crimea

=<div><div style="background-color: rgb(255, 255, 255);"></div><div><div style="background-color: rgb(255, 255, 255);">no lnx</div><div style="background-color: rgb(255, 255, 255);"><a href="https://www.nytimes.com/2019/10/30/books/review/blowout-rachel-maddow.html">https://www.nytimes.com/2019/10/30/books/review/blowout-rachel-maddow.html</a></div><div style="background-color: rgb(255, 255, 255);">
</div><div style="background-color: rgb(255, 255, 255);">Rachel Maddow Takes On the Oil Industry</div><div style="background-color: rgb(255, 255, 255);">
</div><div style="background-color: rgb(255, 255, 255);">
</div><div style="background-color: rgb(255, 255, 255);">By Fareed Zakaria</div><div style="background-color: rgb(255, 255, 255);">Oct. 30, 2019</div><div style="background-color: rgb(255, 255, 255);">
</div><div style="background-color: rgb(255, 255, 255);">BLOWOUT</div><div style="background-color: rgb(255, 255, 255);">Corrupted Democracy, Rogue State Russia, and the Richest, Most Destructive Industry on Earth</div><div style="background-color: rgb(255, 255, 255);">By Rachel Maddow</div><div style="background-color: rgb(255, 255, 255);">
</div><div style="background-color: rgb(255, 255, 255);">For those who have watched Rachel Maddow’s television show, the opening scene of her book will feel familiar in its eye for a compelling anecdote. She tells the 2003 story of a small new business in Manhattan’s Chelsea neighborhood that is about to be inaugurated by a head of state, in fact, “one of the most powerful men on the planet.” We’re intrigued. It turns out the business is a gas station. What’s going on? Four paragraphs later, we learn that the mystery man is Vladimir Putin, who is publicizing one of a string of American gas stations acquired by the Russian oil giant Lukoil. Having piqued your interest, Maddow now broadens her narrative and explains why this anecdote is an apt illustration of the book’s larger point — the centrality and influence of the oil and gas industry.</div><div style="background-color: rgb(255, 255, 255);">
</div><div style="background-color: rgb(255, 255, 255);">“Blowout” is a rollickingly well-written book, filled with fascinating, exciting and alarming stories about the impact of the oil and gas industry on the world today. While she is clearly animated by a concern about climate change, Maddow mostly describes the political consequences of an industry that has empowered some of the strangest people in the United States and the most unsavory ones abroad. It is “essentially a big casino,” she writes, “that can produce both power and triumphant great gobs of cash, often with little regard for merit.”</div><div style="background-color: rgb(255, 255, 255);">
</div><div>How much cash? Maddow tells the incredible, depressing story of Teodoro Nguema Obiang Mangue, the son of the long-serving dictator of Equatorial Guinea, a country that saw its oil revenues grow from $2.1 million in 1993 to a staggering $3.9 billion in 2007. Despite these billions pouring into state coffers, an NGO observed in 2009, “77 percent of the population lives in poverty, 35 percent die before the age of 40 and 57 percent lack access to safe water.”</div><div style="background-color: rgb(255, 255, 255);">
</div><div style="background-color: rgb(255, 255, 255);">But life at that time is good for Teodoro, who owns a $100 million house in Paris, a $30 million beach house in Malibu, a $7 million vacation home in South Africa, one of the world’s largest yachts and dozens of racecars. When his drivers take one of Teodoro’s many girlfriends shopping, they are given a shoe box filled with up to $80,000 in cash for a single outing. His bill for one spree at an auction house in 2010, Maddow notes, would have paid the entire annual wages of 3,300 of his countrymen, since three-quarters of them live on $2 a day. (Teodoro does now face international investigations and pressure on various fronts.)</div><div style="background-color: rgb(255, 255, 255);">
</div><div style="background-color: rgb(255, 255, 255);">While there are many colorful tales about villains, scoundrels and adventurers, the through-line of this book is the story of the rise of Vladimir Putin. The most important geopolitical consequence of the oil and gas boom of the last 20 years has been Russia’s development into a full-blown petrostate, Putin’s consolidation of power and his determination to use this capacity to protect himself and disrupt the West.</div><div style="background-color: rgb(255, 255, 255);">
</div><div>Maddow carefully takes us through the manner in which Putin asserted greater and greater control over Russia’s vast oil and gas resources. The key move was the takeover of what was then Russia’s largest oil company, Yukos, run by a brilliant entrepreneur, Mikhail Khodorkovsky. By 2003, Khodorkovsky had built Yukos into a $36 billion company, providing an estimated 5 percent of the total tax revenues of the Russian government, and was planning to acquire a competitor, Sibneft, which would make the conglomerate the world’s fourth largest oil producer.</div><div>
</div><div>This was not to be. By the end of 2003, Khodorkovsky had been jailed for tax evasion, fraud and embezzlement. The Russian government charged that Yukos owed $27.5 billion in taxes and penalties. In 2004, the company was sold in an auction that lasted six minutes. The winning bid — at the firesale price of $9.3 billion — was from an unknown company with an initial capitalization of $300. That company quickly sold Yukos to the state-owned oil giant, Rosneft, at cost. Putin now controlled some of Russia’s largest and most productive oil assets.</div><div style="background-color: rgb(255, 255, 255);">
</div><div style="background-color: rgb(255, 255, 255);">As oil prices rose, so did Putin’s ambitions, which reached a symbolic height with his decision to host the 2014 Winter Olympic Games in Sochi, a Russian resort town with little snow and lousy facilities. No matter, that seemed part of the plan, because what ensued was an orgy of construction and corruption. In a detailed, thorough analysis of the project, the Russian opposition leader Boris Nemtsov concluded that the Sochi Olympics had cost more than the previous 21 Winter Olympics combined, because Putin’s favored builders had lined their pockets with $25-$30 billion. A year later, Nemtsov was dead, assassinated just outside the Kremlin’s walls.</div><div style="background-color: rgb(255, 255, 255);">
</div><div>One of the book’s themes is the degree to which Western capitalists — bankers and oilmen — abetted Putin’s rise to power, cheered on his capture of resources and partnered with him no matter what he was doing to Russia’s democratic and capitalist experiment. Chief among them was Exxon’s C.E.O. Rex Tillerson (later the secretary of state), who was so cooperative that in 2013 Putin awarded him the Order of Friendship, one of the country’s highest honors bestowed on a foreigner. And Tillerson was a fast friend indeed. Maddow quotes from a 2016 conversation in which Tillerson explained that after Putin’s invasion of Ukraine and annexation of Crimea, he visited Russia and was surprised by his interactions with Putin and his aides. “The first question they asked me was … ‘Are you O.K.?’ And I said, ‘Well, yeah, I’m fine. Why do you ask?’ They said, ‘Well, we just wondered whether your government was coming after you because you’ve been doing business with us.’” Tillerson marveled that “they were more worried about me.” What amazing concern and consideration! For him, Putin’s aggression seemed far less noteworthy than his empathy.</div><div style="background-color: rgb(255, 255, 255);">
</div><div>Ukraine features prominently in Maddow’s account because it has become the central struggle between Putin and the West, and America in particular. She describes how Putin was outraged by American support for the ouster of the corrupt and pro-Russian Ukrainian leader, Viktor Yanukovych, which happened in the midst of his triumphant Sochi Olympics. Putin was already deeply hostile toward the Obama administration, and Hillary Clinton in particular, for having given verbal support to pro—democracy protests in Moscow. For Putin, Western efforts at regime change could only be countered by his own attacks on Western democracies.</div><div>...</div></div></div><div>
<div>TRUMP REPEATS PUTIN LINE THAT CRIMEA WANTS TO BE RUSSIAN</div><div>
<div>MANAFORT WAS UNEMPLOYED AND THUS OFFERED TO WORK FOR TRUMP CAMP FOR FREE (but owed millions to deripaska oligarch, so feed info; why wd that bwe worth millions unless putin could use it to get trump aND RID of sanctions, even early crimea ones could set off russian recession?!</div><div>
<div>impeach BS BO gave blankets while trump gave javelins (actually extortion)
<div>
</div><div>maidan revo 20124, YaNU dic fled to russia 2/22/14; replaced in election by poroshenko
<div>invaded 2014; RNC convention 2015, trump back channels to putin kremlin multiple, NRA, blackwater...
<div>
</div><div>The Ukrainian revolution of 2014 (also known as the Euromaidan Revolution or Revolution of Dignity; <a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ukrainian_language" title="Ukrainian language" style="text-decoration-line: none; background: none rgb(255, 255, 255);">Ukrainian</a>: Революція гідності, Revoliutsiia hidnosti) took place in <a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ukraine" title="Ukraine" style="text-decoration-line: none; background: none rgb(255, 255, 255);">Ukraine</a> in February 2014, when a series of violent events involving protesters, riot police, and unknown shooters in the capital, <a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Kiev" title="Kiev" style="text-decoration-line: none; background: none rgb(255, 255, 255);">Kiev</a>, culminated in the ousting of the elected <a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/President_of_Ukraine" title="President of Ukraine" style="text-decoration-line: none; background-image: none; background-position: initial; background-size: initial; background-repeat: initial; background-attachment: initial; background-origin: initial; background-clip: initial;">Ukrainian President</a>, <a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Viktor_Yanukovych" title="Viktor Yanukovych" style="text-decoration-line: none; background-image: none; background-position: initial; background-size: initial; background-repeat: initial; background-attachment: initial; background-origin: initial; background-clip: initial;">Viktor Yanukovych</a>, MANAFORT and the overthrow of the <a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ukrainian_Government" class="mw-redirect" title="Ukrainian Government" style="text-decoration-line: none; background: none rgb(255, 255, 255);">Ukrainian Government</a>.<a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/2014_Ukrainian_revolution#cite_note-34" style="text-decoration-line: none; background: none;">[34]</a></div><div><div times="Times" new="New" roman="Roman" font-size="font-size" large="large" style="background-color: rgb(255, 255, 255);">=</div><div times="Times" new="New" roman="Roman" font-size="font-size" large="large" style="background-color: rgb(255, 255, 255);"><div class="r" style="margin: 0px; line-height: 1.57;"><a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/2014_Ukrainian_revolution" ping="/url?sa=t&source=web&rct=j&url=https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/2014_Ukrainian_revolution&ved=2ahUKEwjpoe22hpDmAhVBgK0KHSDADhUQFjAAegQIAxAB" style="cursor: pointer; text-decoration-line: none;" /><h3 class="LC20lb" style="font-weight: normal; margin: 0px; padding: 0px; display: inline-block; line-height: 1.3;"><a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/2014_Ukrainian_revolution" ping="/url?sa=t&source=web&rct=j&url=https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/2014_Ukrainian_revolution&ved=2ahUKEwjpoe22hpDmAhVBgK0KHSDADhUQFjAAegQIAxAB" style="cursor: pointer; text-decoration-line: none;"></a><a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/2014_Ukrainian_revolution" ping="/url?sa=t&source=web&rct=j&url=https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/2014_Ukrainian_revolution&ved=2ahUKEwjpoe22hpDmAhVBgK0KHSDADhUQFjAAegQIAxAB" style="cursor: pointer; text-decoration-line: none;" /><a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/2014_Ukrainian_revolution" ping="/url?sa=t&source=web&rct=j&url=https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/2014_Ukrainian_revolution&ved=2ahUKEwjpoe22hpDmAhVBgK0KHSDADhUQFjAAegQIAxAB" style="cursor: pointer; text-decoration-line: none;" /><a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/2014_Ukrainian_revolution" ping="/url?sa=t&source=web&rct=j&url=https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/2014_Ukrainian_revolution&ved=2ahUKEwjpoe22hpDmAhVBgK0KHSDADhUQFjAAegQIAxAB" style="cursor: pointer; text-decoration-line: none;" /><a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/2014_Ukrainian_revolution" ping="/url?sa=t&source=web&rct=j&url=https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/2014_Ukrainian_revolution&ved=2ahUKEwjpoe22hpDmAhVBgK0KHSDADhUQFjAAegQIAxAB" style="cursor: pointer; text-decoration-line: none;" /><a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/2014_Ukrainian_revolution" ping="/url?sa=t&source=web&rct=j&url=https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/2014_Ukrainian_revolution&ved=2ahUKEwjpoe22hpDmAhVBgK0KHSDADhUQFjAAegQIAxAB" style="cursor: pointer; text-decoration-line: none;" /><a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/2014_Ukrainian_revolution" ping="/url?sa=t&source=web&rct=j&url=https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/2014_Ukrainian_revolution&ved=2ahUKEwjpoe22hpDmAhVBgK0KHSDADhUQFjAAegQIAxAB" style="cursor: pointer; text-decoration-line: none;" /><a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/2014_Ukrainian_revolution" ping="/url?sa=t&source=web&rct=j&url=https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/2014_Ukrainian_revolution&ved=2ahUKEwjpoe22hpDmAhVBgK0KHSDADhUQFjAAegQIAxAB" style="cursor: pointer; text-decoration-line: none;">2014 Ukrainian revolution - Wikipedia</a></h3>
<div class="TbwUpd" style="display: inline-block; line-height: 1.57; padding-bottom: 0px; padding-top: 1px;"><cite class="iUh30 bc" style="font-style: normal; padding-top: 1px; line-height: 1.5;">https://en.wikipedia.org › wiki › 2014_Ukrainian_revolution</cite></div><div class="action-menu ab_ctl" style="display: inline; position: relative; margin: 1px 3px 0px; user-select: none; vertical-align: middle;"><a class="GHDvEf ab_button" href="https://www.google.com/search?q=maidn+revolution&oq=maidn+revolution+&aqs=chrome..69i57.4158j0j4&sourceid=chrome&ie=UTF-8#" id="am-b0" aria-label="Result Options" aria-expanded="false" aria-haspopup="true" role="button" jsaction="m.tdd;keydown:m.hbke;keypress:m.mskpe" data-ved="2ahUKEwjpoe22hpDmAhVBgK0KHSDADhUQ7B0wAHoECAMQAw" style="border-radius: 0px; cursor: default; font-weight: bold; height: 12px; line-height: 27px; margin: 1px 0px 2px; min-width: 0px; padding: 0px; text-align: center; transition: none 0s ease 0s; user-select: none; background-image: none; border: 0px; box-shadow: 0px 0px 0px 0px; filter: none; width: 13px; text-decoration-line: none; display: inline-block;"><span class="mn-dwn-arw" style="border-color: rgb(0, 102, 33) transparent; border-style: solid; border-width: 5px 4px 0px; width: 0px; height: 0px; margin-left: 3px; top: 7.5px; margin-top: -4px; position: absolute; left: 0px;" /></a><div class="action-menu-panel ab_dropdown" role="menu" tabindex="-1" jsaction="keydown:m.hdke;mouseover:m.hdhne;mouseout:m.hdhue" data-ved="2ahUKEwjpoe22hpDmAhVBgK0KHSDADhUQqR8wAHoECAMQBA" style="background-image: initial; background-position: initial; background-size: initial; background-repeat: initial; background-attachment: initial; background-origin: initial; background-clip: initial; border: 1px solid rgba(0, 0, 0, 0.2); padding: 0px; position: absolute; right: auto; top: 12px; white-space: nowrap; z-index: 3; transition: opacity 0.218s ease 0s; box-shadow: rgba(0, 0, 0, 0.2) 0px 2px 4px; left: 0px; visibility: hidden;"><ol style="margin: 0px; padding: 0px; border: 0px;"><li class="action-menu-item ab_dropdownitem" role="menuitem" style="margin: 0px; padding: 0px; border: 0px; list-style: none; user-select: none; cursor: pointer;"><a class="fl" href="https://webcache.googleusercontent.com/search?q=cache:b8wlmoq-Ps4J:https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/2014_Ukrainian_revolution+&cd=1&hl=en&ct=clnk&gl=us" ping="/url?sa=t&source=web&rct=j&url=https://webcache.googleusercontent.com/search%3Fq%3Dcache:b8wlmoq-Ps4J:https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/2014_Ukrainian_revolution%2B%26cd%3D1%26hl%3Den%26ct%3Dclnk%26gl%3Dus&ved=2ahUKEwjpoe22hpDmAhVBgK0KHSDADhUQIDAAegQIAxAF" style="text-decoration-line: none; cursor: pointer; display: block; padding: 7px 18px; outline: 0px;" /></li><li class="action-menu-item ab_dropdownitem" role="menuitem" style="margin: 0px; padding: 0px; border: 0px; list-style: none; user-select: none; cursor: pointer;"><a class="fl" href="https://www.google.com/search?q=related:https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/2014_Ukrainian_revolution+maidan+revolution&tbo=1&sa=X&ved=2ahUKEwjpoe22hpDmAhVBgK0KHSDADhUQHzAAegQIAxAG" style="text-decoration-line: none; cursor: pointer; display: block; padding: 7px 18px; outline: 0px;" /></li></ol></div></div></div><div class="s" style="max-width: 48em; line-height: 1.57;"><a class="fl" href="https://www.google.com/search?q=related:https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/2014_Ukrainian_revolution+maidan+revolution&tbo=1&sa=X&ved=2ahUKEwjpoe22hpDmAhVBgK0KHSDADhUQHzAAegQIAxAG" style="text-decoration-line: none; cursor: pointer; display: block; padding: 7px 18px; outline: 0px;"></a><a class="fl" href="https://www.google.com/search?q=related:https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/2014_Ukrainian_revolution+maidan+revolution&tbo=1&sa=X&ved=2ahUKEwjpoe22hpDmAhVBgK0KHSDADhUQHzAAegQIAxAG" style="text-decoration-line: none; cursor: pointer; display: block; padding: 7px 18px; outline: 0px;">Jump to </a><a class="fl" href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/2014_Ukrainian_revolution#Advance_toward_Maidan" ping="/url?sa=t&source=web&rct=j&url=https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/2014_Ukrainian_revolution%23Advance_toward_Maidan&ved=2ahUKEwjpoe22hpDmAhVBgK0KHSDADhUQygQwAHoECAMQBw" style="text-decoration-line: none; cursor: pointer; line-height: 1.57;">Advance toward Maidan</a> - The Ukrainian revolution of 2014 (also known as the Euromaidan Revolution or Revolution of Dignity; Ukrainian: Революція гідності, Revoliutsiia hidnosti) took place in Ukraine in February 2014, when a series of violent events involving protesters, riot police, and unknown shooters in the capital, Kiev, culminated in ...<div class="osl" style="margin-top: 0px;">‎<a class="fl" href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_people_killed_during_the_2014_Ukrainian_revolution" ping="/url?sa=t&source=web&rct=j&url=https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_people_killed_during_the_2014_Ukrainian_revolution&ved=2ahUKEwjpoe22hpDmAhVBgK0KHSDADhUQ0gIoADAAegQIAxAJ" style="text-decoration-line: none; cursor: pointer; line-height: 1.57;">List of people killed during the ...</a> · ‎<a class="fl" href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Berkut(special_police_force)" ping="/url?sa=t&source=web&rct=j&url=https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Berkut(special_police_force)&ved=2ahUKEwjpoe22hpDmAhVBgK0KHSDADhUQ0gIoATAAegQIAxAK" style="text-decoration-line: none; cursor: pointer; line-height: 1.57;">Berkut (special police force)</a> · ‎<a class="fl" href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Arseniy_Yatsenyuk" ping="/url?sa=t&source=web&rct=j&url=https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Arseniy_Yatsenyuk&ved=2ahUKEwjpoe22hpDmAhVBgK0KHSDADhUQ0gIoAjAAegQIAxAL" style="text-decoration-line: none; cursor: pointer; line-height: 1.57;">Arseniy Yatsenyuk</a></div></div></div><div times="Times" new="New" roman="Roman" font-size="font-size" large="large" style="background-color: rgb(255, 255, 255);"></div><div times="Times" new="New" roman="Roman" font-size="font-size" large="large" style="background-color: rgb(255, 255, 255);"><a href="https://www.thedailybeast.com/trump-campaign-changed-ukraine-platform-lied-about-it" style="text-decoration-line: none; font-weight: bold; outline: none;">https://www.thedailybeast.com/trump-campaign-changed-ukraine-platform-lied-about-it</a></div><div times="Times" new="New" roman="Roman" font-size="font-size" large="large" style="background-color: rgb(255, 255, 255);">
