Beginning of the Russo-Ukrainian War: Armed Invasion and Occupation of Crimea (2014)
A covert military invasion and the occupation of Crimea, the beginning of Russia's armed aggression against Ukraine: the seizure of administrative buildings by troops without insignia, the installation of a controlled prime minister, and a sham referendum that the UN General Assembly declared void: "the referendum held in the Autonomous Republic of Crimea and the city of Sevastopol on 16 March 2014, having no validity, cannot form the basis for any alteration of the status"[1]. The legal formalization of the seizure was completed in Moscow by the law of March 21, 2014[2].
Actors
| ID | Name | Procedures |
|---|---|---|
| G0011 | Russian Federation | 5 |
Instruments Applied
| ID | Name | Procedures |
|---|---|---|
| S0008 | Government | 1 |
| S0012 | Occupation and Controlled Administrations | 1 |
| S0021 | Propaganda | 1 |
| S0010 | Regular Army | 1 |
| S0017 | Secret Police and Security Services | 1 |
Procedures Carried Out
The use of regular troops without insignia to establish control over the peninsula. A year later V. Putin admitted it on his call-in show of 17 April 2014: "behind the backs of Crimea's self-defense forces, our servicemen, of course, stood. They acted very correctly, but… decisively and professionally"[3]. Ukrainian garrisons on the peninsula were blockaded and disarmed, as Putin himself admitted: "and the way the Ukrainian units were disarmed - all of this was done so swiftly that it seemed it had been prepared for an incredibly long time"[3].
The official denial of Russian troops' participation during the operation – and Putin's later admission (call-in show, 17 April 2014) that the denial was a lie: "behind the backs of Crimea's self-defense forces, our servicemen, of course, stood"[3]. In the same broadcast an interlocutor congratulated him on having "honestly said that the 'little green men' are our peaceful military"[3].
The installation of a controlled administration under military cover: the decisions of the Crimean parliament were taken in conditions where "behind the backs of Crimea's self-defense forces, our servicemen, of course, stood"[3]. The UN General Assembly declared the ensuing referendum void and confirmed that it "was not authorized by Ukraine"[1]. OHCHR recorded the "election" scene itself: overnight into 27 February "armed groups without insignia took over the buildings of the local government and parliament," and "on 27 February, members of the Parliament of Crimea, in the presence of gunmen, dismissed the local Government and elected Sergey Aksenov as the Head of Crimea"[4].
The manufacturing of an appearance of mass pro-Russian mobilization on the peninsula: behind the "self-defense forces," in whose name the operation was conducted, stood Russian troops, as Putin admitted on 17 April 2014: "behind the backs of Crimea's self-defense forces, our servicemen, of course, stood"[1]. Rally and "volunteer" crowds supplied the picture of a popular impulse whose legal significance the UN rejected[3].
The legal formalization of the territory's severance: the treaty on "accession" was signed on March 18, 2014, and the law ratifying it was "Adopted by the State Duma on March 20, 2014, approved by the Federation Council on March 21, 2014"[2].