construction maison contemporaine 76

a film about the events of 2014. reenactments feature actual participants. i invited senior members of our special services and the defense ministry to the kremlin and gave them a task. it would be no exaggeration to say that i literally asked them to save the ukrainian president’s life. in the early hours of february 23, 2014, a unique operation took place, something that had never been done before: an incumbent president was smuggled out of his country, amid a raging conflict there, on orders from the russian head of state. our radio intelligence services in fact began tracking his motorcade. it became clear that viktor yanukovych would soon ride into an ambush and be killed. ukraine’s legitimate leader directly asked russia to save his life. the details of the operation that followed remained classified for a year,

and were known only to vladimir putin and those who carried out his orders. do i have it right that you actually spent a whole night overseeing the operation to save yanukovych’s life? yes, that’s right. the operation began late on february 22 and ended around 7:00 a.m. the next day. and i will not deny that as we were leaving, i told the four colleagues who were with me, “the latest developments in ukraine force us to begin working on returning crimea to russia, because we cannot abandon the land and people there. we cannot let them be steamrollered by nationalists.” i gave them some instructions about what needed to be done and how, emphasizing, however, that we would only do so if we were absolutely confident that it was what the people there wanted us to do. we had to give crimean residents a chance to decide for themselves and have a voice in the matter – that was our goal, anyway.

i am being entirely honest with you, and totally frank. i thought to myself then: whatever the people say they want, let it be so. if they want to have more autonomy or more rights as part of ukraine, fine. but if they want the other option, we cannot let them down. crimea: the way home kiev, february 2014 the confrontation in kiev began escalating on february 18. the first targeted shot was fired at 1:30 p.m. five service members of the interior troops were killed in the same manner, shot in the neck.

right sector nationalists attacked the party of regions' office, burning a man alive there. the next day, the death toll rose to 25 in kiev. on february 20, snipers opened fire on the maidan, on both sides, killing 75 to 100 people, according to various estimates. everything changed overnight. there was bloodshed and shooting on the maidan. what was yanukovych doing then? he must have called you. did he ask for a meeting? yes. first, he called me late on the 21st to say that he was going to kharkov for a regional conference. i did not think it was a good idea for him to leave the capital in that situation, so i told him as much, and he said, “i’ll think about it. i don’t know. i’ll call you back. we’ll talk later.” that night, as both protesters and law enforcement officers were massacred on the maidan, yanukovych spent his last night at home.

he called me back, and he said he still wanted to go. the only thing i warned him about was not to send additional police forces. he said, “i understand that.” he left and pulled out all law enforcement forces. on february 21 at 9:17 a.m., viktor yanukovych left his mezhgorye residence, stopping for a few seconds as if to say goodbye. he knew he was not coming back, although at that time he still expected peaceful decisions from the maidan protesters and european intermediaries in response to his consent to meet the opposition’s demands. as you know, the opposite happened – the opposition forces seized the presidential administration and government on that same day. on the 22nd, he called me again to tell me he was in kharkov and wanted to meet and discuss the situation with me. i was certainly willing to talk and asked, “where would you like to meet?”

on that day, the maidan leaders appointed alexander turchinov to head the verkhovna rada, in violation of the country’s constitution, thus de facto ousting yanukovych. the ukrainian president spoke on the radio from kharkov. viktor yanukovych: i am not resigning. i was legally elected president. what is happening is flagrant vandalism and banditry and a coup d’etat. once yanukovych left kiev, statements started coming from poland’s radoslaw sikorski, the european commission’s olivier bailly and lithuania’s dalia grybauskaite that the eu association agreement would be signed with ukraine’s new government. the legitimate president was most certainly getting in the way of those behind the coup in kiev. it became clear to us then, and there were also reports that his opponents who toppled him were not just planning to take him hostage, but physically liquidate him.

as one well-known leader said, “when there's no person, there's no problem.” the events that followed confirmed that plan. without him, it would have been much easier for the opposition forces to attain their goals. on february 22, yanukovych left kharkov and called president putin again from donetsk. so i offered, “let’s just meet somewhere in rostov, so that you won’t have to fly far. i could join you there instead.” then i received another call, and his security service told me that they had a problem with take-off. by that time, i was actually aware that something out of the ordinary was going on, something beyond a normal situation. later we found out that his convoy had already come under fire. incidentally, ukraine’s prosecutor general viktor pshonka’s motorcade was attacked too. one of his security guards was injured.

by that point, yanukovych had already been removed from power, so the opposition forces launched an operation to capture or kill him. the leaders of russia’s four security services received the president’s orders to save the ukrainian president’s life. other groups, following orders from the maidan leaders, were also searching for him but with a different purpose. they couldn’t find him because after the failed attempt to take off from donetsk, yanukovych disappeared. his motorcade vanished somewhere in eastern ukraine. he must have somehow broken through and driven away from donetsk without really knowing where he was heading… he went to crimea. he was headed for crimea, but when they showed me his route plotted on a map… you saw a map?

when he called, our radio intelligence service began tracking his motorcade, and we recorded his locations. but when they showed me the map, it became clear that he would soon run into an ambush. according to our information, heavy-caliber machine guns were deployed, so there wasn’t going to be any discussion. does this mean that they didn’t even intend to stop the motorcade? we have reasons to believe that he simply would have been annihilated. his security staff had been informed that they could not continue on. the thinking here was quite strange, since it was all planned out using unsecured communication channels, which we used to figure out where he was. but before we tracked him down using technical means, we didn’t know where he was, so we prepared to rescue him directly from donetsk by land, sea or air.