</div><div times="Times" new="New" roman="Roman" font-size="font-size" large="large" style="">The <a class="TrackingLink LinkWrapper" href="https://www.thedailybeast.com/content/dailybeast/features/2016/donald-trump.html" style="text-decoration-line: none; font-weight: bold; outline: none; transition: color 0.15s ease 0s;">Trump campaign</a> went out of its way to dramatically alter the Republican Party’s official position on Ukraine—against the wishes of GOP hawks and despite senior Trump aide Paul Manafort’s insistence that they weren’t involved.The move, first reported by <a class="LinkWrapper LinkWrapper--external" href="https://www.washingtonpost.com/opinions/global-opinions/trump-campaign-guts-gops-anti-russia-stance-on-ukraine/2016/07/18/98adb3b0-4cf3-11e6-a7d8-13d06b37f256_story.html" style="text-decoration-line: none; font-weight: bold; outline: none; transition: color 0.15s ease 0s;">The Washington Post</a>, alienated Republicans who have made up the party’s foreign policy base for decades, and indicates that the Trump campaign has a particular interest in Ukraine, where Manafort had previously worked for a pro-Putin leader.Manafort said on NBC’s <a class="LinkWrapper LinkWrapper--external" href="https://www.nbcnews.com/meet-the-press/trump-chairman-denies-any-role-platform-change-ukraine-n620511" style="text-decoration-line: none; font-weight: bold; outline: none; background-color: transparent; transition: color 0.15s ease 0s;">Meet the Press</a> this past weekend that the change in language on Ukraine “absolutely did not come from the Trump campaign.”But this account is contradicted by four sources in the room, both for and against the language.Eric Brakey, a Maine delegate who identifies as a non-interventionist, said he supported the change, which was pushed in part by the Trump campaign.“Some staff from the Trump campaign came in and… came back with some language that softened the platform,” Brakey told The Daily Beast. “They didn’t intervene in the platform in most cases. But in that case they had some wisdom to say that maybe we don’t want to be calling… for very, very clear aggressive acts of war against Russia.”<div class="Snippet" style="background-color: rgb(255, 255, 255); left: calc(32px + (((100% - 176px) / 12) * 2)); margin: 40px auto; overflow: hidden; text-align: center; width: calc(112px + (((100% - 176px) / 12) * 8));">“They substantively changed it,” added Washington, D.C., delegate Rachel Hoff, who was present during the meeting. “It absolutely was my understanding that it was Trump staff.”According to two Republican delegates, the Trump campaign’s efforts were led in part by J.D. Gordon, a Trump campaign official and a former spokesman at the Pentagon.Meanwhile, records for the meeting seem to have disappeared. A co-chair for the national security platform subcommittee told The Daily Beast that the minutes for the meeting have been discarded. The Republican National Committee had no comment when asked whether this was standard procedure for all the subcommittees.During the meeting, pro-Cruz delegate Diana Denman proposed language that called for “providing lethal defensive weapons” to Ukraine.Her amendment was put on hold so that Republican staff could work with Denman on the language. What followed was a back and forth between Denman and the Trump campaign, according to Denman.“They were over sitting in chairs at the side of the room,” Denman said of two men who said they working for the Trump campaign, one of whom was Gordon. “When I read my amendment, they got up and walked over and talked to the co-chairmen and they read it. That’s when I was told that it was going to be tabled.”</div><div style="background-color: rgb(255, 255, 255);">
</div><div style="background-color: rgb(255, 255, 255);"></div><div style="background-color: rgb(255, 255, 255);">hard core?</div><div style="background-color: rgb(255, 255, 255);">
</div><div style="background-color: rgb(255, 255, 255);"><a href="https://themoscowproject.org/dispatch/ukrainian-weapons-and-the-rnc-platform/" style="text-decoration-line: none; font-weight: bold; outline: none;">https://themoscowproject.org/dispatch/ukrainian-weapons-and-the-rnc-platform/</a></div><div style="background-color: rgb(255, 255, 255);">
</div><div style="">Two interesting Ukrainian weaponry threads are in the news this week. First, of course, is the fact that Ukrainian investigators <a href="https://www.nytimes.com/2018/05/02/world/europe/ukraine-mueller-manafort-missiles.html" style="text-decoration-line: none; font-weight: bold; outline: none; box-sizing: inherit; border-style: solid; border-width: 0px; line-height: inherit; margin: 0px; padding: 0px; background-repeat: no-repeat; touch-action: manipulation; transition: all 0.45s ease 0s; background-image: linear-gradient(transparent 0px, rgb(255, 215, 94) 0px); background-size: 0px 100%;">are freezing their cooperation</a> with the Mueller investigation so as not to upset the administration amid anti-tank missile sales.Second, Mueller is still reportedly <a href="https://www.politico.com/story/2018/05/01/mueller-republican-convention-ukraine-563701" style="text-decoration-line: none; font-weight: bold; outline: none; box-sizing: inherit; border-style: solid; border-width: 0px; line-height: inherit; margin: 0px; padding: 0px; background-repeat: no-repeat; touch-action: manipulation; transition: all 0.45s ease 0s; background-image: linear-gradient(transparent 0px, rgb(255, 215, 94) 0px); background-size: 0px 100%;">investigating</a> a decision to remove language supporting lethal weapons for Ukraine from the GOP party platform, a surprising reversal of a key attack on President Obama’s Ukraine policy. While Republicans—House Intel Committee members in particular—have tried to downplay that event, consider it in the broader timeline of Trump-Russia collusion. This could be a down payment on a quid for Russian interference quo. In other words, the platform change is a clear and tangible deliverable from Trump to Russia.It was an odd change.<ul style="background-color: rgb(255, 255, 255); box-sizing: inherit; border-style: solid; border-width: 0px; line-height: 27px; margin: 0px 0px 30px 25px; padding: 0px 0px 0px 25px; background-repeat: no-repeat;"><li style="box-sizing: inherit; border-style: solid; border-width: 0px; line-height: inherit; margin: 0px 0px 10px; padding: 0px; background-repeat: no-repeat;">Initially, a draft of the RNC platform <a href="https://www.thedailybeast.com/trump-campaign-changed-ukraine-platform-lied-about-it" style="text-decoration-line: none; font-weight: bold; outline: none; box-sizing: inherit; border-style: solid; border-width: 0px; line-height: inherit; margin: 0px; padding: 0px; background-repeat: no-repeat; touch-action: manipulation; transition: all 0.45s ease 0s; background-image: linear-gradient(transparent 0px, rgb(255, 215, 94) 0px); background-size: 0px 100%;">called for</a> “providing lethal defensive weapons” to Ukraine to combat Russian incursions. This was a common demand <a href="https://www.usatoday.com/story/news/world/2014/09/18/ukraine-poroshenko-speaks-to-congress/15819211/" style="text-decoration-line: none; font-weight: bold; outline: none; box-sizing: inherit; border-style: solid; border-width: 0px; line-height: inherit; margin: 0px; padding: 0px; background-repeat: no-repeat; touch-action: manipulation; transition: all 0.45s ease 0s; background-image: linear-gradient(transparent 0px, rgb(255, 215, 94) 0px); background-size: 0px 100%;">made by GOP senators since 2014</a> and the <a href="https://www.nbcnews.com/storyline/ukraine-crisis/republicans-heighten-criticism-obamas-ukraine-response-n48386" style="text-decoration-line: none; font-weight: bold; outline: none; box-sizing: inherit; border-style: solid; border-width: 0px; line-height: inherit; margin: 0px; padding: 0px; background-repeat: no-repeat; touch-action: manipulation; transition: all 0.45s ease 0s; background-image: linear-gradient(transparent 0px, rgb(255, 215, 94) 0px); background-size: 0px 100%;">basis for frequent Republican attacks on Obama</a>.</li><li style="box-sizing: inherit; border-style: solid; border-width: 0px; line-height: inherit; margin: 0px 0px 10px; padding: 0px; background-repeat: no-repeat;">Days later, the language was softened: The <a href="https://www.thedailybeast.com/trump-campaign-changed-ukraine-platform-lied-about-it" style="text-decoration-line: none; font-weight: bold; outline: none; box-sizing: inherit; border-style: solid; border-width: 0px; line-height: inherit; margin: 0px; padding: 0px; background-repeat: no-repeat; touch-action: manipulation; transition: all 0.45s ease 0s; background-image: linear-gradient(transparent 0px, rgb(255, 215, 94) 0px); background-size: 0px 100%;">final version</a> called instead for “providing appropriate assistance” to Ukraine.</li><li style="box-sizing: inherit; border-style: solid; border-width: 0px; line-height: inherit; margin: 0px 0px 10px; padding: 0px; background-repeat: no-repeat;">After weeks of intrigue, the motive became clear: It happened because the Trump campaign <a href="https://www.thedailybeast.com/trump-campaign-changed-ukraine-platform-lied-about-it" style="text-decoration-line: none; font-weight: bold; outline: none; box-sizing: inherit; border-style: solid; border-width: 0px; line-height: inherit; margin: 0px; padding: 0px; background-repeat: no-repeat; touch-action: manipulation; transition: all 0.45s ease 0s; background-image: linear-gradient(transparent 0px, rgb(255, 215, 94) 0px); background-size: 0px 100%;">asked for it</a>.</li><li style="box-sizing: inherit; border-style: solid; border-width: 0px; line-height: inherit; margin: 0px 0px 10px; padding: 0px; background-repeat: no-repeat;">In fact, Trump adviser J.D. Gordon <a href="https://www.npr.org/2017/12/04/568310790/2016-rnc-delegate-trump-directed-change-to-party-platform-on-ukraine-support" style="text-decoration-line: none; font-weight: bold; outline: none; box-sizing: inherit; border-style: solid; border-width: 0px; line-height: inherit; margin: 0px; padding: 0px; background-repeat: no-repeat; touch-action: manipulation; transition: all 0.45s ease 0s; background-image: linear-gradient(transparent 0px, rgb(255, 215, 94) 0px); background-size: 0px 100%;">intervened to make the change</a> at the convention.</li></ul>But it didn’t happen in a vacuum. Other events in July of 2016 show a broader pattern: the Trump campaign repeatedly handing the Kremlin gifts.<ul style="box-sizing: inherit; border-style: solid; border-width: 0px; line-height: 27px; margin: 0px 0px 30px 25px; padding: 0px 0px 0px 25px; background-repeat: no-repeat;"><li style="background-color: rgb(255, 255, 255); box-sizing: inherit; border-style: solid; border-width: 0px; line-height: inherit; margin: 0px 0px 10px; padding: 0px; background-repeat: no-repeat;">Campaign adviser Carter Page, already <a href="http://docs.house.gov/meetings/ig/ig00/20180205/106838/hmtg-115-ig00-20180205-sd002.pdf" style="text-decoration-line: none; font-weight: bold; outline: none; box-sizing: inherit; border-style: solid; border-width: 0px; line-height: inherit; margin: 0px; padding: 0px; background-repeat: no-repeat; touch-action: manipulation; transition: all 0.45s ease 0s; background-image: linear-gradient(transparent 0px, rgb(255, 215, 94) 0px); background-size: 0px 100%;">on the FBI’s radar</a> as a potential Russian infiltrator, traveled to Moscow’s New Economic School to <a href="https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=1CYF29saA9w" style="text-decoration-line: none; font-weight: bold; outline: none; box-sizing: inherit; border-style: solid; border-width: 0px; line-height: inherit; margin: 0px; padding: 0px; background-repeat: no-repeat; touch-action: manipulation; transition: all 0.45s ease 0s; background-image: linear-gradient(transparent 0px, rgb(255, 215, 94) 0px); background-size: 0px 100%;">parrot pro-Kremlin talking points</a> and discuss the campaign with <a href="https://www.nytimes.com/2017/11/03/us/politics/trump-campaign-page-russian.html" style="text-decoration-line: none; font-weight: bold; outline: none; box-sizing: inherit; border-style: solid; border-width: 0px; line-height: inherit; margin: 0px; padding: 0px; background-repeat: no-repeat; touch-action: manipulation; transition: all 0.45s ease 0s; background-image: linear-gradient(transparent 0px, rgb(255, 215, 94) 0px); background-size: 0px 100%;">high-ranking Russian officials and oligarchs</a>.</li><li style="background-color: rgb(255, 255, 255); box-sizing: inherit; border-style: solid; border-width: 0px; line-height: inherit; margin: 0px 0px 10px; padding: 0px; background-repeat: no-repeat;">On July 20, Gordon, Page, and then-Senator Jeff Sessions <a href="https://www.usatoday.com/story/news/2017/03/02/exclusive-two-other-trump-advisers-also-spoke-russian-envoy-during-gop-convention/98648190/" style="text-decoration-line: none; outline: none; box-sizing: inherit; border-style: solid; border-width: 0px; line-height: inherit; margin: 0px; padding: 0px; background-repeat: no-repeat; touch-action: manipulation; transition: all 0.45s ease 0s; background-image: linear-gradient(transparent 0px, rgb(255, 215, 94) 0px); background-size: 0px 100%;">met with Russian Ambassador Sergey Kislyak</a> at the Republican National Convention in Cleveland.</li><li style="background-color: rgb(255, 255, 255); box-sizing: inherit; border-style: solid; border-width: 0px; line-height: inherit; margin: 0px 0px 10px; padding: 0px; background-repeat: no-repeat;">While ordinarily this might be written off as mundane diplomatic box-checking, in this case Kislyak made no such appearance at the Democratic National Convention to check in with the clear front-runner in the race.</li><li style="background-color: rgb(255, 255, 255); box-sizing: inherit; border-style: solid; border-width: 0px; line-height: inherit; margin: 0px 0px 10px; padding: 0px; background-repeat: no-repeat;">Two days later, WikiLeaks <a href="https://www.washingtonpost.com/news/post-politics/wp/2016/07/22/on-eve-of-democratic-convention-wikileaks-releases-thousands-of-documents-about-clinton-the-campaign-and-internal-deliberations/" style="text-decoration-line: none; font-weight: bold; outline: none; box-sizing: inherit; border-style: solid; border-width: 0px; line-height: inherit; margin: 0px; padding: 0px; background-repeat: no-repeat; touch-action: manipulation; transition: all 0.45s ease 0s; background-image: linear-gradient(transparent 0px, rgb(255, 215, 94) 0px); background-size: 0px 100%;">began releasing emails</a> from the DNC. By July 26, it was clear <a href="https://www.nytimes.com/2016/07/27/us/politics/spy-agency-consensus-grows-that-russia-hacked-dnc.html" style="text-decoration-line: none; font-weight: bold; outline: none; box-sizing: inherit; border-style: solid; border-width: 0px; line-height: inherit; margin: 0px; padding: 0px; background-repeat: no-repeat; touch-action: manipulation; transition: all 0.45s ease 0s; background-image: linear-gradient(transparent 0px, rgb(255, 215, 94) 0px); background-size: 0px 100%;">the Kremlin was behind the hack</a>. Trump not only refused to denounce this, but <a href="https://www.nytimes.com/2016/07/28/us/politics/donald-trump-russia-clinton-emails.html" style="text-decoration-line: none; font-weight: bold; outline: none; box-sizing: inherit; border-style: solid; border-width: 0px; line-height: inherit; margin: 0px; padding: 0px; background-repeat: no-repeat; touch-action: manipulation; transition: all 0.45s ease 0s; background-image: linear-gradient(transparent 0px, rgb(255, 215, 94) 0px); background-size: 0px 100%;">encouraged</a> Russia to hack into his opponent’s inbox.</li><li style="box-sizing: inherit; border-style: solid; border-width: 0px; line-height: inherit; margin: 0px 0px 10px; padding: 0px; background-repeat: no-repeat;">Trump ended the month by <a href="https://www.cnn.com/2016/07/31/politics/donald-trump-russia-ukraine-crimea-putin/index.html" style="background-color: rgb(255, 255, 102); text-decoration-line: none; outline: none; box-sizing: inherit; border-style: solid; border-width: 0px; line-height: inherit; margin: 0px; padding: 0px; background-repeat: no-repeat; touch-action: manipulation; transition: all 0.45s ease 0s; background-image: linear-gradient(transparent 0px, rgb(255, 215, 94) 0px); background-size: 0px 100%;">telling George Stephanopoulos</a> that Putin was “not going into Ukraine” and that “the people of Crimea, from what I’ve heard, would rather be with Russia than where they were.”</li></ul>For the Kremlin who, like everyone else, didn’t think Trump would become president, softening the platform of a historically hawkish party would be a huge foreign policy achievement.Considering the platform change in the broader context of small but tangible pro-Russia deliverables—moves that would barely register in a heated campaign, but would make waves abroad—shows a concerning larger pattern.</div><div style="background-color: rgb(255, 255, 255);"></div></div></div><div>
