members of the <a href=\"https:\/\/www.washingtonpost.com\/\" target=_blank>Crimean Tartar <\/a>community.<\/p>\n\n\n\t<aside class=\"smg-interstitial-link wp-block-smg-interstitial-link\">\n\t\t<a href=\"https:\/\/one.sightlinemg.com\/navytimes\/news\/your-navy\/2019\/03\/13\/waging-war-against-the-troll-farms\/\" class=\"smg-interstitial-link__inner\">\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\t<div class=\"smg-interstitial-link__media\">\n\t\t\t\t\t<img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" width=\"300\" height=\"163\" src=\"https:\/\/one.sightlinemg.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/08\/Cyber-watch.jpg.jpg?w=300\" class=\"smg-interstitial-link__image wp-post-image\" alt=\"\" \/>\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t\t\t<div class=\"smg-interstitial-link__content\">\n\t\t\t\t<span class=\"smg-interstitial-link__kicker\">Related<\/span>\n\t\t\t\t<h3 class=\"smg-interstitial-link__title\">Waging war against the troll farms<\/h3>\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t<p class=\"smg-interstitial-link__excerpt\">The U.S. military has the capability, the willingness and, perhaps for the first time, the official permission to preemptively engage in active cyberwarfare against foreign targets.<\/p>\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t<\/a>\n\t<\/aside>\n\t\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">EU foreign policy chief Federica Mogherini said \u201cwe stand in full solidarity with Ukraine, supporting its sovereignty and territorial integrity.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">NATO and the EU also called for the release of Ukrainian seamen who were seized by Russia in November&#8217;s standoff in the Black Sea.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">Putin claims that Russia &#8220;re-integrated&#8221; Crimea after the ouster of Ukraine&#8217;s former pro-Russian president in 2014 to protect ethnic Russians who made up the majority of Crimea&#8217;s population from Ukrainian nationalists. The Kremlin was also worried that a new Ukrainian government could annul Russia&#8217;s lease on its key Black Sea navy base in Crimea and welcome NATO there instead.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">Crimea was first seized by Russian forces in the 18th century under Catherine the Great.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">The 27,000-square kilometer (10,425-square mile) territory, roughly the size of Massachusetts, became part of Ukraine in 1954 when Soviet leader Nikita Khrushchev transferred jurisdiction from Russia, a move that was a mere formality until the 1991 collapse of the Soviet Union meant that Crimea landed in an independent Ukraine.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">The Kremlin has argued that Khrushchev&#8217;s move violated then-Soviet law, making the transfer illegitimate.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<figure class=\"wp-block-image size-large\"><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" width=\"5760\" height=\"3840\" src=\"\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/08\/AP18330508452802.jpg.jpg\" alt=\"\" class=\"wp-image-55551\" srcset=\"https:\/\/one.sightlinemg.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/08\/AP18330508452802.jpg.jpg 5760w, https:\/\/one.sightlinemg.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/08\/AP18330508452802.jpg.jpg?resize=300,200 300w, https:\/\/one.sightlinemg.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/08\/AP18330508452802.jpg.jpg?resize=768,512 768w, https:\/\/one.sightlinemg.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/08\/AP18330508452802.jpg.jpg?resize=1024,683 1024w, https:\/\/one.sightlinemg.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/08\/AP18330508452802.jpg.jpg?resize=1536,1024 1536w, https:\/\/one.sightlinemg.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/08\/AP18330508452802.jpg.jpg?resize=2048,1365 2048w\" sizes=\"auto, (max-width: 5760px) 100vw, 5760px\" \/><figcaption class=\"wp-element-caption\">FILE &#8211; In this April 21, 2014 file photo masked pro-Russian gunmen guard an entrance of the Ukrainian regional office of the Security Service with a Russian National flag is in background in Luhansk, Ukraine. Russian border guards opened fire on three Ukrainian vessels late Sunday, Nov. 25, 2018 in the Kerch Strait near the Russia-occupied Crimean peninsula, raising the prospect of a full-scale military confrontation between the two neighbors. The incident comes on the back of a four-and-a-half year long proxy conflict in eastern Ukraine. (AP Photo\/Alexander Zemlianichenko, File)<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">Russian troops swept Crimea just days after the February 2014 ouster of Ukraine\u2019s Russia-friendly president, catching the West by surprise.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">The Russian forces blocked Ukrainian soldiers at their garrisons, setting the stage for a hastily-called referendum in Crimea that the West denounced as illegitimate.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">Putin said he put Russia&#8217;s nuclear forces on combat readiness during the 2014 developments in Crimea and warned his Western counterparts that Moscow was ready to defend what it considered its land.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">The annexation gave Russia hundreds of miles of coastline along the Black Sea, a near-stranglehold on commerce in the Sea of Azov and access to vast amounts of potential energy riches on the Black Sea shelf.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">The U.S. and the EU responded to the annexation of Crimea and Moscow&#8217;s support for a separatist insurgency in Ukraine&#8217;s east with waves of sanctions that have limited Russia&#8217;s access to global financial markets and to energy and defense technologies. The Kremlin fired back by cutting imports of most Western food.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">The annexation of Crimea, a lush peninsula which long has been a favorite vacation destination for Russians, helped bolster Putin&#8217;s popularity at home and strengthened Moscow&#8217;s positions in the Black Sea. However, public enthusiasm in Russia over the grab has worn off over years amid the country&#8217;s economic difficulties and a plunge in living standards.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">A poll conducted earlier this month by the Public Opinion Foundation, a Moscow-based survey firm, showed that most Russians continue to support the annexation, but also indicated an increasing public awareness of its costs.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">The nation-wide survey of 1,500 had 46 percent of respondents saying the seizure of Crimea had a negative impact on the country&#8217;s international standing, while 26 percent said it had a positive influence and the rest were undecided. It had a margin of error of no more than 3.6 percentage points.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\"><i>Lorne Cook contributed from Brussels.<\/i><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>On Monday, NATO and the European Union reaffirmed their strong condemnation of Russia&#8217;s land 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