so you ordered various units to be ready to save yanukovych? yes, because he was already far from donetsk, so it would have taken motor boats five or six hours to reach the coast, which is quite a long time. did you tell them to retreat to the coast and warn them that their lives would have been in danger had they continued? yes, they turned around. we provided them the bearings and information on the location the motorcade needed to reach. we also sent out a helicopter group with special forces onboard. the search operation lasted for about ninety minutes, but dozens of kilometers of the coastline were scanned with no results. the pilots were not in contact with yanukovych’s motorcade, and his adjutant was calling the kremlin in despair. at a certain point it became clear that they were unable to find the motorcade,

and the helicopter was running out of fuel, so they would have to return. the helicopters were about to turn back when the pilots suddenly saw flashing lights in the distances – vehicles from the motorcade simultaneously turned on their high-beams to signal their location. how did they know to do that? we told them to. do you mean that you and your colleagues warned them? yes. the pilots saw them and picked them up. take the second square, 7:45... permission 60:45. take preliminary 7-44. cleared for landing.

but the story does not end there, because yanukovych did not want to move to russia and asked to go to crimea right away. and to crimea he went. so for another several days, as the coup unfolded, he was on ukrainian territory. however, after several days, when it became clear that there was no one to talk to in kiev, he asked us to bring him to russia. what did you feel when you heard that the rescue operation was a success? what did i feel? i felt like we saved his life and the lives of his family members. i think it was a good thing to do, a noble thing. i don’t want to judge his actions. he said, i just couldn’t sign the order to use force, i couldn’t bring myself to do it.

i don’t know whether he should be blamed for this. i don’t think that i have the right to. good or bad, his inaction obviously had grave consequences. reenactment. thousands of the most vulnerable people in ukraine were already feeling the consequences. having taken kiev, the nationalists went after anyone who disagreed with how they took power. roman yakovlev (bus convoy head, simferopol resident): it was the 20th. we were returning home. alexander belyi (auto mechanic, simferopol resident): the road was blocked. i don’t know what to call them. they were monsters. city of korsun-shevchenkovsky, cherkassy region, ukraine, february 20, 2014

on the day when snipers assumed full control of the maidan, ordinary people were bused back to crimea from kiev where they had attended the so-called anti-maidan protests, peaceful rallies, during which unarmed crimeans attempted to show their opposition to the euromaidan movement. patrol cars of the ukrainian police force joined the bus convoy half way to escort them, and eventually led the crimeans into an ambush. alexander bochkaryov (deputy regiment commander of the crimean self-defense forces): the bus convoy was blocked at both ends. that’s when bad things started to happen. men armed with clubs appeared, some of them were drunk, others were on drugs... roman yakovlev (bus convoy head, simferopol resident): a guy with a gun came out and started shooting people point blank.

alexei grebnev (bus passenger, simferopol resident): our driver was shot in his seat. roman yakovlev (bus convoy head, simferopol resident): then this hoard of barbarians approached the buses and started breaking windows. alexander belyi (auto mechanic, simferopol resident): they threw stones at us. then they began screaming stuff like, “come out or we’ll burn you alive.” the passengers didn’t think they would make it out alive, especially if they were found with a russian flag or signs with slogans like “we won’t give our crimea to bandera” or even just photos on their smartphones of the events that took place on the maidan. mikhail gupalo (bus passenger, simferopol resident): i removed the memory card from my phone and camera and placed them under my tongue. i was prepared to swallow the photos of my family and of what these monsters did on the maidan, so that they don’t get into their hands.

alexei grebnev (bus passenger, simferopol resident): when we ran out of the bus, we saw there was a ditch on the side of the road. they threw us into it. first they beat us, and then threw us into the ditch. the men who were shot lay there. six people were lying there, and our bus driver lay nearby. alexander belyi (auto mechanic, simferopol resident): they forced us to sing the ukrainian national anthem and to shout “glory to ukraine,” while beating us with clubs. i got seven stitches on my head. mikhail gupalo (bus passenger, simferopol resident): we were sitting all together, while they took the crimeans out one by one, forcing some of them to take broken glass from the bus and put it down their shirts, or into their pockets, or even eat it. they forced people to eat glass? yes. people ate it, because they wanted to live.

alexander belyi (auto mechanic, simferopol resident): there was a guy who tried to escape into the fields. i watched them shoot at him. he fell to the ground, and i don’t know if he is alive or not. i don’t know. the crowd cheered as the buses burned. and while maidan supporters were busy admiring the spectacle they had created, the surviving crimeans were able to escape, fleeing in all directions. but not everyone made it. the nationalists began a manhunt in the fields and woods. alexandr bochkaryov (deputy regiment commander of the crimean self-defense forces): everyone saw special cars looking for people who ran away from the buses. we hid from these fascists and criminals in fields and the woods.

believe me, they were burning with hatred even though we hadn’t done anything to them... those who got caught were beaten to within an inch of their lives, but first they were told that if they survive, their lives would never be the same. alexander beliy (auto mechanic, simferopol resident): they threatened me and held a gun to my head. roman yakovlev (bus convoy head, simferopol resident): they were angry at us, because we are from crimea, “speak ukrainian.” i said, "i don’t speak ukrainian." he said, “i’ll go to crimea and kill your whole family for speaking russian." alexander bochkaryov (deputy regiment commander of the crimean self-defense forces): they were beating us. they saw our blood, they knew we were in pain and just stood there laughing – they enjoyed it. what more is there to say? this tragedy made us realize that we couldn’t stay in ukraine. they are fascists, total fascists and banderites. korsun-shevchenkovsky, cherkassy region, ukraine, february 20, 2014

according to the ukrainian interior ministry, the korsun massacre - as this tragedy immediately came to be known in crimea - claimed the lives of seven people. of the eight crimean buses, the nationalists burned four in the cherkassy region. more than 20 people went missing. when we saw the outburst of extreme nationalism, we realized that the people residing in crimea might face hard times. it was then – and i want to emphasize this – it was then that we realized that we could not abandon these people just like that and leave them to their own devices. simferopol, which kiev declared the seat of the enemies of maidan, was given an ultimatum – demolish the monument to lenin within the next 10 days. even before the korsun massacre, this ultimatum had spurred locals to take to the streets.