<div><div class="r" style="margin: 0px; line-height: 1.57; background-color: rgb(255, 255, 255);"><a href="https://qz.com/1758313/apple-maps-now-show-crimea-as-russian-territory-and-critics-round-on-tim-cook/" ping="/url?sa=t&source=web&rct=j&url=https://qz.com/1758313/apple-maps-now-show-crimea-as-russian-territory-and-critics-round-on-tim-cook/&ved=2ahUKEwjnv62l5I_mAhUCIKwKHeu7DowQFjANegQIBRAB" style="cursor: pointer;" /><h3 class="LC20lb" style="font-weight: normal; margin: 0px; padding: 0px; display: inline-block; line-height: 1.3;"><a href="https://qz.com/1758313/apple-maps-now-show-crimea-as-russian-territory-and-critics-round-on-tim-cook/" ping="/url?sa=t&source=web&rct=j&url=https://qz.com/1758313/apple-maps-now-show-crimea-as-russian-territory-and-critics-round-on-tim-cook/&ved=2ahUKEwjnv62l5I_mAhUCIKwKHeu7DowQFjANegQIBRAB" style="cursor: pointer;"></a><a href="https://qz.com/1758313/apple-maps-now-show-crimea-as-russian-territory-and-critics-round-on-tim-cook/" ping="/url?sa=t&source=web&rct=j&url=https://qz.com/1758313/apple-maps-now-show-crimea-as-russian-territory-and-critics-round-on-tim-cook/&ved=2ahUKEwjnv62l5I_mAhUCIKwKHeu7DowQFjANegQIBRAB" style="cursor: pointer;"></a><a href="https://qz.com/1758313/apple-maps-now-show-crimea-as-russian-territory-and-critics-round-on-tim-cook/" ping="/url?sa=t&source=web&rct=j&url=https://qz.com/1758313/apple-maps-now-show-crimea-as-russian-territory-and-critics-round-on-tim-cook/&ved=2ahUKEwjnv62l5I_mAhUCIKwKHeu7DowQFjANegQIBRAB" style="cursor: pointer;" /><a href="https://qz.com/1758313/apple-maps-now-show-crimea-as-russian-territory-and-critics-round-on-tim-cook/" ping="/url?sa=t&source=web&rct=j&url=https://qz.com/1758313/apple-maps-now-show-crimea-as-russian-territory-and-critics-round-on-tim-cook/&ved=2ahUKEwjnv62l5I_mAhUCIKwKHeu7DowQFjANegQIBRAB" style="cursor: pointer;">Apple Maps now show Crimea as Russian territory, and critics ...</a></h3>
<div class="TbwUpd" style="display: inline-block; line-height: 1.57; padding-bottom: 0px; padding-top: 1px;"><cite class="iUh30 bc" style="font-style: normal; padding-top: 1px; line-height: 1.5;">https://qz.com › apple-maps-now-show-crimea-as-russian-territory-and-crit...</cite></div><div class="action-menu ab_ctl" style="display: inline; position: relative; margin: 1px 3px 0px; user-select: none; vertical-align: middle;"><a class="GHDvEf ab_button" href="https://www.google.com/search?q=crimea+apple+map&oq=crimea+apple+map&aqs=chrome..69i57.11521j0j7&sourceid=chrome&ie=UTF-8#" id="am-b13" aria-label="Result Options" aria-expanded="false" aria-haspopup="true" role="button" jsaction="m.tdd;keydown:m.hbke;keypress:m.mskpe" data-ved="2ahUKEwjnv62l5I_mAhUCIKwKHeu7DowQ7B0wDXoECAUQAw" style="border-radius: 0px; cursor: default; font-weight: bold; height: 12px; line-height: 27px; margin: 1px 0px 2px; min-width: 0px; padding: 0px; text-align: center; transition: none 0s ease 0s; user-select: none; 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cursor: pointer; display: block; padding: 7px 18px; outline: 0px;"></a><a class="fl" href="https://webcache.googleusercontent.com/search?q=cache:VGHCyKMh78gJ:https://qz.com/1758313/apple-maps-now-show-crimea-as-russian-territory-and-critics-round-on-tim-cook/+&cd=14&hl=en&ct=clnk&gl=us" ping="/url?sa=t&source=web&rct=j&url=https://webcache.googleusercontent.com/search%3Fq%3Dcache:VGHCyKMh78gJ:https://qz.com/1758313/apple-maps-now-show-crimea-as-russian-territory-and-critics-round-on-tim-cook/%2B%26cd%3D14%26hl%3Den%26ct%3Dclnk%26gl%3Dus&ved=2ahUKEwjnv62l5I_mAhUCIKwKHeu7DowQIDANegQIBRAF" style="text-decoration-line: none; cursor: pointer; display: block; padding: 7px 18px; outline: 0px;">18 hours ago - Most of the world doesn't recognize Crimea as part of Russia. But Apple does. The region, which was annexed by Russia in 2014, is now ...</a></div><div class="s" style="max-width: 48em; line-height: 1.57; background-color: rgb(255, 255, 255);"><a class="fl" href="https://webcache.googleusercontent.com/search?q=cache:VGHCyKMh78gJ:https://qz.com/1758313/apple-maps-now-show-crimea-as-russian-territory-and-critics-round-on-tim-cook/+&cd=14&hl=en&ct=clnk&gl=us" ping="/url?sa=t&source=web&rct=j&url=https://webcache.googleusercontent.com/search%3Fq%3Dcache:VGHCyKMh78gJ:https://qz.com/1758313/apple-maps-now-show-crimea-as-russian-territory-and-critics-round-on-tim-cook/%2B%26cd%3D14%26hl%3Den%26ct%3Dclnk%26gl%3Dus&ved=2ahUKEwjnv62l5I_mAhUCIKwKHeu7DowQIDANegQIBRAF" style="text-decoration-line: none; cursor: pointer; display: block; padding: 7px 18px; outline: 0px;">
</a></div><div class="s" style="max-width: 48em; line-height: 1.57; background-color: rgb(255, 255, 255);"><a class="fl" href="https://webcache.googleusercontent.com/search?q=cache:VGHCyKMh78gJ:https://qz.com/1758313/apple-maps-now-show-crimea-as-russian-territory-and-critics-round-on-tim-cook/+&cd=14&hl=en&ct=clnk&gl=us" ping="/url?sa=t&source=web&rct=j&url=https://webcache.googleusercontent.com/search%3Fq%3Dcache:VGHCyKMh78gJ:https://qz.com/1758313/apple-maps-now-show-crimea-as-russian-territory-and-critics-round-on-tim-cook/%2B%26cd%3D14%26hl%3Den%26ct%3Dclnk%26gl%3Dus&ved=2ahUKEwjnv62l5I_mAhUCIKwKHeu7DowQIDANegQIBRAF" style="text-decoration-line: none; cursor: pointer; display: block; padding: 7px 18px; outline: 0px;">=</a></div><div class="s" style="max-width: 48em; line-height: 1.57; background-color: rgb(255, 255, 255);"><a class="fl" href="https://webcache.googleusercontent.com/search?q=cache:VGHCyKMh78gJ:https://qz.com/1758313/apple-maps-now-show-crimea-as-russian-territory-and-critics-round-on-tim-cook/+&cd=14&hl=en&ct=clnk&gl=us" ping="/url?sa=t&source=web&rct=j&url=https://webcache.googleusercontent.com/search%3Fq%3Dcache:VGHCyKMh78gJ:https://qz.com/1758313/apple-maps-now-show-crimea-as-russian-territory-and-critics-round-on-tim-cook/%2B%26cd%3D14%26hl%3Den%26ct%3Dclnk%26gl%3Dus&ved=2ahUKEwjnv62l5I_mAhUCIKwKHeu7DowQIDANegQIBRAF" style="text-decoration-line: none; cursor: pointer; display: block; padding: 7px 18px; outline: 0px;">ggl q what reeally happened --> wiki</a></div><div class="s" style="max-width: 48em; line-height: 1.57; background-color: rgb(255, 255, 255);"><a class="fl" href="https://webcache.googleusercontent.com/search?q=cache:VGHCyKMh78gJ:https://qz.com/1758313/apple-maps-now-show-crimea-as-russian-territory-and-critics-round-on-tim-cook/+&cd=14&hl=en&ct=clnk&gl=us" ping="/url?sa=t&source=web&rct=j&url=https://webcache.googleusercontent.com/search%3Fq%3Dcache:VGHCyKMh78gJ:https://qz.com/1758313/apple-maps-now-show-crimea-as-russian-territory-and-critics-round-on-tim-cook/%2B%26cd%3D14%26hl%3Den%26ct%3Dclnk%26gl%3Dus&ved=2ahUKEwjnv62l5I_mAhUCIKwKHeu7DowQIDANegQIBRAF" style="text-decoration-line: none; cursor: pointer; display: block; padding: 7px 18px; outline: 0px;"></a><a href="https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Annexation_of_Crimea_by_the_Russian_Federation">https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Annexation_of_Crimea_by_the_Russian_Federation</a> looks odd?</div><div class="s" style="max-width: 48em; line-height: 1.57; background-color: rgb(255, 255, 255);">
</div><div class="s" style="max-width: 48em; line-height: 1.57; background-color: rgb(255, 255, 255);"><a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Annexation_of_Crimea_by_the_Russian_Federation">https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Annexation_of_Crimea_by_the_Russian_Federation</a></div><div class="s" style="max-width: 48em; line-height: 1.57; background-color: rgb(255, 255, 255);">
</div><div class="s" style="max-width: 48em; line-height: 1.57;">The <a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Crimea" title="Crimea" style="text-decoration-line: none; background: none;">Crimean Peninsula</a> was <a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Annexation" title="Annexation" style="text-decoration-line: none; background: none;">annexed</a> by the <a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Russia" title="Russia" style="text-decoration-line: none; background: none;">Russian Federation</a> between February and March 2014, and since then has been administered as two <a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Federal_subjects_of_Russia" title="Federal subjects of Russia" style="background: none; text-decoration-line: none;">Russian federal subjects</a>—the <a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Republic_of_Crimea" title="Republic of Crimea" style="background: none; text-decoration-line: none;">Republic of Crimea</a> and the <a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Federal_cities_of_Russia" title="Federal cities of Russia" style="background: none; text-decoration-line: none;">federal city</a> of <a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Sevastopol" title="Sevastopol" style="background: none; text-decoration-line: none;">Sevastopol</a>.<a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Annexation_of_Crimea_by_the_Russian_Federation#cite_note-39" style="text-decoration-line: none; background: none;">[38]</a> The annexation from <a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ukraine" title="Ukraine" style="background-image: none; background-position: initial; background-size: initial; background-repeat: initial; background-attachment: initial; background-origin: initial; background-clip: initial; text-decoration-line: none;">Ukraine</a> followed <a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Russian_military_intervention_in_Ukraine(2014%E2%80%93present)" title="Russian military intervention in Ukraine (2014–present)" style="background-image: none; background-position: initial; background-size: initial; background-repeat: initial; background-attachment: initial; background-origin: initial; background-clip: initial; text-decoration-line: none;">a Russian military intervention in Crimea</a> that took place in the aftermath of the <a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/2014_Ukrainian_revolution" title="2014 Ukrainian revolution" style="background-image: none; background-position: initial; background-size: initial; background-repeat: initial; background-attachment: initial; background-origin: initial; background-clip: initial; text-decoration-line: none;">2014 Ukrainian revolution</a> and was part of wider <a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/2014_pro-Russian_unrest_in_Ukraine" title="2014 pro-Russian unrest in Ukraine" style="background-image: none; background-position: initial; background-size: initial; background-repeat: initial; background-attachment: initial; background-origin: initial; background-clip: initial; text-decoration-line: none;">unrest across southern and eastern Ukraine</a>.<a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Annexation_of_Crimea_by_the_Russian_Federation#cite_note-Putin17April-40" style="text-decoration-line: none; background: none;">[39]</a><a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Annexation_of_Crimea_by_the_Russian_Federation#cite_note-41" style="text-decoration-line: none; background: none;">[40]</a></div>On 22–23 February 2014, Russian president <a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Vladimir_Putin" title="Vladimir Putin" style="background-image: none; background-position: initial; background-size: initial; background-repeat: initial; background-attachment: initial; background-origin: initial; background-clip: initial; text-decoration-line: none;">Vladimir Putin</a> convened an all-night meeting with security service chiefs to discuss the extrication of the deposed Ukrainian president, <a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Viktor_Yanukovych" title="Viktor Yanukovych" style="background-image: none; background-position: initial; background-size: initial; background-repeat: initial; background-attachment: initial; background-origin: initial; background-clip: initial; text-decoration-line: none;">Viktor Yanukovych</a>. At the end of the meeting Putin remarked that "we must start working on returning Crimea to Russia".<a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Annexation_of_Crimea_by_the_Russian_Federation#cite_note-Yahoo_News-4" style="text-decoration-line: none; background: none;">[4]</a> On 23 February, pro-Russian demonstrations were held in the Crimean city of Sevastopol. On 27 February, <a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Little_green_men(Ukrainian_crisis)" title="Little green men (Ukrainian crisis)" style="background: none; text-decoration-line: none;">masked Russian troops without insignia</a><a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Annexation_of_Crimea_by_the_Russian_Federation#cite_note-FT15Mar15-8" style="text-decoration-line: none; background: none;">[7]</a> took over the <a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Verkhovna_Rada_of_Crimea" title="Verkhovna Rada of Crimea" style="background: none; text-decoration-line: none;">Supreme Council</a> (parliament) of Crimea,<a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Annexation_of_Crimea_by_the_Russian_Federation#cite_note-time1-42" style="text-decoration-line: none; background: none;">[41]</a><a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Annexation_of_Crimea_by_the_Russian_Federation#cite_note-reuters1-43" style="text-decoration-line: none; background: none;">[42]</a> and captured strategic sites across Crimea, which led to the installation of the pro-Russian <a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Sergey_Aksyonov" title="Sergey Aksyonov" style="background: none; text-decoration-line: none;">Aksyonov</a> government in Crimea, the conducting of the <a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/2014_Crimean_status_referendum" title="2014 Crimean status referendum" style="background: none; text-decoration-line: none;">Crimean status referendum</a> and the declaration of <a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Declaration_of_Independence_of_the_Republic_of_Crimea" title="Declaration of Independence of the Republic of Crimea" style="background: none; text-decoration-line: none;">Crimea's independence</a> on 16 March 2014.<a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Annexation_of_Crimea_by_the_Russian_Federation#cite_note-Washington_Post-44" style="text-decoration-line: none; background: none;">[43]</a><a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Annexation_of_Crimea_by_the_Russian_Federation#cite_note-zakon-45" style="text-decoration-line: none; background: none;">[44]</a> Russia formally incorporated Crimea as two federal subjects of the Russian Federation with effect from 18 March 2014.<a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Annexation_of_Crimea_by_the_Russian_Federation#cite_note-GovNo-46" style="text-decoration-line: none; background: none;">[45]</a>Ukraine and <a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/International_reactions_to_the_2014_Crimean_crisis" class="mw-redirect" title="International reactions to the 2014 Crimean crisis" style="background: none; text-decoration-line: none;">many world leaders</a> condemned the annexation and consider it to be a violation of international law and Russian-signed agreements safeguarding the <a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Territorial_integrity" title="Territorial integrity" style="background: none; text-decoration-line: none;">territorial integrity</a> of Ukraine, including the <a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Belavezha_Accords" class="mw-redirect" title="Belavezha Accords" style="background: none; text-decoration-line: none;">Belavezha Accords</a> establishing the <a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Commonwealth_of_Independent_States" title="Commonwealth of Independent States" style="background: none; text-decoration-line: none;">Commonwealth of Independent States</a> in 1991, the <a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Helsinki_Accords" title="Helsinki Accords" style="background: none; text-decoration-line: none;">Helsinki Accords</a>, the <a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Budapest_Memorandum_on_Security_Assurances" title="Budapest Memorandum on Security Assurances" style="background: none; text-decoration-line: none;">Budapest Memorandum on Security Assurances</a> of 1994 and the <a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Partition_Treaty_on_the_Status_and_Conditions_of_the_Black_Sea_Fleet" title="Partition Treaty on the Status and Conditions of the Black Sea Fleet" style="background: none; text-decoration-line: none;">Treaty on friendship, cooperation and partnership between the Russian Federation and Ukraine</a>.<a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Annexation_of_Crimea_by_the_Russian_Federation#cite_note-47" style="text-decoration-line: none; background: none;">[46]</a><a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Annexation_of_Crimea_by_the_Russian_Federation#cite_note-48" style="text-decoration-line: none; background: none;">[47]</a> It led to the other members of the then <a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Group_of_Eight" title="Group of Eight" style="background-image: none; background-position: initial; background-size: initial; background-repeat: initial; background-attachment: initial; background-origin: initial; background-clip: initial; text-decoration-line: none;">G8</a> suspending Russia from the group,<a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Annexation_of_Crimea_by_the_Russian_Federation#cite_note-49" style="text-decoration-line: none; background: none;">[48]</a> then introducing <a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/International_sanctions_during_the_2014_pro-Russian_unrest_in_Ukraine" class="mw-redirect" title="International sanctions during the 2014 pro-Russian unrest in Ukraine" style="background: none; text-decoration-line: none;">the first round of sanctions</a> against the country. The <a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/United_Nations_General_Assembly" title="United Nations General Assembly" style="background: none; text-decoration-line: none;">United Nations General Assembly</a> also rejected the vote and annexation, adopting a <a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Non-binding_resolution" title="Non-binding resolution" style="background: none; text-decoration-line: none;">non-binding</a> <a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/United_Nations_General_Assembly_Resolution_68/262" title="United Nations General Assembly Resolution 68/262" style="background: none; text-decoration-line: none;">resolution</a> affirming the "<a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Territorial_integrity" title="Territorial integrity" style="background: none; text-decoration-line: none;">territorial integrity</a> of Ukraine within its internationally recognised borders".<a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Annexation_of_Crimea_by_the_Russian_Federation#cite_note-CCTV_UNR_C=U-50" style="text-decoration-line: none; background: none;">[49]</a><a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Annexation_of_Crimea_by_the_Russian_Federation#cite_note-UN_A_RES_68_262-51" style="text-decoration-line: none; background: none;">[50]</a> The UN resolution also "underscores that the referendum having no validity, cannot form the basis for any alteration of the status of [Crimea]" and calls upon all States and international organizations not to recognize or to imply the recognition of Russia's annexation.<a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Annexation_of_Crimea_by_the_Russian_Federation#cite_note-UN_A_RES_68_262-51" style="text-decoration-line: none; background: none;">[50]</a> In 2016, UN General Assembly reaffirmed non-recognition of the annexation and condemned "the temporary occupation of part of the territory of Ukraine—the Autonomous Republic of Crimea and the city of Sevastopol".<a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Annexation_of_Crimea_by_the_Russian_Federation#cite_note-52" style="text-decoration-line: none; background: none;">[51]</a><a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Annexation_of_Crimea_by_the_Russian_Federation#cite_note-53" style="text-decoration-line: none; background: none;">[52]</a>The Russian Federation opposes the "annexation" label,<a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Annexation_of_Crimea_by_the_Russian_Federation#cite_note-54" style="text-decoration-line: none; background-image: none; background-position: initial; background-size: initial; background-repeat: initial; background-attachment: initial; background-origin: initial; background-clip: initial;">[53]</a> with Putin defending the referendum as complying with the principle of <a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Self-determination" title="Self-determination" style="background-image: none; background-position: initial; background-size: initial; background-repeat: initial; background-attachment: initial; background-origin: initial; background-clip: initial; text-decoration-line: none;">self-determination</a> of peoples.<a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Annexation_of_Crimea_by_the_Russian_Federation#cite_note-:0-55" style="text-decoration-line: none; background-image: none; background-position: initial; background-size: initial; background-repeat: initial; background-attachment: initial; background-origin: initial; background-clip: initial;">[54]</a><a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Annexation_of_Crimea_by_the_Russian_Federation#cite_note-56" style="text-decoration-line: none; background-image: none; background-position: initial; background-size: initial; background-repeat: initial; background-attachment: initial; background-origin: initial; background-clip: initial;">[55]</a> In July 2015, Russian prime minister <a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Dmitry_Medvedev" title="Dmitry Medvedev" style="background-image: none; background-position: initial; background-size: initial; background-repeat: initial; background-attachment: initial; background-origin: initial; background-clip: initial; text-decoration-line: none;">Dmitry Medvedev</a> said that Crimea had been fully integrated into Russia.<a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Annexation_of_Crimea_by_the_Russian_Federation#cite_note-57" style="text-decoration-line: none; background: none;">[56]</a>
