Perspectief 2019-44

2019-44 Thema - Oekraïne – katalysator van kerkelijke en politieke spanningen Prof. dr. Cyril Hovorun 101 5. Annexation of Crimea The Russian character of Crimea, however, was more myth than reality. Crimea had a large Tatar population, which was deported by Stalin during the World War 2. After that, the void was filled with Russians, many of them retired Soviet military. There was also signifi- cant Ukrainian population, mostly in the inland of the peninsula. In 1954, the Soviet Parliament made Crimea a part of the Ukrainian Soviet Socialist Republic. In the post- Soviet time, Russia confirmed its recognition of Crimea as belonging to Ukraine in a num- ber of documents, such as: 1) The Budapest Memorandum (December 5, 1994) 2 ; 2) The Treaty on Friendship, Cooperation and Partnership Between the Russian Federation and Ukraine (May 31, 1997) 3 ; 3) The Treaty Between the Russian Federation and Ukraine on the Russian-Ukrainian State Border (January 28, 2003). The annexation of Crimea by Russia took place in March 2014, a few days after President Yanukovych was ousted. The demoralized Ukrainian army did not resist the Russian mili- tary who established control over all governmental premises and functions in the peninsula. The Russian military troops did not have insignia and came from the Russian military bases in Crimea and from Russia. With the support of the Russian troops, local collaborators organized voting in favor of separation of Crimea from Ukraine. On March 16, 2014, they organized a referendum, which voted for the inclusion of Crimea to the Russian Federation. However, the referendum was illegal from the perspective of both Ukrainian and international law. Almost simultaneously with the process of the annexation of Crimea, Russia instigated similar separatist processes in other regions of Ukraine, mostly in the east and south of the country. It tried to establish its control in the regions of Odessa, Kharkiv, etc. This way of military-backed separatism was called “Russian spring.” It succeeded in only one region known as Donbas. This region consists of two administrative units, oblast’ , with centers in Donetsk and Luhansk. The Donbas is densely industrialized, with production of steel and coal constituting the core of its industry. Culturally, it is largely Russian speaking, because during the Soviet period many Russians were brought here to sustain industrialization. The region is also