while some other ukrainian regions demonstrated their loyalty to nationalists, the crimeans were busy forming self-defense units. sergei aksyonov (head of the republic of crimea, leader of the all-ukrainian party russian unity, 2008-2014): we held training sessions every day and were prepared to stop anyone who tried to tear down the monument. for us, it really was a symbol of stability and the ability of the authorities to keep the situation under control. when you started your personal crimean spring, you had no way of knowing that russia would support crimea. were you scared? you know, our sense of pride probably helped us overcome this fear. "together, we will build our crimea! peace to crimea! together, we will build our crimea!" where did aksyonov come from? i’m not sure. i never heard of him before.

frankly, they just told me his name and said that the mps of the crimean parliament want him to represent them. the self-defense forces insisted on having a leader from their ranks - aksyonov. they had some sway with the deputies back then, it's true. that may well be the case, i’m not really sure. that’s up to them, they are the ones who live in crimea. of course, they know better. he was the one who formed the companies and so on. when i asked the chairman of the crimean parliament about him, he told me, "well, he’s like che guevara. that’s the kind of person we need now." sergei aksyonov: we want a peaceful, stable and multi-ethnic crimea, where people can lead normal lives. the crimean spring was probably successful because of the unity of the people and ideas, patriotism – you know, a single way of thinking, a unified approach. february 22 unified the crimeans. on that day, berkut officers returned to sevastopol and simferopol.

they were attacked with fire and guns during the maidan protests, and then were accused of sniper attacks. battered and bruised, they returned home to a sight they couldn’t have imagined in kiev. at this time, criminal cases were being opened against berkut officers and commanders throughout ukraine. in lviv, they forced them on their knees. in the town of rovno, all of berkut officers were placed under the control of the right sector. kiev proposed forming a special unit on the basis of the berkut named after the heroes of euromaidan. everywhere else, they were enemies. only in crimea were they treated like heroes. yury abisov (commander of the crimean berkut battalion, commander of the special rapid response unit of the interior ministry of the republic of crimea since august 2014): it was like salve, a refreshing drink of water or a breath of fresh air.

we knew we were finally home - this is our crimea, and we will not give it to anyone. do you understand? in other words, that was it? yes. the decision was made here, on lenin square, by the crimeans. on the same day, dozens of wounded people were taken to the hospitals, and a berkut officer and two service members of the interior troops who died on the maidan were buried. when they returned to the base, they realized that for the first time their duty was not to protect public order, but to guard peace in crimea. kiev promised to restore order in southeastern ukraine and elsewhere, where residents were opposed to the ideas of the maidan. i’m sure that with crimea’s ethnic composition, things would have been even worse, and we had to take certain actions to prevent such negative developments. we wanted to prevent tragedies like the one that occurred later in odessa, where dozens of people were burned alive.

we needed to prevent bloodshed no matter what. simferopol residents guarded the berkut base round the clock against nationalists. they brought in sandbags to prepare for attacks by kiev. the fighters were issued weapons. yury abisov (commander of the crimean berkut battalion, commander of the special rapid response unit of the interior ministry of the republic of crimea since august 2014): we knew what they were capable of. we knew what they were capable of. they used ice picks to break arms. someone would say, "break his right arm, he used it to throw grenades." they would sew up a bloodied eye, saying, "he won’t need it anymore, sew it up." and they would do it without anesthesia... that was their way of torturing people. come on, open the gates. here’s where the armored personnel carrier stood.

we showed everyone that we were ready for any challenge and we would confront any uninvited guests... that is, in case of … yes. in case you came under direct fire? yes, direct fire. when the threat was growing, when we felt threatened and that they were coming after us, we were ready for what might come. arsen avakov, whom the verkhovna rada appointed as the minister of internal affairs, issued an order to disband berkut for “completely discrediting themselves before the ukrainian people.” any unit in the regions that did not obey the order was considered an illegal armed gang. yury abisov (commander of the crimean berkut battalion, commander of the special rapid response unit of the interior ministry of the republic of crimea since august 2014): i arrived in the morning,

called the officers into my room and i said, “let’s vote by show of hands, like they did on the collective farms, to know where we stand: who is going to stay with us to the end and who is going to leave – i would understand, we would all understand that decision. where we’ll go next – to the mountains or to fight our way to somewhere in russia – i’ll think about it as your commander, but now each of us has to make a choice.” and everybody, to a man, raised their hands. one and all. and you decided to defend yourselves? yes, we decided to begin with defending ourselves and our families. after maidan, crimean berkut introduced new elements to their training regiment. the special unit officers began practicing not only their own techniques, but the counter-methods that were used on the maidan against them. so, they had practiced all this in advance?

yury abisov (commander of the crimean berkut battalion, commander of the special rapid response unit of the interior ministry of the republic of crimea since august 2014): the americans invited over ukrainian security forces to share experience, to upgrade their skills. they would give them a sheet of paper and tell them to write down how they would handle such a crowd, what the formation would be… so, the ukrainian unit commanders wrote… yes, they wrote down their tactics, how they would handle a crowd of hoodlums, or ultras, or rioters. that was back in 2006. and then they issued manuals, “how to counter berkut,” which described how to pull off an officer’s helmet… were they already writing instructions for the right sector back then? yes, yes.