<div class="toclimit-3" style="background-color: rgb(255, 255, 255);"><div id="toc" class="toc" style="border: 1px solid rgb(162, 169, 177); background-color: rgb(248, 249, 250); padding: 7px; display: table;"><input type="checkbox" role="button" id="toctogglecheckbox" class="toctogglecheckbox" style="direction: ltr; position: absolute; opacity: 0; z-index: -1; display: none;" /><div class="toctitle" lang="en" dir="ltr" style="direction: ltr; text-align: center;">
</div><ul style="margin: 0.3em 0px; padding: 0px; list-style-image: none; list-style-type: none;"><li class="toclevel-1 tocsection-1" style="margin-bottom: 0.1em;"><a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Annexation_of_Crimea_by_the_Russian_Federation#Background" style="text-decoration-line: none; background: none;">1Background</a><ul style="margin: 0px 0px 0px 2em; padding: 0px; list-style-image: none; list-style-type: none;"><li class="toclevel-2 tocsection-2" style="margin-bottom: 0.1em;"><a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Annexation_of_Crimea_by_the_Russian_Federation#Euromaidan_and_the_Ukrainian_revolution" style="text-decoration-line: none; background: none;">1.1Euromaidan and the Ukrainian revolution</a></li></ul></li><li class="toclevel-1 tocsection-3" style="margin-bottom: 0.1em;"><a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Annexation_of_Crimea_by_the_Russian_Federation#History" style="text-decoration-line: none; background: none;">2History</a><ul style="margin: 0px 0px 0px 2em; padding: 0px; list-style-image: none; list-style-type: none;"><li class="toclevel-2 tocsection-4" style="margin-bottom: 0.1em;"><a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Annexation_of_Crimea_by_the_Russian_Federation#Crimean_crisis_begins" style="text-decoration-line: none; background: none;">2.1Crimean crisis begins</a></li><li class="toclevel-2 tocsection-5" style="margin-bottom: 0.1em;"><a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Annexation_of_Crimea_by_the_Russian_Federation#Legal_issues_surrounding_Crimean_annexation" style="text-decoration-line: none; background: none;">2.2Legal issues surrounding Crimean annexation</a></li><li class="toclevel-2 tocsection-6" style="margin-bottom: 0.1em;"><a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Annexation_of_Crimea_by_the_Russian_Federation#Crimean_status_referendum" style="text-decoration-line: none; background: none;">2.3Crimean status referendum</a></li><li class="toclevel-2 tocsection-7" style="margin-bottom: 0.1em;"><a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Annexation_of_Crimea_by_the_Russian_Federation#Breakaway_republic" style="text-decoration-line: none; background: none;">2.4Breakaway republic</a></li><li class="toclevel-2 tocsection-8" style="margin-bottom: 0.1em;"><a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Annexation_of_Crimea_by_the_Russian_Federation#Accession_treaty_and_finalisation_of_the_annexation" style="text-decoration-line: none; background: none;">2.5Accession treaty and finalisation of the annexation</a></li><li class="toclevel-2 tocsection-9" style="margin-bottom: 0.1em;"><a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Annexation_of_Crimea_by_the_Russian_Federation#Subsequent_events" style="text-decoration-line: none; background: none;">2.6Subsequent events</a></li></ul></li><li class="toclevel-1 tocsection-10" style="margin-bottom: 0.1em;"><a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Annexation_of_Crimea_by_the_Russian_Federation#Transition_and_aftermath" style="text-decoration-line: none; background: none;">3Transition and aftermath</a><ul style="margin: 0px 0px 0px 2em; padding: 0px; list-style-image: none; list-style-type: none;"><li class="toclevel-2 tocsection-11" style="margin-bottom: 0.1em;"><a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Annexation_of_Crimea_by_the_Russian_Federation#Economic_implications" style="text-decoration-line: none; background: none;">3.1Economic implications</a></li><li class="toclevel-2 tocsection-12" style="margin-bottom: 0.1em;"><a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Annexation_of_Crimea_by_the_Russian_Federation#Human_rights_situation" style="text-decoration-line: none; background: none;">3.2Human rights situation</a></li><li class="toclevel-2 tocsection-13" style="margin-bottom: 0.1em;"><a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Annexation_of_Crimea_by_the_Russian_Federation#Crimean_public_opinion" style="text-decoration-line: none; background: none;">3.3Crimean public opinion</a></li></ul></li><li class="toclevel-1 tocsection-14" style="margin-bottom: 0.1em;"><a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Annexation_of_Crimea_by_the_Russian_Federation#Ukrainian_response" style="text-decoration-line: none; background: none;">4Ukrainian response</a></li><li class="toclevel-1 tocsection-15" style="margin-bottom: 0.1em;"><a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Annexation_of_Crimea_by_the_Russian_Federation#Russian_response" style="text-decoration-line: none; background: none;">5Russian response</a></li><li class="toclevel-1 tocsection-16" style="margin-bottom: 0.1em;"><a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Annexation_of_Crimea_by_the_Russian_Federation#Response_within_Crimea" style="text-decoration-line: none; background: none;">6Response within Crimea</a></li><li class="toclevel-1 tocsection-17" style="margin-bottom: 0.1em;"><a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Annexation_of_Crimea_by_the_Russian_Federation#International_response" style="text-decoration-line: none; background: none;">7International response</a><ul style="margin: 0px 0px 0px 2em; padding: 0px; list-style-image: none; list-style-type: none;"><li class="toclevel-2 tocsection-18" style="margin-bottom: 0.1em;"><a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Annexation_of_Crimea_by_the_Russian_Federation#United_Nations_resolutions" style="text-decoration-line: none; background: none;">7.1United Nations resolutions</a></li><li class="toclevel-2 tocsection-21" style="margin-bottom: 0.1em;"><a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Annexation_of_Crimea_by_the_Russian_Federation#International_recognition" style="text-decoration-line: none; background: none;">7.2International recognition</a></li><li class="toclevel-2 tocsection-22" style="margin-bottom: 0.1em;"><a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Annexation_of_Crimea_by_the_Russian_Federation#Sanctions" style="text-decoration-line: none; background: none;">7.3Sanctions</a></li><li class="toclevel-2 tocsection-23" style="margin-bottom: 0.1em;"><a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Annexation_of_Crimea_by_the_Russian_Federation#Mapping" style="text-decoration-line: none; background: none;">7.4Mapping</a></li></ul></li><li class="toclevel-1 tocsection-24" style="margin-bottom: 0.1em;"><a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Annexation_of_Crimea_by_the_Russian_Federation#See_also" style="text-decoration-line: none; background: none;">8See also</a></li><li class="toclevel-1 tocsection-25" style="margin-bottom: 0.1em;"><a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Annexation_of_Crimea_by_the_Russian_Federation#Notes" style="text-decoration-line: none; background: none;">9Notes</a></li><li class="toclevel-1 tocsection-26" style="margin-bottom: 0.1em;"><a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Annexation_of_Crimea_by_the_Russian_Federation#References" style="text-decoration-line: none; background: none;">10References</a></li><li class="toclevel-1 tocsection-27" style="margin-bottom: 0.1em;"><a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Annexation_of_Crimea_by_the_Russian_Federation#Further_reading" style="text-decoration-line: none; background: none;">11Further reading</a></li><li class="toclevel-1 tocsection-28" style="margin-bottom: 0.1em;"><a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Annexation_of_Crimea_by_the_Russian_Federation#External_links" style="text-decoration-line: none; background: none;">12External links</a></li></ul></div></div><h2 style="background: none rgb(255, 255, 255); font-weight: normal; margin: 1em 0px 0.25em; overflow: hidden; padding: 0px; border-bottom: 1px solid rgb(162, 169, 177); line-height: 1.3;">Background</h2><div role="note" class="hatnote navigation-not-searchable" style="padding-left: 1.6em; margin-bottom: 0.5em; background-color: rgb(255, 255, 255);">Main article: <a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Historical_background_of_the_2014_pro-Russian_unrest_in_Ukraine" title="Historical background of the 2014 pro-Russian unrest in Ukraine" style="text-decoration-line: none; background: none;">Historical background of the 2014 pro-Russian unrest in Ukraine</a></div><div class="thumb tleft" style="float: left; clear: left; margin: 0.5em 1.4em 1.3em 0px; width: auto; background-color: rgb(255, 255, 255);"><div class="thumbinner" style="min-width: 100px; border: 1px solid rgb(200, 204, 209); padding: 3px; background-color: rgb(248, 249, 250); text-align: center; overflow: hidden; width: 252px;">
<div class="thumbcaption" style="border: 0px; line-height: 1.4em; padding: 3px; text-align: left;"><div class="magnify" style="float: right; margin-left: 3px; margin-right: 0px;"><a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/File:The_transfer_of_Crimea.jpg" class="internal" title="Enlarge" style="text-decoration-line: none; background: linear-gradient(transparent, transparent), url(" w="w" resources="resources" src="src" mediawiki.skinning="mediawiki.skinning" images="images" magnify-clip-ltr.svg="magnify-clip-ltr.svg" e="e" display="display" block="block" text-indent="text-indent" px="px" white-space="white-space" nowrap="nowrap" overflow="overflow" hidden="hidden" width="width" height="height" user-select="user-select" none="none" /></div><a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/File:The_transfer_of_Crimea.jpg" class="internal" title="Enlarge" style="text-decoration-line: none; background: linear-gradient(transparent, transparent), url(" w="w" resources="resources" src="src" mediawiki.skinning="mediawiki.skinning" images="images" magnify-clip-ltr.svg="magnify-clip-ltr.svg" e="e" display="display" block="block" text-indent="text-indent" px="px" white-space="white-space" nowrap="nowrap" overflow="overflow" hidden="hidden" width="width" height="height" user-select="user-select" none="none">Decree of the Presidium of the Supreme Soviet "About the transfer of the Crimean Oblast". Supreme Council Herald, 9 March 1954.</a></div></div></div><div role="navigation" class="navbox" aria-labelledby="Post-Soviet_conflicts" style="box-sizing: border-box; border: 1px solid rgb(162, 169, 177); width: 25.5em; clear: right; text-align: center; padding: 3px; margin: 0px 0px 0.5em 1em; background-color: rgb(253, 253, 253); float: right;"><table class="nowraplinks navbox-vertical mw-collapsible autocollapse navbox-inner mw-made-collapsible mw-collapsed" style="width: 306px; border-spacing: 0px; background: transparent;"><tbody><tr><th scope="col" class="navbox-title" colspan="2" style="padding: 0.25em 1em; line-height: 1.5em; text-align: center; background-color: rgb(195, 214, 239);"><span class="mw-collapsible-toggle mw-collapsible-toggle-default mw-collapsible-toggle-collapsed" role="button" tabindex="0" aria-expanded="false" style="float: right; user-select: none; cursor: pointer; font-weight: normal; text-align: right; padding-right: 0.2em; padding-left: 0.2em;"><a class="mw-collapsible-text" style="background: none; cursor: pointer; white-space: nowrap;">show</a><div class="plainlinks hlist navbar mini" style="font-weight: normal; float: left; text-align: left; margin-right: 0.5em;"><ul style="margin: 0px; padding: 0px; list-style-image: url(" w="w" skins="skins" vector="Vector" images="images" bullet-icon.svg="bullet-icon.svg" f1="f1" display="display" inline="inline" white-space="white-space" nowrap="nowrap" line-height="line-height" inherit="inherit"><li class="nv-view" style="margin: 0px; display: inline; word-spacing: -0.125em;"><a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Template:Campaignbox_Post-Soviet_conflicts" title="Template:Campaignbox Post-Soviet conflicts" style="text-decoration-line: none; background: none;"><abbr title="View this template" style="border: none; cursor: inherit; text-decoration-line: none; text-decoration-style: initial; font-variant-numeric: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-caps: small-caps; background: none transparent; box-shadow: none; padding: 0px;">v</abbr></a></li><li class="nv-talk" style="margin: 0px; display: inline; word-spacing: -0.125em;"><a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Template_talk:Campaignbox_Post-Soviet_conflicts" title="Template talk:Campaignbox Post-Soviet conflicts" style="text-decoration-line: none; background: none;"><abbr title="Discuss this template" style="border: none; cursor: inherit; text-decoration-line: none; text-decoration-style: initial; font-variant-numeric: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-caps: small-caps; background: none transparent; box-shadow: none; padding: 0px;">t</abbr></a></li><li class="nv-edit" style="margin: 0px; display: inline; word-spacing: -0.125em;"><a class="external text" href="https://en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?title=Template:Campaignbox_Post-Soviet_conflicts&action=edit" style="text-decoration-line: none; background: none !important; padding: 0px !important;"><abbr title="Edit this template" style="border: none; cursor: inherit; text-decoration-line: none; text-decoration-style: initial; font-variant-numeric: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-caps: small-caps; background: none transparent; box-shadow: none; padding: 0px;">e</abbr></a></li></ul></div><div id="Post-Soviet_conflicts" style="margin: 0px 4em;"><a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Post-Soviet_conflicts" title="Post-Soviet conflicts" style="text-decoration-line: none; background: none; white-space: nowrap;">Post-Soviet conflicts</a></div></th></tr></tbody></table></div><a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/File:The_transfer_of_Crimea.jpg" class="internal" title="Enlarge" style="text-decoration-line: none; background: linear-gradient(transparent, transparent), url(" w="w" resources="resources" src="src" mediawiki.skinning="mediawiki.skinning" images="images" magnify-clip-ltr.svg="magnify-clip-ltr.svg" e="e" display="display" block="block" text-indent="text-indent" px="px" white-space="white-space" nowrap="nowrap" overflow="overflow" hidden="hidden" width="width" height="height" user-select="user-select" none="none">Crimea became part of the </a><a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Russian_Empire" title="Russian Empire" style="text-decoration-line: none; background: none;">Russian Empire</a> in 1783, when the <a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Crimean_Khanate" title="Crimean Khanate" style="text-decoration-line: none; background: none;">Crimean Khanate</a> was <a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Annexation_of_Crimea_by_the_Russian_Empire" title="Annexation of Crimea by the Russian Empire" style="text-decoration-line: none; background: none;">annexed</a>, then became part of the <a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Russian_Soviet_Federative_Socialist_Republic" title="Russian Soviet Federative Socialist Republic" style="text-decoration-line: none; background: none;">Russian Soviet Federative Socialist Republic</a> until 1954.