The date of February 20, 2014 forever entered the history of Ukraine. It was this day that the Verkhovna Rada officially recognized as the beginning of the temporary occupation of the Crimean Peninsula. However, on the ninth anniversary of these events, it becomes obvious that February 20 was already the end of a long-term operation to realize putin’s aggressive appetites, and the creeping annexation of Crimea began long before 2014 – in fact, from the moment of Ukraine’s independence.

For russia, the Black Sea region has been at the center of politics for a long time. Many strategic plans aimed at expanding russia’s influence in the world were aimed at Crimea. The first challenge at the state political level was heard in 1992, when the supreme state council of russia recognized the decree of the Presidium of the Supreme Council of the USSR of 1954, by which Crimea became a part of the Ukrainian SSR, as having no legal force. At the same time, the Crimean deputies adopted the Constitution of the peninsula, which provided for the introduction of the position of the president of Crimea and the inclusion of the republic in Ukraine as an independent autonomy under a separate treaty. All these provisions contradicted the laws of Ukraine, but did not receive a proper response from the Ukrainian authorities of that period. Taking advantage of the support of the pro-russian lobby, the kremlin successfully promotes its people to leadership positions. The uncertainty of the status of the Black Sea Fleet became a decisive factor in the first ever presidential elections of Crimea. The sailors vote for the candidate from the “russia” bloc, the leader of the “Republican Party of Crimea”, citizen of the russian federation yuriy meshkov, who receives almost 73% of the votes of Crimean voters. This period in the minds of Crimeans was called “meshkovshchyna” and was marked by the creation of “state” institutions on the peninsula that only formally obeyed the Kyiv authorities, the invitation of russians to the local government, promises of second russian citizenship to Crimeans, and the introduction of the ruble into circulation. The Crimean parliament is voting for a referendum on the status of the peninsula – essentially, people are being offered a choice between a pro-russian republic and Ukrainian autonomy.

The situation became so threatening that the Ukrainian authorities were forced to take decisive measures to restore Ukrainian sovereignty on the peninsula. In March 1995, the Ukrainian Parliament abolished the Crimean Constitution and the office of the President of Crimea. Soldiers of the National Guard of Ukraine and Ukrainian special forces were transferred to the peninsula. Having barricaded himself in the office of the Crimean parliament, meshkov waited for russian support for several weeks, meanwhile, russians from his “moscow” government hurriedly returned to moscow. The russian military also took meshkov, who had been deprived of his position, to moscow, from where he tried to return to Crimean politics several times in 2011 and 2014. And when it became obvious that meshkov had lost all authority in Crimea, he disappeared from the political arena forever.

Why didn’t the kremlin finish the matter and retreat then? Firstly, then president of russia B.Yeltsin advocated rapprochement with the West and also recognized the territorial integrity of Ukraine. Secondly, because of the war in Chechnya and Yeltsin’s conflict with the russian parliament, they were not in Crimea.

September 2003 was marked by the provocation around the island of Tuzla, with which putin tried to test the reaction of the Ukrainian authorities and the international community to the attempt to seize Ukrainian territory. The island was legally part of the Autonomous Republic of Crimea and, despite its small size (3 sq. km), was strategically important, because it was separated from the peninsula by a deep-water channel, which made Ukraine the sole owner of the shipping passage through the Kerch Strait. Since September 20, 2003, the russian federation, without warning or agreement, began the construction of an embankment dam that was supposed to connect the Taman Peninsula with Tuzla, that is, make the Ukrainian island a part of mainland russia. At the same time, warships of the Novorossiysk naval base entered the territorial waters of Ukraine near Kerch, and russian paratroopers of the 7th Airborne Division began live fire training on the Taman Peninsula. At the same time, a narrative was promoted in the information field of the russian federation that Tuzla is an original part of russian territory, and therefore its return is legal and justified.

This time, the reaction of the Ukrainian authorities was quick and decisive. The Ukrainian side sent a note of protest to the ministry of foreign affairs of russia and withdrew an increased contingent of border guards, ships and boats of the Ukrainian naval forces to Tuzla, the Kerch Regiment of the National Guard deployed its rocket launchers to combat positions. On October 23, 2003, Kuchma held direct negotiations with putin, after which the construction of the dam was stopped.

❗️It is currently obvious that the promotion of pro-russian leaders to Crimean power and the conflict over the Tuzla island in the Kerch Strait became moscow’s first stage of long-term preparation for the annexation of Crimea.

To be continued…