officially the opposition was backed primarily by the europeans. but we knew perfectly well – it wasn’t just a hunch – we knew for certain that the real puppeteers pulling the strings were our american partners and friends. they helped to train the nationalists, they helped to train the combat units in western ukraine, in poland, and in lithuania to some extent. what did out partners do? they assisted the coup. that is to say, they started acting from a position of strength. i don’t think this is the best way to conduct international affairs in general, but especially with regard to the post-soviet states. because these countries have not yet found their bearings, they are vulnerable. their statehood, constitutions and systems of laws should be handled with care. all this was discarded and trampled on. and you see the dire consequences.

some went along with it, but others refuse to accept it. the country has been split. it became clear after maidan that ukraine was being divided methodically, according to instructions that even covered bloodletting. one of the methods used on maidan became known as carpathian beech. sergei marchenko (commander of omon berkut of the republic of crimea): the first line was unarmed, they had nothing in their hands. the second line sprayed varnish, paint on the visors. the officer was blinded, and when he lifted his visor he was hit in the face with a wooden stake. “beware of stones.” sergei marchenko, commander of the crimean berkut special unit, and his men were on the maidan the entire time. he fully understands methods mobs use.

there were specially trained people who found gaps, weak spots in these tactical formations. so they targeted these unprotected areas with molotov cocktails? each officer on the maidan lost five or six uniforms to fire. they put out the flames on each other using as many as 20 fire extinguishers an hour at times. one officer of crimean berkut was killed and 32 sustained gunshot wounds during the 24 hours when unidentified snipers were at work. yury abisov (commander of the crimean berkut battalion, commander of the special rapid response unit of the interior ministry of the republic of crimea since august 2014):if you look at the types of injuries: there were wounds on the hands from holding their shields, which they could no longer pick up, wounds on the knees from being kicked. so, the shooting was not done by ordinary ukrainians who had come to demand their rights because they didn’t like the yanukovych government. berkut was attacked by professional sharp-shooters who had fought in many hot spots.

it was a planned and rehearsed method that had been used in many countries to overthrow the legitimate government. period. before doing what they did in kiev on february 22, they should have thought about the consequences that this type of solving political problems would have for the country. it’s easy to turn everything upside down, but it’s important to be mindful of the legitimate interests of one’s partners if we want to treat each other with respect. as for historical justice, we have called and still call sevastopol a city of russian naval glory. and where was our sevastopol, where was russian naval glory? everything changed. indeed, no other russian city had so much blood shed to defend it. a hero city, a fortress city, an admiral city. it has always stood apart.

even in soviet times when crimea was handed over to the ukrainian soviet republic, “glorious sevastopol” remained a city under the jurisdiction of the ussr. nowhere was love for russia demonstrated as fervently as in sevastopol, nowhere in crimea were the anti-bandera rallies as large. crowd chanting: down with fascism! down with fascism! down with fascism! only here, in a city that was de jure ukrainian, did the people choose a citizen of russia as their mayor at a rally on february 23. alexei chaly (chairman of the legislative assembly of the city of sevastopol): in 1991, when yeltsin came out and said we’ve decided to bury the soviet union, after belovezhskaya pushcha, i thought to myself: "that’s it." and then year after year, i observed the gradual changes in day-to-day life: currency, passport control on the border, the curriculum at schools and pre-schools, little by little… all of a sudden we had state television, in ukrainian of course. it makes no sense, does it? nobody in the city speaks ukrainian.

in sevastopol, unlike in crimea, they never taught ukrainian. the population had special status. and then they gradually began tightening the screws. more than 40 laws were passed that limited the official use of the russian language. all the business paperwork had to be in ukrainian. many officials were sent in from kiev and western ukraine. they were afraid of separatism? yeah, but they still couldn’t do anything about it. alexei chaly refurbished the famous 35th battery of sevastopol himself, with his own money and donations. seamen now take their oath here. remark: … the combat readiness of the ships and units, to add to the glorious battle traditions of the black sea fleet. remark: serving the russian federation. yes sir! many years ago a textbook on sevastopol was published using private funds.

sevastopol’s history was taught at schools to counter the official history curriculum, which glorified stepan bandera. the people of the city of russian glory not only cherished their own historical and cultural code, they resisted alien codes. so, when they call the crimean spring the third defense of sevastopol, local residents are quick to correct: “in the spring of 2014 we were not defending but attacking. we were defending ourselves during the 23 preceding years.” viktor melnikov (member of 3rd rapid response company of sevastopol, afghanistan war veteran): sevastopol has earned eternal glory, in spite of 23 years of occupation… you consider it occupation? yes, occupation. i’m one of the officers who did not take the ukrainian oath. we have preserved our love of russia, our history. sevastopol is not a simple city at all, not at all…

viktor melnikov, squad commander of the 13th guards rapid response company of the sevastopol self-defense forces. the self-defense forces were established here in december 2013, two months before shooting started on the maidan. after the coup in kiev, nearly all sevastopol residents joined the self-defense forces. in my 60 years, i’ve never seen people become so selflessly united in heart and mind and dedicated to the defense of their city. have they saved it? yes, they have. and if necessary, we’ll do it again! for russians, crimea is a heroic part of our history. this includes the period when this territory was incorporated into russia, and the heroic defense and surrender of crimea and sevastopol during the second world war.

crimea is connected to russian history, russian literature, the arts, and the czar’s family. by and large, the entire fabric of russian history is intertwined with crimea one way or another. simferopol, february 26, 2014. the supreme council of crimea called an emergency meeting. there were plans to hold a referendum to determine the future status of the autonomous region. but the crimean tatar mejlis, acting on orders from the maidan, rallied several thousand people on the square. mr. aksyonov, this is the same place where that demonstration was held on february 26. you were directly involved in it. what do you remember? how was it? sergei aksyonov (head of the republic of crimea, leader of the all-ukrainian party russian unity, 2008-2014): i remember everything. how could i not? kiev instructed the leaders of the crimean mejlis to prevent us from holding all parliament meetings in crimea.