<a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Annexation_of_Crimea_by_the_Russian_Federation#cite_note-58" style="text-decoration-line: none; background: none;">[57]</a> During the first stages of the <a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Russian_Civil_War" title="Russian Civil War" style="text-decoration-line: none; background: none;">Russian Civil War</a> there were a series of short-lived independent governments (<a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Crimean_People%27s_Republic" title="Crimean People's Republic" style="text-decoration-line: none; background: none;">Crimean People's Republic</a>, <a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Crimean_Regional_Government" title="Crimean Regional Government" style="text-decoration-line: none; background: none;">Crimean Regional Government</a>, <a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Crimean_Socialist_Soviet_Republic" title="Crimean Socialist Soviet Republic" style="text-decoration-line: none; background: none;">Crimean SSR</a>) but they were followed by <a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/White_movement" title="White movement" style="text-decoration-line: none; background: none;">White Russian</a> governments (<a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/General_Command_of_the_Armed_Forces_of_South_Russia" title="General Command of the Armed Forces of South Russia" style="text-decoration-line: none; background: none;">General Command of the Armed Forces of South Russia</a> and later <a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/South_Russian_Government" title="South Russian Government" style="text-decoration-line: none; background: none;">South Russian Government</a>). In October 1921, the <a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Crimean_Autonomous_Soviet_Socialist_Republic" title="Crimean Autonomous Soviet Socialist Republic" style="text-decoration-line: none; background: none;">Crimean Autonomous Soviet Socialist Republic</a> of the <a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Russian_Soviet_Federative_Socialist_Republic" title="Russian Soviet Federative Socialist Republic" style="text-decoration-line: none; background: none;">Russian SFSR</a> was instituted. After the <a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Second_World_War" class="mw-redirect" title="Second World War" style="text-decoration-line: none; background: none;">Second World War</a> and the subsequent <a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Deportation_of_the_Crimean_Tatars" title="Deportation of the Crimean Tatars" style="text-decoration-line: none; background: none;">deportation of all of the indigenous Crimean Tatars</a>, the Crimean ASSR was stripped of its autonomy in 1946 and was downgraded to the <a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Crimean_Oblast" title="Crimean Oblast" style="text-decoration-line: none; background: none;">status</a> of an <a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Oblasts_of_Russia" title="Oblasts of Russia" style="text-decoration-line: none; background: none;">oblast</a> of the Russian SFSR.In 1954, the Crimean Oblast was <a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/1954_transfer_of_Crimea" title="1954 transfer of Crimea" style="text-decoration-line: none; background: none;">transferred</a> from the <a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Russian_SFSR" class="mw-redirect" title="Russian SFSR" style="text-decoration-line: none; background: none;">Russian SFSR</a> to the <a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ukrainian_SSR" class="mw-redirect" title="Ukrainian SSR" style="text-decoration-line: none; background: none;">Ukrainian SSR</a> by decree of the <a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Presidium_of_the_Supreme_Soviet_of_the_USSR" class="mw-redirect" title="Presidium of the Supreme Soviet of the USSR" style="text-decoration-line: none; background: none;">Presidium of the Supreme Soviet</a> of the <a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Soviet_Union" title="Soviet Union" style="text-decoration-line: none; background: none;">Soviet Union</a>.<a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Annexation_of_Crimea_by_the_Russian_Federation#cite_note-59" style="text-decoration-line: none; background: none;">[58]</a>In 1989, under <a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Perestroika" title="Perestroika" style="text-decoration-line: none; background: none;">perestroika</a>, the Supreme Soviet declared that the deportation of the <a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Crimean_Tatars" title="Crimean Tatars" style="text-decoration-line: none; background: none;">Crimean Tatars</a> under <a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Josef_Stalin" class="mw-redirect" title="Josef Stalin" style="text-decoration-line: none; background: none;">Stalin</a> had been illegal,<a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Annexation_of_Crimea_by_the_Russian_Federation#cite_note-60" style="text-decoration-line: none; background: none;">[59]</a> and the mostly <a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Islam" title="Islam" style="text-decoration-line: none; background: none;">Muslim</a> ethnic group was allowed to return to Crimea.<a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Annexation_of_Crimea_by_the_Russian_Federation#cite_note-61" style="text-decoration-line: none; background: none;">[60]</a>In 1990, the <a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Soviet(council)" title="Soviet (council)" style="text-decoration-line: none; background: none;">Soviet</a> of the Crimean Oblast proposed the restoration of the Crimean ASSR.<a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Annexation_of_Crimea_by_the_Russian_Federation#cite_note-62" style="text-decoration-line: none; background: none;">[61]</a> The oblast conducted a <a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/1991_Crimean_sovereignty_referendum" title="1991 Crimean sovereignty referendum" style="text-decoration-line: none; background: none;">referendum</a> in 1991, which asked whether Crimea should be elevated into a signatory of the <a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/New_Union_Treaty" class="mw-redirect" title="New Union Treaty" style="text-decoration-line: none; background: none;">New Union Treaty</a> (that is, became a <a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Republics_of_the_Soviet_Union" title="Republics of the Soviet Union" style="text-decoration-line: none; background: none;">union republic</a> on its own). By that time, though, the <a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Dissolution_of_the_Soviet_Union" title="Dissolution of the Soviet Union" style="text-decoration-line: none; background: none;">dissolution of the Soviet Union</a> was well underway. The Crimean ASSR was restored for less than a year as part of <a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Soviet_Ukraine" class="mw-redirect" title="Soviet Ukraine" style="text-decoration-line: none; background: none;">Soviet Ukraine</a> before <a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/1991_Ukrainian_independence_referendum" title="1991 Ukrainian independence referendum" style="text-decoration-line: none; background: none;">Ukrainian independence</a>. Newly independent <a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ukraine" title="Ukraine" style="text-decoration-line: none; background: none;">Ukraine</a> maintained Crimea's <a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Autonomous_Republic_of_Crimea" title="Autonomous Republic of Crimea" style="text-decoration-line: none; background: none;">autonomous status</a>,<a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Annexation_of_Crimea_by_the_Russian_Federation#cite_note-63" style="text-decoration-line: none; background: none;">[62]</a> while the <a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Supreme_Council_of_Crimea" class="mw-redirect" title="Supreme Council of Crimea" style="text-decoration-line: none; background: none;">Supreme Council of Crimea</a> affirmed the peninsula's "sovereignty" as a part of Ukraine.<a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Annexation_of_Crimea_by_the_Russian_Federation#cite_note-64" style="text-decoration-line: none; background: none;">[63]</a><a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Annexation_of_Crimea_by_the_Russian_Federation#cite_note-65" style="text-decoration-line: none; background: none;">[64]</a> The autonomous status of Crimea was limited by Ukrainian authorities in 1995.<a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Annexation_of_Crimea_by_the_Russian_Federation#cite_note-66" style="text-decoration-line: none; background: none;">[65]</a><a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Annexation_of_Crimea_by_the_Russian_Federation#cite_note-67" style="text-decoration-line: none; background: none;">[66]</a>In September 2008, the <a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ministry_of_Foreign_Affairs(Ukraine)" title="Ministry of Foreign Affairs (Ukraine)" style="text-decoration-line: none; background: none;">Ukrainian Foreign Minister</a> <a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Volodymyr_Ohryzko" title="Volodymyr Ohryzko" style="text-decoration-line: none; background: none;">Volodymyr Ohryzko</a> accused Russia of giving out <a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Russian_passport" title="Russian passport" style="text-decoration-line: none; background: none;">Russian passports</a> to the population in Crimea and described it as a "real problem" given Russia's declared policy of military intervention abroad to protect Russian citizens.<a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Annexation_of_Crimea_by_the_Russian_Federation#cite_note-68" style="text-decoration-line: none; background: none;">[67]</a>On 24 August 2009, anti-Ukrainian demonstrations were held in Crimea by ethnic Russian residents. <a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Sergei_Tsekov" title="Sergei Tsekov" style="text-decoration-line: none; background: none;">Sergei Tsekov</a> (of the <a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Russian_Bloc(party)" title="Russian Bloc (party)" style="text-decoration-line: none; background: none;">Russian Bloc</a><a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Annexation_of_Crimea_by_the_Russian_Federation#cite_note-69" style="text-decoration-line: none; background: none;">[68]</a> and then deputy speaker of the <a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Crimean_parliament" class="mw-redirect" title="Crimean parliament" style="text-decoration-line: none; background: none;">Crimean parliament</a><a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Annexation_of_Crimea_by_the_Russian_Federation#cite_note-70" style="text-decoration-line: none; background: none;">[69]</a>) said then that he hoped that Russia would treat Crimea the same way as it had treated <a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/South_Ossetia" title="South Ossetia" style="text-decoration-line: none; background: none;">South Ossetia</a> and <a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Abkhazia" title="Abkhazia" style="text-decoration-line: none; background: none;">Abkhazia</a>.<a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Annexation_of_Crimea_by_the_Russian_Federation#cite_note-71" style="text-decoration-line: none; background: none;">[70]</a> Crimea is populated by an <a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Russians_in_Ukraine" title="Russians in Ukraine" style="text-decoration-line: none; background: none;">ethnic Russian</a> majority and a minority of both ethnic <a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ukrainians" title="Ukrainians" style="text-decoration-line: none; background: none;">Ukrainians</a> and Crimean Tatars, and thus <a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Demographics_of_Ukraine" title="Demographics of Ukraine" style="text-decoration-line: none; background: none;">demographically</a> possessed one of Ukraine's largest ethnic Russian populations.<a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Annexation_of_Crimea_by_the_Russian_Federation#cite_note-72" style="text-decoration-line: none; background: none;">[71]</a>Already in 2011, some analysts speculated that the Russian government had irredentist plans:<blockquote class="templatequote" style="overflow: hidden; margin: 1em 0px; padding: 0px 40px; background-color: rgb(255, 255, 255);">...Russia wants to annex Crimea and is merely waiting for the right opportunity, most likely under the pretense of defending Russian brethren abroad.<div class="templatequotecite" style="line-height: 1.5em; padding-left: 1.6em; margin-top: 0px;">— <cite style="font-style: inherit;">William Varettoni, 2011<a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Annexation_of_Crimea_by_the_Russian_Federation#cite_note-73" style="text-decoration-line: none; background: none;">[72]</a></cite></div></blockquote><h3 style="background: none rgb(255, 255, 255); margin: 0.3em 0px 0px; overflow: hidden; padding-top: 0.5em; padding-bottom: 0px; border-bottom: 0px; line-height: 1.6;">Euromaidan and the Ukrainian revolution</h3><div role="note" class="hatnote navigation-not-searchable" style="padding-left: 1.6em; margin-bottom: 0.5em; background-color: rgb(255, 255, 255);">Main articles: <a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Euromaidan" title="Euromaidan" style="text-decoration-line: none; background: none;">Euromaidan</a> and <a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/2014_Ukrainian_revolution" title="2014 Ukrainian revolution" style="text-decoration-line: none; background: none;">2014 Ukrainian revolution</a></div><div role="note" class="hatnote navigation-not-searchable" style="font-style: italic; padding-left: 1.6em; margin-bottom: 0.5em; background-color: rgb(255, 255, 255);">...</div><div class="s" style="max-width: 48em; line-height: 1.57; background-color: rgb(255, 255, 255);"><h3 style="background-image: none; background-position: initial; background-size: initial; background-repeat: initial; background-attachment: initial; background-origin: initial; background-clip: initial; margin: 0.3em 0px 0px; overflow: hidden; padding-top: 0.5em; padding-bottom: 0px; border-bottom: 0px; line-height: 1.6;">Breakaway republic[<a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?title=Annexation_of_Crimea_by_the_Russian_Federation&action=edit&section=7" title="Edit section: Breakaway republic" style="text-decoration-line: none; background: none;">edit</a>]</h3><div role="note" class="hatnote navigation-not-searchable" style="padding-left: 1.6em; margin-bottom: 0.5em;">"Republic of Crimea (country)" redirects here. For other uses, see <a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Republic_of_Crimea(disambiguation)" class="mw-disambig" title="Republic of Crimea (disambiguation)" style="text-decoration-line: none; background: none;">Republic of Crimea (disambiguation)</a>.</div><div role="note" class="hatnote navigation-not-searchable" style="padding-left: 1.6em; margin-bottom: 0.5em; margin-top: -0.5em;">See also: <a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Declaration_of_Independence_of_the_Republic_of_Crimea" title="Declaration of Independence of the Republic of Crimea" style="text-decoration-line: none; background: none;">Declaration of Independence of the Republic of Crimea</a></div>On 17 March, following the official announcement of the <a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/2014_Crimean_status_referendum" title="2014 Crimean status referendum" style="text-decoration-line: none; background: none;">referendum</a> results, the <a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Supreme_Council_of_Crimea" class="mw-redirect" title="Supreme Council of Crimea" style="text-decoration-line: none; background: none;">Supreme Council of Crimea</a> declared the formal independence of the Republic of Crimea, comprising the territories of both the <a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Autonomous_Republic_of_Crimea" title="Autonomous Republic of Crimea" style="text-decoration-line: none; background: none;">Autonomous Republic of Crimea</a> and the city of <a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Sevastopol" title="Sevastopol" style="text-decoration-line: none; background: none;">Sevastopol</a>, which was granted special status within the breakaway republic.<a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Annexation_of_Crimea_by_the_Russian_Federation#cite_note-res1745-182" style="text-decoration-line: none; background: none;">[179]</a> The Crimean parliament declared the "partial repeal" of Ukrainian laws and began nationalising private and Ukrainian state property located on the Crimean Peninsula, including Ukrainian <a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Port" title="Port" style="text-decoration-line: none; background: none;">ports</a><a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Annexation_of_Crimea_by_the_Russian_Federation#cite_note-183" style="text-decoration-line: none; background: none;">[180]</a> and property of <a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Chornomornaftogaz" title="Chornomornaftogaz" style="text-decoration-line: none; background: none;">Chornomornaftogaz</a>.<a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Annexation_of_Crimea_by_the_Russian_Federation#cite_note-184" style="text-decoration-line: none; background: none;">[181]</a> Parliament also formally requested that the <a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Government_of_Russia" title="Government of Russia" style="text-decoration-line: none; background: none;">Russian government</a> admit the breakaway republic into Russia.<a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Annexation_of_Crimea_by_the_Russian_Federation#cite_note-guardian20140317-185" style="text-decoration-line: none; background: none;">[182]</a> On same day, the de facto Supreme Council renamed itself the <a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/State_Council_of_Crimea" title="State Council of Crimea" style="text-decoration-line: none; background: none;">State Council of Crimea</a>,<a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Annexation_of_Crimea_by_the_Russian_Federation#cite_note-186" style="text-decoration-line: none; background: none;">[183]</a> declared the <a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Russian_ruble" title="Russian ruble" style="text-decoration-line: none; background: none;">Russian ruble</a> an official currency alongside the <a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ukrainian_hryvnia" title="Ukrainian hryvnia" style="text-decoration-line: none; background: none;">hryvnia</a>,<a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Annexation_of_Crimea_by_the_Russian_Federation#cite_note-187" style="text-decoration-line: none; background: none;">[184]</a> and announced that Crimea would switch to <a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Moscow_Time" title="Moscow Time" style="text-decoration-line: none; background: none;">Moscow Time</a> (<a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/UTC%2B4:00" class="mw-redirect" title="UTC+4:00" style="text-decoration-line: none; background: none;">UTC+4</a>) on 30 March.<a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Annexation_of_Crimea_by_the_Russian_Federation#cite_note-188" style="text-decoration-line: none; background: none;">[185]</a>Putin officially recognised the Republic of Crimea 'as a sovereign and independent state' by <a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Decree_of_the_President_of_Russia" title="Decree of the President of Russia" style="text-decoration-line: none; background: none;">decree</a><a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Annexation_of_Crimea_by_the_Russian_Federation#cite_note-189" style="text-decoration-line: none; background: none;">[186]</a> and approved the admission of the <a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Republic_of_Crimea" title="Republic of Crimea" style="text-decoration-line: none; background: none;">Republic of Crimea</a> and <a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Sevastopol" title="Sevastopol" style="text-decoration-line: none; background: none;">Sevastopol</a> as separate <a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Federal_subjects_of_Russia" title="Federal subjects of Russia" style="text-decoration-line: none; background: none;">federal subjects of Russia</a>.