By Jon Rogers
THE 2022 Russian invasion of Ukraine has led to comparisons with Russia’s annexation of the Crimean peninsula back in February-March 2014.
The annexation was accompanied by a Russian military intervention, which took place in response to the 2014 Ukrainian revolution.
Why did Russia annex Crimea?
In February 2014 Russia invaded and then annexed Crimea.
Russian President Vladimir Putin said troops were in Crimea in order to ensure proper conditions for the people of Ukraine to freely express their will, but the annexation was met with international outcry over the violation of Ukraine’s sovereignty.
The 2014 conflict escalated after Ukraine’s pro-Russian president Viktor Yanukovych was driven from power by violent protests.
Moscow-backed separatist forces seized control of the Crimea, which has a Russian-speaking majority, and the region voted to join Russia in a referendum which was deemed illegal by Ukraine and the West.
The Crimean peninsula has been hotly-contested for centuries, but it remained part of Russia until 1954 when Soviet leader Nikita Khrushchev transferred it back to Ukraine.
Tensions continued after the annexation in 2014 when local Russian communities tried to assert sovereignty and increase ties with Russia.
What happened on the Kerch Strait?
On November 25, 2018 Russia captured three Ukrainian naval vessels which were sailing off the coast of Crimea near the Kerch Strait.
Russia opened fire, before special forces stormed the vessels.
Ukraine said it was a Russian “act of aggression” but Moscow said the ships had illegally entered its waters in the hotly-contested Kerch Strait, which connects the Black Sea and Sea of Azov.
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On November 27 2018, a Crimea court ordered five of the 24 Ukrainians captured two days earlier to be detained for two months on accusations they had crossed into Russian territory illegally.
Russia’s FSB security service released videos of three of the men.
One, Volodymyr Lisovyi, said he was commander of a military unit and was part of a naval task force.
He said: “I deliberately ignored requests via ultra-short-wave band.” He added that there were “small arms on board as well as machine-guns”.
The head of the Ukrainian navy, Ihor Voronchenko said the three men had been forced to give false statements.
Russian President Vladimir Putin said that Ukraine was to blame for the confrontation.
What happened in Donetsk?
Ahead of Russia’s invasion of Ukraine on Thursday, February 24, 2022, Russian President Vladimir Putin recognised the independence of Ukrainian separatist regions Donetsk and Luhansk, otherwise known as the Donbas region.
The Donbas has been controlled by Moscow-backed separatists since 2014.
Since Donetsk denounced Kyiv’s control and became independent eight years ago, over 14,000 people have died in conflict between pro-Russian separatists and Ukrainian forces.
Donetsk is a major steel production region, with a population of two million people.
The region has been locked in conflicts since 2014, with independence not widely recognised by the international community.
Source: Why did Russia annex Crimea?
Category: News, World News, Explainers, Ukraine war