if possible, they were to seize the crimean parliament. the majority of crimean tatars say they never wanted this conflict. but the police took the wrong stand, and we had to start amassing our people left of the entrance. the majority of crimean tatars say they never wanted this conflict. there? kiev also dispatched members of the right sector here to support the mejlis. they were waiving “bandera flags.” it is these people who had started the first clashes by noon. igor georgiyevsky was among those who tried to stop the crowd from breaking into the supreme council. igor georgiyevsky (a cossack of the terek cossack host in crimea and sevastopol): yes, there was a red-and-black bandera banner. vadim ilovchenko (ataman of the terek cossack host in crimea and sevastopol): yes, there was a bandera flag. an addition to ukrainian flags. they wanted to show how strong they were. when they caught you under the elbows, they actually lifted you off the ground.

one line of people came against the opposing line, moving back and forth, trying to stand their ground… this is a very tiring thing. we parted to catch our breath. mikhail sheremet (ð¡ommander of the crimean self-defense forces): they wedged into the crowd, pressing onward and taking up the rear. i was right there, together with sergei turchanenko, 1st company commander. this is where i was knocked off my feet… right here? yes. without assistance i wouldn’t have gotten back on my feet. i’m grateful to him, for he saved me from being trodden on. platoon commander pavel taran from the 3rd company, who fought in afghanistan, filmed this footage. according to him, 30 people were taken to the hospital that day, and they were the lucky ones. pavel taran (platoon commander of the 3rd afghan company of the crimean self-defense forces): the pushing and shoving was really intense.

near us, an old man fell down. we tried to pick him up to save him from being trodden on. they tore him apart. we just couldn’t keep the crowd back. was that old man one of those who died that day? yes, he died. shouts from the crowd: where’s the ambulance? quick! guys, what’s happening? and then bottles with water and sand and a strange powder were flung into the crowd from the group with the mejlis and right sector flags. the injured crimeans were pressed back, and the crowd stormed into the parliament. mikhail sheremet (commander of the crimean self-defense forces): they were shouting as they moved on, and we saw them heading towards the door. they had one goal: to break down the door and enter the building.

which door exactly? the one we are looking at right now. that one, the outermost one. but after they entered the building where their compatriots were sitting in session, the crimean tatars got flustered. they clearly didn’t know what to do. the mejlis leader, mustafa dzhemilev, stopped issuing orders over the phone, and the right sector extremists who had seized buildings in kiev did not enter the crimean parliament. shouts from the crowd: glory to the heroes! glory to ukraine! it turned out that the self-defense forces have blocked the outsiders. they have singled out the maidan leaders from kiev and lviv, even though they pretended to be ordinary people taking part in a spontaneous protest.

on the outside, it may seem like a spontaneous demonstration. enver kurtametov (commander of the 15th company of the crimean self-defense forces): no, andrei, you’re mistaken. it was an arranged rally. see this man in a red coat? he is a curator. do you see him? the one in a red coat, you can see him clearly. these men in red are all curators, keeping about a dozen meters from each other. and this one is probably the group leader. he always kept his hood on, so that we couldn’t see his face. here he is. and here’s one more. did they deliberately create that line of confrontation, with slavs on one side and tatars on the other? yes, they wanted to pit slavs and crimean tatars against each other, so that they would start a war, start slaughtering each other. i’m a crimean tatar myself. my people were deceived.

they were told that if we reunite with russia, they would again be deported to magadan or the urals. such rubbish… they tried to scare the tatars with deportation? yes, that’s what they said. the self-defense forces saw that the majority of ordinary crimean tatars were surprised by the methods used by some of the people on their side. here, i’ll show something. see here? they are covering their faces. some even had gas masks ready. in addition to nerve gases, they also used a new trick – fluorescent lamp glass ground into a fine dust. everyone who was covered by that dust couldn’t open his or her eyes for several days. mikhail sheremet (commander of the crimean self-defense forces): a cutting feeling and pain. people felt as if they had been blinded. vadim ilovchenko (ataman of the terek cossack host in crimea and sevastopol): if memory serves, sergei aksyonov was moving from

the central entrance, his face badly beaten… he got his share of blows too. yes, and he also tried to break up the fight. he tried to part the fighters. sergei aksyonov in the crowd: cossacks, over here! to the left, guys! sergei aksyonov (head of the republic of crimea, leader of the all-ukrainian party russian unity, 2008-2014): i did my best to set them apart. some of my colleagues suggested taking up arms… as you understand, it’s one thing to take up arms against kiev, the right sector or against someone else, and it’s quite another matter when you face crimeans, even if they are of a different nationality. sergei aksyonov at a rally: crimeans are expecting people of all nationalities to come here for holiday, to work and to be friends.

some crimean tatars were under the influenceâ of their leaders. some of these leaders are professional – i repeat, professional – fighters for the rights of crimean tatars, for human rights. for some of them the situation is not comfortable because the people don’t need them anymore. the crimean tatars are not a homogenous group; there are different people among them. the local self-defense forces acted very energetically, and they were supported by part of the crimean tatars. the self-defense forces recruited the assistance of the crimean tatars; there were crimean tatars in the self-defense forces. the mejlis leaders tried to convince the people that their life would worsen dramatically after crimea’s reunification with russia. enver kurtametov, commander of the 15th company of the crimean self-defense forces,

easily opened his compatriots’ eyes to the truth: their life can’t get any worse because it’s already as bad as it can get. enver kurtametov (commander of the 15th company of the crimean self-defense forces): we saw nothing good from ukraine during all these years. nothing good at all. when crimea was part of ukraine, the official pay was only 1,200 hryvnias. how can you feed a family with that? how? you see that people can’t even build a home for themselves. the village of mamut-sultan, one of many in the historical territory where crimean tatars lived from the 14th to the 17th century. when they returned here from central asia thirty years ago, they returned into the middle ages, and they are still living in the past, without water or a sewage system, without heat and electricity. lilia okazova (from the village of mamut-sultan): come in, and don’t take off your shoes. please. come in. these are the beds. three of us sleep here. my son has a job in the village.