<a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Annexation_of_Crimea_by_the_Russian_Federation#cite_note-190" style="text-decoration-line: none; background: none;">[187]</a><h3 style="background-image: none; background-position: initial; background-size: initial; background-repeat: initial; background-attachment: initial; background-origin: initial; background-clip: initial; margin: 0.3em 0px 0px; overflow: hidden; padding-top: 0.5em; padding-bottom: 0px; border-bottom: 0px; line-height: 1.6;">Accession treaty and finalisation of the annexation[<a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?title=Annexation_of_Crimea_by_the_Russian_Federation&action=edit&section=8" title="Edit section: Accession treaty and finalisation of the annexation" style="text-decoration-line: none; background: none;">edit</a>]</h3><div role="note" class="hatnote navigation-not-searchable" style="padding-left: 1.6em; margin-bottom: 0.5em;">See also: <a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Republic_of_Crimea" title="Republic of Crimea" style="text-decoration-line: none; background: none;">Republic of Crimea</a>, <a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Crimean_Federal_District" title="Crimean Federal District" style="text-decoration-line: none; background: none;">Crimean Federal District</a>, and <a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Political_status_of_Crimea" title="Political status of Crimea" style="text-decoration-line: none; background: none;">Political status of Crimea</a></div><div role="note" class="hatnote navigation-not-searchable" style="font-style: italic; padding-left: 1.6em; margin-bottom: 0.5em;">...</div></div><div class="s" style="max-width: 48em; line-height: 1.57; background-color: rgb(255, 255, 255);">On 14 April, <a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Vladimir_Putin" title="Vladimir Putin" style="text-decoration-line: none; background: none;">Vladimir Putin</a> announced that he would open a ruble-only account with <a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Rossiya_Bank" title="Rossiya Bank" style="text-decoration-line: none; background: none;">Bank Rossiya</a> and would make it the primary bank in the newly annexed Crimea as well as giving the right to service payments on Russia's $36 billion wholesale electricity market – which gave the bank $112 million annually from commission charges alone.<a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Annexation_of_Crimea_by_the_Russian_Federation#cite_note-223" style="text-decoration-line: none; background: none;">[220]</a>In July 2015, Russian Prime Minister, <a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Dmitry_Medvedev" title="Dmitry Medvedev" style="text-decoration-line: none; background: none;">Dmitry Medvedev</a>, declared that Crimea had been fully integrated into Russia.<a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Annexation_of_Crimea_by_the_Russian_Federation#cite_note-224" style="text-decoration-line: none; background: none;">[221]</a> Until 2016 these new subjects were grouped in the <a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Crimean_Federal_District" title="Crimean Federal District" style="text-decoration-line: none; background: none;">Crimean Federal District</a>.On 8 August 2016, Ukraine reported that Russia had increased its military presence along the demarcation line.<a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Annexation_of_Crimea_by_the_Russian_Federation#cite_note-225" style="text-decoration-line: none; background: none;">[222]</a> In response to this military buildup Ukraine also deployed more troops and resources closer to the border with Crimea.<a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Annexation_of_Crimea_by_the_Russian_Federation#cite_note-226" style="text-decoration-line: none; background: none;">[223]</a> The Pentagon has downplayed a Russian invasion of Ukraine, calling Russian troops along the border a regular military exercise.<a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Annexation_of_Crimea_by_the_Russian_Federation#cite_note-227" style="text-decoration-line: none; background: none;">[224]</a> On 10 August, Russia claimed two servicemen were killed in clashes with Ukrainian commandos, and that Ukrainian servicemen had been captured with a total of 40 kg of explosives in their possession.<a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Annexation_of_Crimea_by_the_Russian_Federation#cite_note-228" style="text-decoration-line: none; background: none;">[225]</a> Ukraine denied that the incident took place.<a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Annexation_of_Crimea_by_the_Russian_Federation#cite_note-229" style="text-decoration-line: none; background: none;">[226]</a> Russian accounts claimed that Russian <a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/FSB(Russia)" class="mw-redirect" title="FSB (Russia)" style="text-decoration-line: none; background: none;">FSB</a> detained "Ukrainian saboteurs" and "terrorists" near Armyansk. The ensuing gunfight left one FSB officer and a suspect dead. A number of individuals were detained, including Yevhen Panov, who is described by Russian sources as a Ukrainian military intelligence officer and leader of the sabotage group. The group was allegedly planning terror attacks on important infrastructure in Armyansk, Crimea. Ukrainian media reported that Panov was a military volunteer fighting in the east of the country, however he has more recently been associated with a charitable organization. Russia also claimed that the alleged border infiltration was accompanied by "heavy fire" from Ukrainian territory, resulting in the death of a Russian soldier.<a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Annexation_of_Crimea_by_the_Russian_Federation#cite_note-230" style="text-decoration-line: none; background: none;">[227]</a><a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Annexation_of_Crimea_by_the_Russian_Federation#cite_note-231" style="text-decoration-line: none; background: none;">[228]</a> Ukrainian government called the Russian accusations "cynical" and "senseless" and argued that since Crimea was Ukrainian territory, it was Russia which "has been generously financing and actively supporting terrorism on Ukrainian territory".<a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Annexation_of_Crimea_by_the_Russian_Federation#cite_note-232" style="text-decoration-line: none; background: none;">[229]</a>In 2017, a survey performed by the Centre for East European and International Studies showed that 85% of the non-Crimean Tatar respondents believed that if the referendum would be held again it would lead to the same or "only marginally different" results. Crimea was fully integrated into the Russian media sphere, and links with the rest of Ukraine were hardly existent.<a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Annexation_of_Crimea_by_the_Russian_Federation#cite_note-233" style="text-decoration-line: none; background: none;">[230]</a><a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Annexation_of_Crimea_by_the_Russian_Federation#cite_note-234" style="text-decoration-line: none; background: none;">[231]</a>On 26 November 2018, lawmakers in the Ukraine Parliament overwhelmingly backed the imposition of martial law along Ukraine's coastal regions and those bordering Russia in response to the <a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/2018_Kerch_Strait_incident" class="mw-redirect" title="2018 Kerch Strait incident" style="text-decoration-line: none; background: none;">firing upon and seizure of Ukrainian naval ships by Russia near the Crimean peninsula</a> a day earlier. A total of 276 lawmakers in Kiev backed the measure, which took effect on 28 November 2018 and was ended on December 26th.<a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Annexation_of_Crimea_by_the_Russian_Federation#cite_note-235" style="text-decoration-line: none; background: none;">[232]</a><a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Annexation_of_Crimea_by_the_Russian_Federation#cite_note-236" style="text-decoration-line: none; background: none;">[233]</a>On 28 December 2018, Russia completed a high-tech security fence marking the de facto border between Crimea and Ukraine.<a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Annexation_of_Crimea_by_the_Russian_Federation#cite_note-237" style="text-decoration-line: none; background: none;">[234]</a><h2 style="background-image: none; background-position: initial; background-size: initial; background-repeat: initial; background-attachment: initial; background-origin: initial; background-clip: initial; font-weight: normal; margin: 1em 0px 0.25em; overflow: hidden; padding: 0px; border-bottom: 1px solid rgb(162, 169, 177); line-height: 1.3;">Transition and aftermath[<a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?title=Annexation_of_Crimea_by_the_Russian_Federation&action=edit&section=10" title="Edit section: Transition and aftermath" style="text-decoration-line: none; background: none;">edit</a>]</h2><h3 style="background-image: none; background-position: initial; background-size: initial; background-repeat: initial; background-attachment: initial; background-origin: initial; background-clip: initial; margin: 0.3em 0px 0px; overflow: hidden; padding-top: 0.5em; padding-bottom: 0px; border-bottom: 0px; line-height: 1.6;">Economic implications</h3><div role="note" class="hatnote navigation-not-searchable" style="padding-left: 1.6em; margin-bottom: 0.5em;">See also: <a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Economic_history_of_the_Russian_Federation" title="Economic history of the Russian Federation" style="text-decoration-line: none; background: none;">Economic history of the Russian Federation</a> and <a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Russian_financial_crisis(2014%E2%80%932017)" title="Russian financial crisis (2014–2017)" style="text-decoration-line: none; background: none;">Russian financial crisis (2014–2017)</a></div><div role="note" class="hatnote navigation-not-searchable" style="font-style: italic; padding-left: 1.6em; margin-bottom: 0.5em;">...</div></div><div><h3 style="background: none rgb(255, 255, 255); margin: 0.3em 0px 0px; overflow: hidden; padding-top: 0.5em; padding-bottom: 0px; border-bottom: 0px; line-height: 1.6;">Sanctions</h3><div role="note" class="hatnote navigation-not-searchable" style="padding-left: 1.6em; margin-bottom: 0.5em; background-color: rgb(255, 255, 255);">Further information: <a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/International_sanctions_during_the_Ukrainian_crisis" title="International sanctions during the Ukrainian crisis" style="text-decoration-line: none; background: none;">International sanctions during the Ukrainian crisis</a> and <a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_individuals_sanctioned_during_the_Ukrainian_crisis" class="mw-redirect" title="List of individuals sanctioned during the Ukrainian crisis" style="text-decoration-line: none; background: none;">List of individuals sanctioned during the Ukrainian crisis</a></div>Sanctions were imposed to prevent Russian and Crimean officials and politicians from travelling to Canada, the United States, and the European Union. They were the most wide-ranging applied to Russia since the fall of the Soviet Union.<a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Annexation_of_Crimea_by_the_Russian_Federation#cite_note-Katakey-395" style="text-decoration-line: none; background: none;">[391]</a><a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Annexation_of_Crimea_by_the_Russian_Federation#cite_note-396" style="text-decoration-line: none; background: none;">[392]</a><a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Annexation_of_Crimea_by_the_Russian_Federation#cite_note-397" style="text-decoration-line: none; background: none;">[393]</a><a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Annexation_of_Crimea_by_the_Russian_Federation#cite_note-398" style="text-decoration-line: none; background: none;">[394]</a><a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Annexation_of_Crimea_by_the_Russian_Federation#cite_note-Sanctions-399" style="text-decoration-line: none; background: none;">[395]</a>Japan announced milder sanctions than the US and EU. These include suspension of talks relating to military, space, investment, and visa requirements.<a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Annexation_of_Crimea_by_the_Russian_Federation#cite_note-400" style="text-decoration-line: none; background: none;">[396]</a>In response to the sanctions introduced by the US and EU, the <a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/State_Duma" title="State Duma" style="text-decoration-line: none; background: none;">Russian Duma</a> unanimously passed a resolution asking for all members of the Duma to be included on the sanctions list.<a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Annexation_of_Crimea_by_the_Russian_Federation#cite_note-dumasanctions-401" style="text-decoration-line: none; background: none;">[397]</a> Head of the opposition <a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/A_Just_Russia" title="A Just Russia" style="text-decoration-line: none; background: none;">A Just Russia</a> party <a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Sergei_Mironov" class="mw-redirect" title="Sergei Mironov" style="text-decoration-line: none; background: none;">Sergei Mironov</a> said he was proud of being included on the sanctions list: "It is with pride that I have found myself on the black list, this means they have noticed my stance on Crimea."<a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Annexation_of_Crimea_by_the_Russian_Federation#cite_note-dumasanctions-401" style="text-decoration-line: none; background: none;">[397]</a> Russian companies started pulling billions of dollars out of Western banks to avoid any asset freeze.<a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Annexation_of_Crimea_by_the_Russian_Federation#cite_note-FT_freeze-402" style="text-decoration-line: none; background: none;">[398]</a>Three days after the lists were published, the <a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Foreign_Ministry_of_Russia" class="mw-redirect" title="Foreign Ministry of Russia" style="background-image: none; background-position: initial; background-size: initial; background-repeat: initial; background-attachment: initial; background-origin: initial; background-clip: initial; text-decoration-line: none;">Russian Foreign Ministry</a> published a reciprocal sanctions list of US citizens, which consisted of 10 names, including <a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Speaker_of_the_United_States_House_of_Representatives" title="Speaker of the United States House of Representatives" style="background-image: none; background-position: initial; background-size: initial; background-repeat: initial; background-attachment: initial; background-origin: initial; background-clip: initial; text-decoration-line: none;">House Speaker</a> <a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/John_Boehner" title="John Boehner" style="background-image: none; background-position: initial; background-size: initial; background-repeat: initial; background-attachment: initial; background-origin: initial; background-clip: initial; text-decoration-line: none;">John Boehner</a>, Senator <a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/John_McCain" title="John McCain" style="background-image: none; background-position: initial; background-size: initial; background-repeat: initial; background-attachment: initial; background-origin: initial; background-clip: initial; text-decoration-line: none;">John McCain</a>, and two advisers to President Obama. The ministry said in a statement: "Treating our country in such way, as Washington could have already ascertained, is inappropriate and counterproductive," and reiterated that sanctions against Russia would have a boomerang effect.<a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Annexation_of_Crimea_by_the_Russian_Federation#cite_note-403" style="text-decoration-line: none; background: none;">[399]</a> Several of those sanctioned responded with pride at their inclusion on the list, including <a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/John_Boehner" title="John Boehner" style="background: none; text-decoration-line: none;">John Boehner</a>,<a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Annexation_of_Crimea_by_the_Russian_Federation#cite_note-WaPo-404" style="text-decoration-line: none; background: none;">[400]</a> <a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/John_McCain" title="John McCain" style="background: none; text-decoration-line: none;">John McCain</a>,<a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Annexation_of_Crimea_by_the_Russian_Federation#cite_note-WaPo-404" style="text-decoration-line: none; background: none;">[400]</a> <a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Bob_Menendez" title="Bob Menendez" style="background: none; text-decoration-line: none;">Bob Menendez</a>,<a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Annexation_of_Crimea_by_the_Russian_Federation#cite_note-405" style="text-decoration-line: none; background: none;">[401]</a> <a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Dan_Coats" title="Dan Coats" style="background: none; text-decoration-line: none;">Dan Coats</a>,<a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Annexation_of_Crimea_by_the_Russian_Federation#cite_note-WaPo-404" style="text-decoration-line: none; background: none;">[400]</a> <a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Mary_Landrieu" title="Mary Landrieu" style="background: none; text-decoration-line: none;">Mary Landrieu</a>, and <a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Harry_Reid" title="Harry Reid" style="background: none; text-decoration-line: none;">Harry Reid</a>.<a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Annexation_of_Crimea_by_the_Russian_Federation#cite_note-406" style="text-decoration-line: none; background: none;">[402]</a>On 24 March, Russia imposed retaliatory sanctions on 13 Canadian officials including members of the <a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Parliament_of_Canada" title="Parliament of Canada" style="text-decoration-line: none; background: none;">Parliament of Canada</a>,<a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Annexation_of_Crimea_by_the_Russian_Federation#cite_note-chaseglobeandmail-407" style="text-decoration-line: none; background: none;">[403]</a> banning them from entering Russia. Foreign Affairs Minister <a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/John_Baird(Canadian_politician)" title="John Baird (Canadian politician)" style="text-decoration-line: none; background: none;">John Baird</a>, said the sanctions were "a badge of honour."