On March 18, 2014, allegedly as a result of the so-called “Crimean status referendum” (on March 16, 2014), Russia forcibly illegally seized the Crimean Peninsula, located within the Ukrainian administrative units, and illegally included it in the Russian Federation on the rights of subjects of the federation – “the Republic of Crimea”. Neither Ukraine, nor the European Union, nor the United States recognized the results of the “referendum”. International organizations has considered the occupation and annexation of Crimea illegal and condemned Russia’s actions by imposing sanctions. Russia, by its actions, violated the existing international order, Crimea has now become a Russian base, where more military is concentrated, which pose a direct threat to the West.
Russia has turned the Ukrainian peninsula, which has always been and will always be one of the best places in Europe, into one of the most dangerous places in Europe. Russia brought large-scale repressions, environmental problems, economic hopelessness and war to Crimea. Local residents not only no longer feel safe, but also see direct threats to their lives.
Since Crimea, in fact, has become a springboard for the import and transfer of manpower and military equipment to other occupied territories of Ukraine, the main direction of the counteroffensive is Crimea. Here is a chronology of Ukrainian attacks on military facilities of the Russian army in Crimea over the past month:
- August 9, Novofedorivka: in the afternoon, there were explosions at Russia’s Saki Air Base in Novofedorivka. Russian military aircraft worth more than $300 million were destroyed.
- August 16, Dzhankoi: there were explosions in the area of the villages of Mayske and Azovske, which is 25 kilometers from Russian-occupied Dzhankoi. At about 6 a.m., a fire and detonation of ammunition began on the territory of one of the RF military units.
- August 18: Mezhvodne: there was a large fire in the north-west of Crimea near the village of Mezhvodne.
Belbek airfield: there were 4 explosions at the Belbek military airfield, located near Sevastopol in the annexed Crimea.
Kerch: Russian air defense tried to shoot down Ukrainian missiles.
- August 20, Sevastopol, Bakhchisarai, Molochne: there are explosions at Russian military objects, occupation authorities raised combat helicopters.
- August 28, Alupka: military pobjects of the Russian army near the city were hit.
- August 29, Sevastopol: explosion at a Russian radar station.
- August 31, Chervonohvardiisk district: explosion at an oil depot.
- September 1, Balaklava: around 4 am, the Ukrainian army carried out strikes on the RF military targets.
In addition to missile strikes, there are a large number of partisan movements on the territory of Crimea that carry out sabotage and subversive activities against local authorities and military facilities of the Russian army.
The Russian occupation authorities of the peninsula put the lives of local residents at risk, trying to hide from the residents the start of Ukraine’s liberation of Crimea. In almost all cases of explosions at Russian military bases, the military leadership of the Russian Federation refers to the “negligence” of the soldiers and personnel at the facilities where the “emergency” took place.
Property owners in Crimea are forced to leave the peninsula. Feeling threatened, they are selling real estate in Simferopol, Evpatoria, Yalta, Saki and other cities. Due to the impossibility of stopping the collapse on the peninsula, Crimean real estate agencies offer residents of the occupied peninsula to sell their property for next to nothing, and in doing so, they are trying to fool people who have already suffered from the Russian occupiers.
The top leadership of the occupying authorities, for example, the so-called Minister of Agriculture of Crimea, Yuri Migal, has resigned and left the territory of the peninsula because it is unsafe in Crimea.
The Russian authorities in Crimea are forcibly drafting men into the army and, if they refuse, they can receive real prison terms. Thus, a 20-year-old conscript from Kerch ignored several subpoenas and was found guilty by a court verdict.
The presence of Russian occupiers in Crimea is a threat not only to local residents, but also to the whole of Europe and global stability. The Black Sea region cannot be safe while Crimea is occupied. There will be no stable and lasting peace in many countries on the Mediterranean coast as long as Russia can use the Ukrainian peninsula as its military base.
Kyiv calls on residents of the territories occupied by Russia to prepare for de-occupation: equip shelters, stock up on warm clothes, food and water. Ukraine is no longer afraid of threats from Russia and its missile strikes, now the initiative is in the hands of Kyiv.
By Ihor Petrenko