these are shelves with our belongings. in all, there are five of us here. there are five of us and one… in this small wagon? remark: i have nowhere to live and i have four kids. the state didn’t provide us with any housing at all. there’s no water, no electricity, no drivable roads. in winter you walk in mud up to your knees. did kiev always keep its promises? no, hardly ever. they’re just manipulating us. they are using us, you know, as leverage. that’s all. enver kurtametov was in kiev when, after the victory of maidan, nationalists were persecuting russian-speaking crimeans. through some back-ways, he helped bring some 360 crimeans back home. in crimea, he immediately formed a multiethnic squadron to protect people from banderites.

enver kurtametov (commander of squadron 15 of the crimean self-defense forces): we had to patrol for days on end, sometimes without sleep. and not just us but the entire self-defense forces were serving for days without any rest. one day a delicate looking young woman enlisted to work in the medical unit of his squadron. for enver, it was his personal crimean spring. marina kornitskaya (enver kurtametov’s wife): we got married seven days after we met. was it love at first sight if you were married seven days later? yes. she saw me, conquered me and got all of me. there is a belief in kiev that russia and crimea will never work it out because russians will never be in good relations with crimean tatars. what do you think, marina? marina kornitskaya (enver kurtametov’s wife): i personally have very good relations with the crimean tatars.

(a girl recites a poem in the crimean tatar language.) domes of churches and minarets of mosques in crimea have been very close for centuries, whether it’s alushta or simferopol, sudak or kerch. bakhchysarai is a capital of the former crimean khanate. who praised the fountain here better than pushkin? there are 150 ethnicities in crimea. most importantly, what people have really feared since perestroika is imported inter-ethnic conflict. we do not intend to offend anyone, crimean tatars, the germans who live there, the greeks, or armenians, or russians and ukrainians. we want them all to be a big family. speaking of the historical issues the crimean tatar face, we believe it is our duty to resolve them together with all the ethnicities living there. we are not dividing anyone by ethnicity. they are all citizens of the russian federation. even during those events, i was pleasantly surprised.

i was talking to crimeans and asked them how many ukrainians there are and they were stunned and replied: “you know, we don’t make this distinction. we are like one family.” public uplift and unity that would almost immediately be dubbed the crimean spring appeared within several days. on february 22, following the maidan events, berkut takes an oath of loyalty to crimea. on february 23, alexei chaliy was elected people’s mayor at a massive rally. meanwhile, recruitment for the people’s militia continues in simferopol. on february 24, in kerch, yevpatoria, feodosiya, yalta, sevastopol and simferopol, people protest and call for reunification with russia. on february 25, at a protest in simferopol, people decide not to obey the ukrainian authorities any more. on february 27, a so-called “friendship train” departs from kiev to crimea.

ihor mosiychuk, a right sector leader who said that “the crimean separatists would pay for everything,” was behind the initiative. it was zero hour for the crimean self-defense forces. at 8:15 p.m., when the train was to arrive, a punitive operation was to begin in simferopol. the militia went to the railway station to meet the thugs who had gone through the bloodshed of maidan. they carried everything they could with them, from batons, metal pieces and molotov cocktails, to firearms that they obtained by looting the military units in the lviv region. crimeans knew about that. mikhail sheremet (commander of the crimean people’s defense forces): we are closing our ranks so that the nationalists do not enter our land. we saw what they did in the main square in kiev. have you seen what’s left of it?

it is all ruins and ashes. we were teaming up to defend our land, our families, our homes. who were the people in your squadron? there were successful business people who arrived in beautiful expensive cars and stood in line with ordinary builders, workers, people from all walks of life. we had a division of blacksmiths who provided us with shields. oleg krivoruchenko (blacksmith): we worked for days on end and produced 40 shields a day on average. we slept here, ate here and worked stepping over those who were sleeping. we were learning from the maidan experience. for example, we filled eyeholes in case they tried to use molotov cocktails against us. the militia said that evenâ aluminum shield, special police forces use, were no good. these are of course much heavier. they are made of steel.

so they can stop a bullet? well, i don’t know if they can stop a bullet. but perhaps, they can protect against a spent bullet. the blacksmiths’ armor that they put on to “greet” the armed to the teeth nationalists would probably not protect them from the gunfire. they did not have weapons but they had faith and tricolor painted shields. mikhail sheremet (commander of the crimean people’s defense forces): we were encouraging each other. i could see fear in my fellow fighters’ eyes. we were aware of what we were getting into. we were aware that they were not coming empty-handed. we were aware of why they were coming. but we overcame the fear and believed that we could stop the train. after waiting for three hours in suspense, the commander got a report. the train was about to arrive. the shields on the platform closed. more waiting.