<a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Annexation_of_Crimea_by_the_Russian_Federation#cite_note-408" style="text-decoration-line: none; background: none;">[404]</a> Former <a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Minister_of_Justice(Canada)" class="mw-redirect" title="Minister of Justice (Canada)" style="text-decoration-line: none; background: none;">Minister of Justice</a> <a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Irwin_Cotler" title="Irwin Cotler" style="text-decoration-line: none; background: none;">Irwin Cotler</a> also said that he considered the sanctions a badge of honour, not a mark of exclusion.<a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Annexation_of_Crimea_by_the_Russian_Federation#cite_note-chaseglobeandmail-407" style="text-decoration-line: none; background: none;">[403]</a>In March 2014, The Christian Science Monitor reported, "The good news is that so far, Russia has shown no inclination to use the <a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Northern_Distribution_Network" class="mw-redirect" title="Northern Distribution Network" style="text-decoration-line: none; background: none;">NDN</a> as leverage in the wake of US retaliation for its troop movements in Crimea."<a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Annexation_of_Crimea_by_the_Russian_Federation#cite_note-409" style="text-decoration-line: none; background: none;">[405]</a>Expanded Western sanctions in mid-March coursed through financial markets, hitting the business interests of some of Russia's richest people.<a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Annexation_of_Crimea_by_the_Russian_Federation#cite_note-FT_share_prices-410" style="text-decoration-line: none; background: none;">[406]</a> The Americans centred on the heart of Moscow's leadership,<a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Annexation_of_Crimea_by_the_Russian_Federation#cite_note-411" style="text-decoration-line: none; background: none;">[407]</a> though the EU's initial list shied from targeting Putin's inner circle.<a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Annexation_of_Crimea_by_the_Russian_Federation#cite_note-412" style="text-decoration-line: none; background: none;">[408]</a> As ratings agencies <a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Fitch_Ratings" title="Fitch Ratings" style="background: none; text-decoration-line: none;">Fitch</a> and <a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Standard%26_Poor%27s" title="Standard & Poor's" style="background: none; text-decoration-line: none;">Standard & Poor's</a> downgraded Russia's credit outlook,<a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Annexation_of_Crimea_by_the_Russian_Federation#cite_note-Bloomberg_downgrade-413" style="text-decoration-line: none; background: none;">[409]</a> Russian banks warned of a sanctions-induced recession,<a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Annexation_of_Crimea_by_the_Russian_Federation#cite_note-414" style="text-decoration-line: none; background: none;">[410]</a> the country braced for capital outflows for the first three months of 2014 to reach $70 billion,<a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Annexation_of_Crimea_by_the_Russian_Federation#cite_note-415" style="text-decoration-line: none; background: none;">[411]</a> more than the entirety of outflows for 2013,<a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Annexation_of_Crimea_by_the_Russian_Federation#cite_note-416" style="text-decoration-line: none; background: none;">[412]</a> and Russian government-bond issues plummeted by three-quarters compared with the same period the previous year.<a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Annexation_of_Crimea_by_the_Russian_Federation#cite_note-417" style="text-decoration-line: none; background: none;">[413]</a> Novatek, Russia's second-largest gas producer, saw $2.5bn in market value wiped out when its shares sank by nearly 10%, rendering Putin's close friend <a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Gennady_Timchenko" title="Gennady Timchenko" style="background-image: none; background-position: initial; background-size: initial; background-repeat: initial; background-attachment: initial; background-origin: initial; background-clip: initial; text-decoration-line: none;">Gennady Timchenko</a>, who has a 23% stake in the company, $575m poorer.<a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Annexation_of_Crimea_by_the_Russian_Federation#cite_note-FT_share_prices-410" style="background-image: none; background-position: initial; background-size: initial; background-repeat: initial; background-attachment: initial; background-origin: initial; background-clip: initial; text-decoration-line: none; background-color: rgb(255, 255, 102);">[</a><a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Annexation_of_Crimea_by_the_Russian_Federation#cite_note-FT_share_prices-410" style="background: none; text-decoration-line: none;">406]</a> "I do hope that there is some serious diplomatic activity going on behind the scenes," said one Russian banker,<a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Annexation_of_Crimea_by_the_Russian_Federation#cite_note-418" style="text-decoration-line: none; background: none;">[414]</a> though others were more sanguine on the question of whether the sanctions would have any enduring effect,<a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Annexation_of_Crimea_by_the_Russian_Federation#cite_note-Bloomberg_downgrade-413" style="text-decoration-line: none; background: none;">[409]</a><a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Annexation_of_Crimea_by_the_Russian_Federation#cite_note-419" style="text-decoration-line: none; background: none;">[415]</a><a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Annexation_of_Crimea_by_the_Russian_Federation#cite_note-420" style="text-decoration-line: none; background: none;">[416]</a> and Russians, top and bottom, seemed defiant.<a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Annexation_of_Crimea_by_the_Russian_Federation#cite_note-421" style="text-decoration-line: none; background: none;">[417]</a> The official Russian response was mixed.<a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Annexation_of_Crimea_by_the_Russian_Federation#cite_note-422" style="text-decoration-line: none; background: none;">[418]</a>Minister of Economic Development of the Russian Federation <a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Alexey_Ulyukaev" title="Alexey Ulyukaev" style="text-decoration-line: none; background: none;">Alexey Ulyukaev</a> said that introduction of sectoral sanctions will lead to a serious decline of the Russian economy: economic growth of Russia will become seriously negative, the growth of volumes of investment will be even more negative, inflation will rise, and government revenues and reserves will go down.<a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Annexation_of_Crimea_by_the_Russian_Federation#cite_note-423" style="text-decoration-line: none; background: none;">[419]</a>As well as differences between the United States and Europe as a whole as to how to respond to the Russian-backed incursion, those same differences have played out among Eastern European countries.<a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Annexation_of_Crimea_by_the_Russian_Federation#cite_note-424" style="text-decoration-line: none; background: none;">[420]</a>A number of Russian citizens reported that they have been denied European visas after they visited Crimea after annexation.<a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Annexation_of_Crimea_by_the_Russian_Federation#cite_note-425" style="text-decoration-line: none; background: none;">[421]</a> A Russian consumer protection watchdog OZPP published a warning for Russian tourists about this risk, explaining that from the international law point of view, Crimea is an occupied territory, after which <a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Roskomnadzor" class="mw-redirect" title="Roskomnadzor" style="text-decoration-line: none; background: none;">Roskomnadzor</a> blocked the OZPP website "for threatening territorial integrity of Russian Federation".<a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Annexation_of_Crimea_by_the_Russian_Federation#cite_note-426" style="text-decoration-line: none; background: none;">[422]</a>In response to having its voting rights revoked, Russia in June 2017 suspended its budget payments to the Council of Europe, with Russian Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov stating payments would not resume until all rights of Russia's delegation were fully restored.<a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Annexation_of_Crimea_by_the_Russian_Federation#cite_note-427" style="text-decoration-line: none; background: none;">[423]</a> Council Secretary General Thorbjørn Jagland has suggested lifting the sanctions to avoid the impact of mounting budgetary restraints. However, Council members such as Ukraine and its supporters have argued that readmitting Russia without demanding concessions in return would amount to "caving to Russian 'blackmail'".<a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Annexation_of_Crimea_by_the_Russian_Federation#cite_note-428" style="text-decoration-line: none; background: none;">[424]</a><a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Annexation_of_Crimea_by_the_Russian_Federation#cite_note-429" style="text-decoration-line: none; background: none;">[425]</a><h3 style="background: none rgb(255, 255, 255); margin: 0.3em 0px 0px; overflow: hidden; padding-top: 0.5em; padding-bottom: 0px; border-bottom: 0px; line-height: 1.6;">Mapping</h3><ul style="margin: 0.3em 0px 0px 1.6em; padding: 0px; list-style-image: url(" w="w" skins="skins" vector="Vector" images="images" bullet-icon.svg="bullet-icon.svg" f1="f1"><li style="margin-bottom: 0.1em;">As of May 2019, the <a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/United_Nations" title="United Nations" style="background-image: none; background-position: initial; background-size: initial; background-repeat: initial; background-attachment: initial; background-origin: initial; background-clip: initial; text-decoration-line: none;">United Nations</a> still maps Crimea as belonging to Ukraine.<a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Annexation_of_Crimea_by_the_Russian_Federation#cite_note-430" style="text-decoration-line: none; background-image: none; background-position: initial; background-size: initial; background-repeat: initial; background-attachment: initial; background-origin: initial; background-clip: initial;">[426]</a></li><li style="margin-bottom: 0.1em;"><a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/National_Geographic_Society" title="National Geographic Society" style="text-decoration-line: none; background-image: none; background-position: initial; background-size: initial; background-repeat: initial; background-attachment: initial; background-origin: initial; background-clip: initial;">National Geographic Society</a> stated that their policy is "to portray current reality" and "Crimea, if it is formally annexed by Russia, would be shaded gray", but also further remarked that this step does not suggest recognising legitimacy of such.<a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Annexation_of_Crimea_by_the_Russian_Federation#cite_note-431" style="text-decoration-line: none; background-image: none; background-position: initial; background-size: initial; background-repeat: initial; background-attachment: initial; background-origin: initial; background-clip: initial;">[427]</a> As of April 2014 Crimea is still displayed as part of Ukraine.<a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Annexation_of_Crimea_by_the_Russian_Federation#cite_note-hitechmaps-432" style="text-decoration-line: none; background-image: none; background-position: initial; background-size: initial; background-repeat: initial; background-attachment: initial; background-origin: initial; background-clip: initial;">[428]</a></li><li style="margin-bottom: 0.1em;">As of April 2014, <a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Google_Maps" title="Google Maps" style="background-image: none; background-position: initial; background-size: initial; background-repeat: initial; background-attachment: initial; background-origin: initial; background-clip: initial; text-decoration-line: none;">Google Maps</a> displays Crimea as a disputed territory to most viewers.<a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Annexation_of_Crimea_by_the_Russian_Federation#cite_note-hitechmaps-432" style="text-decoration-line: none; background-image: none; background-position: initial; background-size: initial; background-repeat: initial; background-attachment: initial; background-origin: initial; background-clip: initial;">[428]</a> For the Russian and Ukrainian versions of website, Crimea is marked as belonging to corresponding country (Russia or Ukraine respectively).<a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Annexation_of_Crimea_by_the_Russian_Federation#cite_note-hitechmaps-432" style="text-decoration-line: none; background-image: none; background-position: initial; background-size: initial; background-repeat: initial; background-attachment: initial; background-origin: initial; background-clip: initial;">[428]</a><a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Annexation_of_Crimea_by_the_Russian_Federation#cite_note-433" style="text-decoration-line: none; background-image: none; background-position: initial; background-size: initial; background-repeat: initial; background-attachment: initial; background-origin: initial; background-clip: initial;">[429]</a> Google stated that it "work(s) with sources to get the best interpretation of the border or claim lines".<a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Annexation_of_Crimea_by_the_Russian_Federation#cite_note-434" style="text-decoration-line: none; background: none;">[430]</a></li><li style="background-color: rgb(255, 255, 255); margin-bottom: 0.1em;">As of April 2014, <a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Yandex" title="Yandex" style="text-decoration-line: none; background: none;">Yandex</a> displays Crimea as Russian, except for users entering from their Ukrainian site and their Turkish site. Users visiting Yandex.ru from Russia will see Crimea displayed as Russian territory, users visiting yandex.ua from Ukraine will see Crimea as Ukrainian and all other users (from other countries)[<a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Wikipedia:Citation_needed" title="Wikipedia:Citation needed" style="text-decoration-line: none; background: none;">citation needed</a>] will see Crimea as Russian territory.<a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Annexation_of_Crimea_by_the_Russian_Federation#cite_note-hitechmaps-432" style="text-decoration-line: none; background: none;">[428]</a> According to official statement, the company works with users from different countries and "displays reality that surrounds them".<a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Annexation_of_Crimea_by_the_Russian_Federation#cite_note-435" style="text-decoration-line: none; background: none;">[431]</a></li><li style="background-color: rgb(255, 255, 255); margin-bottom: 0.1em;">As of March 2014, <a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Bing_Maps" title="Bing Maps" style="text-decoration-line: none; background: none;">Bing Maps</a>,<a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Annexation_of_Crimea_by_the_Russian_Federation#cite_note-436" style="text-decoration-line: none; background: none;">[432]</a> <a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/OpenStreetMap" title="OpenStreetMap" style="text-decoration-line: none; background: none;">OpenStreetMap</a> and <a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Here(company)" title="Here (company)" style="text-decoration-line: none; background: none;">HERE</a> display Crimea as belonging to Ukraine.<a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Annexation_of_Crimea_by_the_Russian_Federation#cite_note-hitechmaps-432" style="text-decoration-line: none; background: none;">[428]</a> In particular, Open Street Map requested its users to refrain from editing borders and administrative relations of subdivisions located in Autonomous Republic of Crimea and Sevastopol until 31 May 2014.<a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Annexation_of_Crimea_by_the_Russian_Federation#cite_note-hitechmaps-432" style="text-decoration-line: none; background: none;">[428]</a> On 5 June 2014 <a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/OpenStreetMap" title="OpenStreetMap" style="text-decoration-line: none; background: none;">OpenStreetMap</a> switched to a territorial dispute option, displaying Crimea as a disputed territory belonging to both countries.<a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Annexation_of_Crimea_by_the_Russian_Federation#cite_note-437" style="text-decoration-line: none; background: none;">[433]</a></li><li style="background-color: rgb(255, 255, 255); margin-bottom: 0.1em;">In 2015, on the <a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/PepsiCo" title="PepsiCo" style="text-decoration-line: none; background: none;">PepsiCo</a> website a Russian-language map was visible for a few days that depicted Crimea as a part of Russia.<a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Annexation_of_Crimea_by_the_Russian_Federation#cite_note-438" style="text-decoration-line: none; background: none;">[434]</a></li><li style="background-color: rgb(255, 255, 255); margin-bottom: 0.1em;">The 2016 edition of a French atlas published by <a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/%C3%89ditions_Larousse" title="Éditions Larousse" style="text-decoration-line: none; background: none;">Larousse</a> shows Crimea as part of Russian territory: <a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Oleh_Shamshur" title="Oleh Shamshur" style="text-decoration-line: none; background: none;">Oleh Shamshur</a>, Ukrainian Ambassador to France, expressed shock.<a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Annexation_of_Crimea_by_the_Russian_Federation#cite_note-439" style="text-decoration-line: none; background: none;">[435]</a> Shortly after, Larousse corrected the mistake on the Atlas on their internet version,<a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Annexation_of_Crimea_by_the_Russian_Federation#cite_note-440" style="text-decoration-line: none; background: none;">[436]</a> and confirmed that Crimea is a region of Ukraine.