mikhail sheremet (commander of the crimean self-defense forces): two hours later, the train arrived. it was a scary sight, like a ghost train. what were the people thinking and talking about at that moment? we wouldn’t let them in. we’d rather die. people of all ethnicities and faiths were united around one single flag, the flag of crimea. the train was stopping in front of the militia. the windows were open. the lights were on. and then they realized that the “friendship train” was empty. mikhail sheremet (commander of the crimean people’s defense forces): i think their intelligence had provided them with information. apparently, they got alerts from the railway station that there were people waiting, that the crimeans would not let them go through. it was animal fear. they pulled the emergency stop valve and took off. as it turned out later, before reaching crimea,

the banderite troops demanded the train be stopped. they spent three hours unloading tons of weapons from the train. the ukrainian security service alerted the right sector that some 1,500 militia men were waiting for them in simferopol. the nationalists didn’t expect this. thank god it ended this way. we are in fact peaceful people. we don’t want any bloodshed or conflict. we just want to live in peace and prosperity. this is what united us. you see, all of us are guided by the desire to save our land, and by personal things, including our families who are our “home front.” what role did the local self-defense forces play in this all-out russian spring that came to crimea? an extremely huge role. i believe they played one of the main roles. again, when we went away at 7 a.m., i also told my colleagues that we would only do all this if we saw that the people wanted it.

and of course we needed to rely on local militias. you know, we even had to restrain some of them at a certain point. but really they were almost always in the foreground. samvel martoyan is one of the most famous self-defense force commanders. samvel martoyan (commander of the 4th company of crimean self-defense forces): this is our homeland. you and i must defend our homeland because we’re men, right? son of martoyan: right. he is a former soviet officer and resident of crimea. in february 2014, he formed a company that was armed with shovel handles and commanded it.

on february 27, his 4th company received the first combat order from sergei aksyonov. we were standing. mr. aksyonov came outside and told us to take the airport. i said: “all right, no problem. are there any means?” “we only have shovel handles,” he replied. all right, let it be shovel handles. on february 27, the simferopol airport, the largest in crimea, suddenly became what was probably the main threat. kiev panicked after learning about the decision of crimea’s mps and began preparing to land an assault force in simferopol. at that time, the self-defense fighters didn’t even know how to prevent a formation of military planes from landing at the airport. armed police officers stood in their way. they would have probably shot us if they’d wanted to.

but, to be honest, they really supported us in their heart of hearts. the police that included local crimea residents actually supported the self-defense fighters and basically allowed them to proceed. we looked at each other: “let’s go?” “yes.” we approached the iron fence and started breaking it down. samvel martoyan’s plan was simple but sound – to light up fuel barrels on the runway, so that ukrainian military pilots would be able to see that it was impossible to land. samvel martoyan (commander of the 4th company of crimea’s self-defense forces): we ran over there, put the barrels in place and were getting ready to light them up. we lit the torches, and i called mr. aksyonov.

i said, “mr. aksyonov, i am standing on the runway, and i’m ready to set the barrels on fire.” he told me to wait for orders. about 30 seconds later, he said, “samvel, we have done our duty, in short, kiev has been told that the runway has been seized, and landing is impossible.” but it was too early for the self-defense fighters to celebrate. the security service of ukraine was placed on alert, with many operatives from its crimea division supporting the euromaidan government. people wielding assault rifles ran towards us and held us in one area. we approached the terminal and stood there. - who are you? - we are crimean self-defense fighters, my name is samvel, i am a company commander.

- why did you break the gate? - officer, we broke it because there was no one to open it. - who supports you? - the people of crimea. - people of crimea, why did you break the gate? - we broke it, and we’ll repair it. everything will be ok. - are you locals? - yes we are. - well, locals, you have entered a restricted area. your trespass is seen as a terrorist act.

- officer, please don’t raise your voice. i’m explaining… - ready! - please wait. - you have two minutes to lay down your weapons! - we don’t have any weapons, what are you talking about? - we are counting. - where are your weapons? - what’s got into you? - will you shoot unarmed people?

samvel martoyan (commander of the 4th company of crimea’s self-defense forces): and then i heard the sound of approaching trucks. remark from the crowd: stay put, boys. that was the critical moment. what were you thinking at that moment? honestly? i was thinking that someone had come here to shoot us. police with assault rifles were right behind us, and there were four kamaz trucks in front. i said to get ready for battle, but we only had shovel handles for weapons. we were standing, and none of my men ran off or backed away. trucks pulled up, and soldiers started jumping out.

then we realized that they were russian soldiers. tears welled up in the eyes of some of my men. we immediately started applauding. they came out, approached us quietly and silently, and they walked past us. we started shouting that we had been waiting for them for a long while, and we also started shouting: “russia, russia!” were they the polite people? yes, the polite little green men. it took the self-defense fighters awhile to realize that the ukraine security service and police officers with assault rifles had disappeared. at that moment, crimea residents were focused on the well-equipped men who had so unexpectedly come to the rescue.

chanting: “russia!” commandos from the black sea fleet’s marine force arrived from sevastopol. they seized strategic positions in just a few minutes and established control over simferopol international airport. the most surprising thing is that the airport personnel and passengers noticed nothing, and the airport continued to operate as usual. they arrived just in time. but for them, the situation here would have been much worse than in donbas. mr. martoyan has been talking about donbas a lot. he volunteered to fight in donbas, after hostilities began. he addressed crimean residents from bombed-out gorlovka: “you simply cannot imagine what horrors russia saved us from during the crimean spring.”

son of samvel martoyan: dad, look, a plane. samvel martoyan: yes, i can see it. looks beautiful, right? right. did you ever fly a plane before? yes. did i tell you? the euromaidan government in kiev completely lost control over the simferopol airport after unarmed self-defense fighters entered the crimean air traffic control center. they teamed up with air traffic controllers and rerouted ukrainian airplanes in the next four days, and kiev lost all hope of launching an air assault. it’s so good that we are now part of russia, and that all this is now history. it’s so good that this land will now breathe normally and lead a normal life.