<a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Annexation_of_Crimea_by_the_Russian_Federation#cite_note-441" style="text-decoration-line: none; background: none;">[437]</a></li><li style="background-color: rgb(255, 255, 255); margin-bottom: 0.1em;">The Italian-language <a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Magazine" title="Magazine" style="text-decoration-line: none; background: none;">magazine</a> of <a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Geopolitics" title="Geopolitics" style="text-decoration-line: none; background: none;">geopolitics</a> <a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Limes(magazine)" title="Limes (magazine)" style="text-decoration-line: none; background: none;">Limes</a> maps Crimea as a part of Russia since December 2015.<a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Annexation_of_Crimea_by_the_Russian_Federation#cite_note-442" style="text-decoration-line: none; background: none;">[438]</a> After protests by the Ukrainian embassy in Italy, the magazine editor <a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?title=Lucio_Caracciolo&action=edit&redlink=1" class="new" title="Lucio Caracciolo (page does not exist)" style="text-decoration-line: none; background: none;">Lucio Caracciolo</a> wrote that "the map reflects reality. When Crimea and Sevastopol will be back under effective Ukrainian sovereignty, we will produce a map that reflects such reality".<a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Annexation_of_Crimea_by_the_Russian_Federation#cite_note-443" style="text-decoration-line: none; background: none;">[439]</a></li></ul><h2 style="background: none rgb(255, 255, 255); font-weight: normal; margin: 1em 0px 0.25em; overflow: hidden; padding: 0px; border-bottom: 1px solid rgb(162, 169, 177); line-height: 1.3;">See also...</h2></div><div>=</div><div>2:04 AM - Nov 6, 2016See Kline Preston's other TweetsHowever, Preston may not the best judge of character — or political realities. Over the past week, Preston traveled throughout Russia to act as an “independent” international observer for Russia’s most recent sham election, which saw Putin effectively crowned for another six years.The election was neither free nor fair, with rampant ballot-stuffing and carousel voting — to say nothing of blocking leading opposition figure Alexei Navalny from running — marring the election results.Someday, Russia will have a free and fair election. CREDIT: GETTY / MIKHAIL SVETLOVMeet the latest critic of Russia’s sham election: Edward SnowdenBut that didn’t matter to Preston. According to Russian state media, Preston saw the election as “honest, open, and trustworthy,” adding that “Putin’s crushing victory is a clear sign of trust in his policy and leadership.”In another video, Preston claimed that he “didn’t see any complaints” from voters.While observing the Russian elections — and helping whitewash Putin’s regime — isn’t, on its face, illegal, RIA Novosti also reported that Preston observed “elections” inCrimea, which remains occupied by Russia. While in Crimea, Preston proclaimed that “Crimea is yours… Crimea was, is, and will be Russian.”It’s also worth noting, as The Tennessean found, that Preston appears close with Rep. Marsha Blackburn (R-TN), who is also one of his clients. Preston told The Tennessean that he was “close” to Blackburn, and that they’d been “family friends” for a “long time.”</div><div><a href="https://www.alternet.org/2019/01/the-western-media-is-ignoring-a-powerful-uprising-where-citizens-are-resisting-tyranny-and-russian-interference/" style="text-decoration-line: none; font-weight: bold; outline: none;">https://www.alternet.org/2019/01/the-western-media-is-ignoring-a-powerful-uprising-where-citizens-are-resisting-tyranny-and-russian-interference/</a>AN 119The story of the world today is the rise of right-wing populism, or so we are told. It’s the story of Donald Trump, of Brexit, of rising nationalism in continental Europe — especially in the east — as well as almost all of the former Soviet Union. But stories can change quickly. Whatever happened to “The End of History”? Or the War on Terror? The Great Recession? Or the Arab Spring? Who knows what the story will be next? Perhaps it’s already being written in Sudan, with echoes of so many other stories folded into it.<div class="p1_28" style="box-sizing: border-box; outline: none; margin: 0px; padding: 0px; background-color: rgb(255, 255, 255);">Almost eight years to the day after the Arab Spring began in Tunisia with the startling overthrow of the 23-year regime of President Ben Ali, the current Sudan uprising began in the city of Atbara, a railroad union stronghold. That was on Dec. 19, and protests quickly spread nationwide. A month later, Sudan’s 29-year ruler, President Omar al-Bashir — <a href="https://www.icc-cpi.int/darfur/albashirhttps:/www.icc-cpi.int/darfur/albashir" target="blank" rel="noopener" style="text-decoration-line: none; font-weight: bold; outline: none; box-sizing: border-box; margin: 0px; padding: 0px; transition: color 0.3s ease 0s; cursor: pointer;">who has been indicted for genocide by the International Criminal Court</a> — is barely clinging to power, while American media, not to mention the U.S. government, has largely ignored the entire situation.“All residents of Atbara are now on the streets,” one eyewitness, Adel Abdel-Latif, <a href="https://www.sudantribune.com/spip.php?article66796" target="blank" rel="noopener" style="text-decoration-line: none; font-weight: bold; outline: none; box-sizing: border-box; margin: 0px; padding: 0px; transition: color 0.3s ease 0s; cursor: pointer;">told Sudan Tribune</a> last month as the uprising began. “He pointed out that the demonstrators chanted slogans such as ‘Peaceful, Peaceful against the Thieves,’ saying the police and army didn’t interfere to disperse or arrest the protestors,” the publication reported.<div class="p3_28" style="box-sizing: border-box; outline: none; margin: 0px; padding: 0px;">The story we’re missing is historic, according to Jonathan Hutson, who helped expose mass human rights violations in Sudan from 2010 to 2014 — documenting 46 village burnings and locating eight apparent mass graves — as the architect of George Clooney’s <a href="https://www.satsentinel.org/" target="blank" rel="noopener" style="text-decoration-line: none; font-weight: bold; outline: none; box-sizing: border-box; margin: 0px; padding: 0px; transition: color 0.3s ease 0s; cursor: pointer;">Satellite Sentinel Project</a>.<div class="p4_28" style="box-sizing: border-box; outline: none; margin: 0px; padding: 0px;">“What we have is the Western media largely misunderstanding or ignoring a revolution in a Putin-aligned African country, ruled by an Islamic theocracy, where the resistance is committed to freedom of speech, freedom of assembly and freedom of religion,”  Hutson told Salon. Reports of food riots vastly understate the seriousness of events, and Russian involvement with paramilitary troops (reportedly under the direction of <a href="https://www.bloomberg.com/news/features/2018-11-20/putin-chef-yevgeny-prigozhin-is-now-meddling-in-africa" style="text-decoration-line: none; outline: none; box-sizing: border-box; margin: 0px; padding: 0px; transition: color 0.3s ease 0s; cursor: pointer;">Yevgeny Prigozhin, aka “Putin’s chef”</a>) has failed to register as echoing the predatory pattern already seen in the Ukraine, Crimea and Syria.<div class="p5_28" style="box-sizing: border-box; outline: none; margin: 0px; padding: 0px;">“News reporting on Sudan has finally begun to highlight the ongoing economic collapse of the past seven years,” veteran Sudan observer <a href="https://sudanreeves.org/2018/12/24/the-failure-of-international-news-reporting-on-sudans-economy-2011-2018/" target="blank" rel="noopener" style="text-decoration-line: none; font-weight: bold; outline: none; box-sizing: border-box; margin: 0px; padding: 0px; transition: color 0.3s ease 0s; cursor: pointer;">Eric Reeves wrote on Dec. 24,</a> but even so “there is remarkable superficiality and failure to look with any historical depth at how the present catastrophe began. … Priorities in the national budget have been wildly skewed for decades toward the military and security services, with only very small amounts devoted to health, education, and the crucial agricultural sector. Arable land has been sold or leased for decades in order to raise cash for a kleptocratic regime.” In short, al-Bashir’s political affinity to Putin’s Russia are profound.<div class="p6_28" style="box-sizing: border-box; outline: none; margin: 0px; padding: 0px;"><div class="teadsNative" style="box-sizing: border-box; outline: none; margin: 0px; padding: 0px;">As for the Sudanese people, it’s not that they’re imitating the Arab Spring — it’s really the other way around: Civil uprisings in Sudan have <a href="https://africanarguments.org/2014/10/20/50-years-on-remembering-sudans-october-revolution-by-willow-berridge/" target="blank" rel="noopener" style="text-decoration-line: none; font-weight: bold; outline: none; box-sizing: border-box; margin: 0px; padding: 0px; transition: color 0.3s ease 0s; cursor: pointer;">twice toppled dictatorships</a>, first in 1964 and again in 1985. “The popular uprising has become one of the political norms that Sudanese resort to in redefining their social contract with the state,” <a href="https://www.sudantribune.com/spip.php?article66944" target="blank" rel="noopener" style="text-decoration-line: none; font-weight: bold; outline: none; box-sizing: border-box; margin: 0px; padding: 0px; transition: color 0.3s ease 0s; cursor: pointer;">noted Luka Kuol</a>, a Sudanese professor of security studies.<div class="p7_28" style="box-sizing: border-box; outline: none; margin: 0px; padding: 0px;">Sudan escaped the first wave of Arab Spring uprisings in part because the government learned from those previous examples: It exploited regional, racial, ethnic and religious divisions, broke the power of professional unions and keeping the army dispersed outside Khartoum, the capital city, among other measures. But the government’s continued kleptocratic misrule has pushed Sudan past the breaking point, and al-Bashir’s old tricks no longer seem to work.<div class="p8_28" style="box-sizing: border-box; outline: none; margin: 0px; padding: 0px;">The Atbara demonstrations spread quickly despite a sometimes violent response. “The numbers of peaceful demonstrators in Atbara are increasing dramatically and the city is in full civil disobedience,” the opposition youth group Sudan Change Now <a href="https://twitter.com/Sudanchangenow/status/1075362750279376897" target="blank" rel="noopener" style="text-decoration-line: none; font-weight: bold; outline: none; box-sizing: border-box; margin: 0px; padding: 0px; transition: color 0.3s ease 0s; cursor: pointer;">tweeted</a> on Dec. 19, along with a 57-second video of a loud but peaceful march. Sudan Tribune reported that <a href="https://www.sudantribune.com/spip.php?article66800" target="blank" rel="noopener" style="text-decoration-line: none; font-weight: bold; outline: none; box-sizing: border-box; margin: 0px; padding: 0px; transition: color 0.3s ease 0s; cursor: pointer;">eight people were killed</a> on the second day of protests. Barely a month later, the al-Bashir regime appears doomed. The more demonstrators have been killed, injured or arrested, the more the movement has swelled, and al-Bashir’s attempts to divide it along racial and ethnic lines have failed.<div class="p9_28" style="box-sizing: border-box; outline: none; margin: 0px; padding: 0px;">In an inspiring and informative overview, “<a href="https://500wordsmag.com/sudan-news/the-chants-of-sudan-uprising/" target="blank" rel="noopener" style="text-decoration-line: none; font-weight: bold; outline: none; box-sizing: border-box; margin: 0px; padding: 0px; transition: color 0.3s ease 0s; cursor: pointer;">The Chants of the Sudan Uprising</a>,” Wa’el Jubara writes about the regime’s “sick and naive divide-and-conquer attempt” to blame the protests “on one of the armed rebel movements in the West,” conflating them with “peaceful, unorganised (politically) citizens” from Darfur in the West, whom they arrested. “The next day, Sudanese people from all walks of life and origins went out again, calling out the regime on its poor racist tactics,” Jubara wrote. “They called out the failed conspiracy of Al Bashir and said, ‘يا عنصري مغرور كل البلد دارفور‘, loosely translated to ‘You [Al Bashir] are racist and arrogant, we are all Darfur.’”<div class="p10_28" style="box-sizing: border-box; outline: none; margin: 0px; padding: 0px;">“The current demonstrations are unprecedented, in terms of scale, persistence, intensity, and geographical reach,” Adil Babikir, a U.K.-based Sudanese translator, <a href="https://www.sudantribune.com/spip.php?article66930" target="blank" rel="noopener" style="text-decoration-line: none; font-weight: bold; outline: none; box-sizing: border-box; margin: 0px; padding: 0px; transition: color 0.3s ease 0s; cursor: pointer;">wrote in Sudan Tribune</a> on Jan. 18. “The momentum is building up, with simultaneous rallies staged in many cities across the country. The revolutionary mood is at its peak. New patriotic songs are hitting the social media platforms every day. Some of these are originally folkloric wedding songs reworded with the themes of the revolution.”<div class="p11_28" style="box-sizing: border-box; outline: none; margin: 0px; padding: 0px;">In the midst of all this, on Dec. 31, Hutson posted a <a href="https://twitter.com/JonHutson/status/1079952769178632193" target="blank" rel="noopener" style="text-decoration-line: none; font-weight: bold; outline: none; box-sizing: border-box; margin: 0px; padding: 0px; transition: color 0.3s ease 0s; cursor: pointer;">33-tweet thread</a> exposing the Russian presence in Sudan with photos and information provided by activists on the ground. This information on the “illegal” Russian incursion was information further <a href="https://twitter.com/Amjedfarid/status/1080900965941813253" target="blank" rel="noopener" style="text-decoration-line: none; font-weight: bold; outline: none; box-sizing: border-box; margin: 0px; padding: 0px; transition: color 0.3s ease 0s; cursor: pointer;">developed and promoted by Sudan Change Now</a>, as well as <a href="https://citeam.org/are-ru-mercenaries-suppressing-the-sudan-protests/?lang=en" target="blank" rel="noopener" style="text-decoration-line: none; font-weight: bold; outline: none; box-sizing: border-box; margin: 0px; padding: 0px; transition: color 0.3s ease 0s; cursor: pointer;">by the Russia-based Conflict Intelligence Team</a>.<div class="p12_28" style="box-sizing: border-box; outline: none; margin: 0px; padding: 0px;">Russian forces in Sudan are apparently or probably there in the guise of Prigozhin’s paramilitary Wagner Group (aka PMC Wagner), which was <a href="https://www.treasury.gov/press-center/press-releases/pages/sm0114.aspx" target="blank" rel="noopener" style="text-decoration-line: none; outline: none; box-sizing: border-box; margin: 0px; padding: 0px; transition: color 0.3s ease 0s; cursor: pointer;">sanctioned by the U.S. Treasury in 2017</a> for its involvement in Ukraine. Prigozhin, the now-infamous Internet Research Agency in St. Petersburg and two related firms he controls <a href="https://home.treasury.gov/news/press-releases/sm0312" target="blank" rel="noopener" style="text-decoration-line: none; font-weight: bold; outline: none; box-sizing: border-box; margin: 0px; padding: 0px; transition: color 0.3s ease 0s; cursor: pointer;">were also sanctioned in March 2018</a> for their role in 2016 election interference on behalf of Donald Trump.<div class="p13_28" style="box-sizing: border-box; outline: none; margin: 0px; padding: 0px;">“As police fired tear gas and live ammunition at peaceful demonstrators in Khartoum, wounding at least four people, Sudanese observers on the ground wondered about the significance of Russian military trucks spotted in the capital,” Hutson began.<div class="p14_28" style="box-sizing: border-box; outline: none; margin: 0px; padding: 0px;">Hutson initially stopped short of definitively identifying PMC Wagner. But the group’s presence in Sudan and elsewhere in Africa was already known, if not commonly discussed. In November, <a href="https://www.bloomberg.com/news/features/2018-11-20/putin-chef-yevgeny-prigozhin-is-now-meddling-in-africa" target="blank" rel="noopener" style="text-decoration-line: none; font-weight: bold; outline: none; box-sizing: border-box; margin: 0px; padding: 0px; transition: color 0.3s ease 0s; cursor: pointer;">Bloomberg reported</a> that Prigozhin was “already active in or moving into 10 countries that Russia’s military already has relationships with: the Democratic Republic of Congo, Sudan, Libya, Madagascar, Angola, Guinea, Guinea-Bissau, Mozambique, Zimbabwe and the Central African Republic.”<div class="p15_28" style="box-sizing: border-box; outline: none; margin: 0px; padding: 0px;"><a href="https://www.businessinsider.com/russian-journalists-editor-says-killed-for-investigating-wagner-group-2018-8" target="blank" rel="noopener" style="text-decoration-line: none; font-weight: bold; outline: none; box-sizing: border-box; margin: 0px; padding: 0px; transition: color 0.3s ease 0s; cursor: pointer;">Last summer</a>, three Russian journalists were killed while investigating Wagner in the Central African Republic on behalf of exiled Russian opposition figure Mikhail Khodorkovsky. A week after Hutson’s tweet-storm, <a href="https://www.sudantribune.com/spip.php?article66883" target="blank" rel="noopener" style="text-decoration-line: none; font-weight: bold; outline: none; box-sizing: border-box; margin: 0px; padding: 0px; transition: color 0.3s ease 0s; cursor: pointer;">Sudan Times confirmed Wagner’s presence</a> in the current conflict, citing a source within Sudan’s security force.<div class="p16_28" style="box-sizing: border-box; outline: none; margin: 0px; padding: 0px;">Hutson noted that Wagner “guards Sudanese gold, uranium, and diamond mines, as well as atomic energy facilities. Russian media have reported that Wagner trains Sudanese armed forces.” He identified Wagner’s typical vehicle as “a light-brown, Ural-4320, all-wheel-drive, two-door cab, 6×6 truck in troop transport mode, similar to trucks used by the Russian military, and by Russian private military contractors.” (In a <a href="https://twitter.com/JonHutson/status/1083480882957205504" target="blank" rel="noopener" style="text-decoration-line: none; font-weight: bold; outline: none; box-sizing: border-box; margin: 0px; padding: 0px; transition: color 0.3s ease 0s; cursor: pointer;">later thread</a>, he explained in detail how he identified the trucks.)<div class="p17_28" style="box-sizing: border-box; outline: none; margin: 0px; padding: 0px;">Hutson provided some background on Sudan’s Russia connection, noting that on Nov. 23, 2017, al-Bashir met with Vladimir Putin in the Black Sea resort of Sochi, Russia. Reportedly “Bashir asked Putin to protect Sudan from ‘aggressive acts of the United States.’ In return, Bashir promised Putin that Sudan could serve as Russia’s ‘key to Africa.’”</div></div></div></div></div></div></div></div></div></div></div></div></div></div></div></div></div></div><div>==</div></div></div></div></div></div></div></div></div>