this is probably genetic memory: this air, this land is generating an aura that people should not forget… my grandfather spilled his blood on this territory. and my son will walk this land feeling proud that we have not betrayed who we are. we never thought about taking crimea from ukraine. never. but when the events relating to the coup started to unfold, and power was seized by force and in an anti-constitutional manner, these people ran into danger of becoming victims of nationalists. of course, back than we were quick to realize this, at least i did. the first thing i did was instruct the presidential staff to carry out an unofficial opinion survey in crimea to gauge attitudes regarding crimea joining russia. as it turned out, 75 percent of the population was willing to join russia.

i’ve already mentioned that historically crimea was russian territory where ethnic russians live. they came under threat and there was no way we could leave them on their own. make no mistake: capturing crimea or annexing anything was not the point. the ultimate objective was to provide people with an opportunity to express views on how they want to live in future. in all my instructions i said to act cautiously relying on people whom today we can call russian patriots (that’s what i was saying from the very beginning!). we relied on them and their initiatives, but also helped them by backing them with major forces and means. what i mean is that over 20,000 russian soldiers were in crimea. and they were well-armed. you know what? i didn’t even have to use federation council permission to deploy russian troops to ukraine. and i didn’t bend the truth, since under the related international treaty russia

was entitled to have 20,000 service personnel at its military base in crimea or slightly more. but even with the troops that were added, as i’ve mentioned, we were still well under 20,000. since the number of russian troops at crimean military bases didn’t exceed the agreed upon number, strictly speaking we didn’t go beyond any of our commitments, since additional troops were not brought in. key government buildings that were crucial for maintaining stability and legality in crimea were taken under protection. it took the swat teams just 30 minutes to carry out this operation, which took place overnight and into february 27. did you know about that? sergei aksyonov (head of the republic of crimea, leader of the all-ukrainian party russian unity, 2008-2014): no, i learned about it only the next morning. at half past five i was told by telephone that the two buildings, the council of ministers and the supreme council of the republic of crimea,

had been taken over by armed men. we had to ensure that crimea’s parliament was able to operate, so that it could convene a meeting and carry out the activities prescribed by law. it was important to ensure that people felt secure. i would like to draw your attention to the fact that crimea’s parliament was an absolutely legitimate, full-fledged representative body in crimea. it was formed long before any of these complex and tragic events. so these representatives convened a meeting, held a vote and elected a new prime minister of crimea, sergei aksyonov. and yanukovych, who was then president, at least de jure serving in this position, approved this appointment. you see, in terms of respecting ukrainian law, everything was honored and respected. of course you can say many things about these events and they can be subject to various interpretations.

but from the legal perspective, there is no way you can fault it. however, in order to ensure that people were not afraid for themselves or their families, we had to ensure their security. and we did just that. after a session of the crimean parliament was interrupted by the mejlis of the crimean tatar people, local mps actually needed protection. only when they saw “polite people” in and around the building, were they able to continue their work. vladimir konstantinov (head of the state council of the republic of crimea): this is our historic room, where the supreme soviet of the autonomous republic of crimea held its sessions. the events that are now known as the crimean spring took place in this building. sixty-one votes in favor of the crimean referendum. it was a historic vote.

sixty-one out of 64 because three simply didn’t vote. that’s right. was it really for security reasons that on february 27 the military held strategic positions in this building? yes, of course. the security factor was becoming paramount. how did it all happen in the early hours of february 27, when the key buildings in simferopol were taken under protection? sergei shoigu (minister of defense of the russian federation): it was a forced measure, because there were a lot of instigators and agitators, the decision was adopted at that point. it was in those days that a real brand – the “polite people” – appeared in crimea. how did this happen? was it accidental? you know, as they say in situations like this: there is nothing accidental in this world.

no one wanted to fight; everyone was going to defend and prevent. and, of course, the guys over there were instructed to be polite and civil. they knew they came to protect, not to occupy. on the days when the world’s attention was focused on the events in crimea, a most popular internet video showed a tiny crimean girl hugging a russian soldier. we found the man who filmed the episode. pavel taran (platoon commander, 3rd afghan company, crimean self-defense force): i took the video right on this spot. the soldier was standing here. many at that time said the video was choreographed. they didn’t believe this would happen in real life.

but in fact the girl recognized the man who had given her a chocolate the day before. i saw him give sweets to the children, and the crimean children loved him. but how many similar scenes were not recorded? for example, a young woman with a baby carriage was strolling past a military cordon, when she was politely stopped by a soldier. and he told her: “please, show me.” she asked: “show what?” “show her!” she lifted the baby: “here, look.” there were tears in his eyes as he said: “i’ve got a baby like yours at home – four months old.” and the following is a story that spread through the ukrainian military grapevine. several members of an fsb special unit came to a ukrainian military unit only to find that the ukrainians had barricaded themselves. the men smashed down the door, stepped inside and talked to their colleagues.

after that they rushed to a store, bought a new door and hung it. since that day, both teams worked together on a number of projects. they were really polite people. they didn’t swear or display aggression. they were sincerely helping us. do you know what our advantage was? i was handling the whole thing personally. it’s not because i planned it that way, but it’s easier for people on the ground, when this is done by top public officials. they feel, understand and know that they are executing an order rather than acting on their own. on the contrary, when government agencies are in a semi-disintegrated state, orders are not issued, or don’t reach people on the ground, or their legitimacy is in doubt. since nationalists could have come to crimean cities any day it became obvious that the border between crimea and ukraine had to be controled.

berkut fighters, who knew the banderites best, moved to the perekop peninsula, chongar and turetsky val passes. unlike on maidan, now that they were at home and no one got in their way, they were able to prepare a proper welcome for their old acquaintances. berkut member: in terms of engineering obstacles we did everything properly and beautifully: signal mines, various kinds of trip wires, minefields so that no one could get through. the only problem was that that there were too few berkut fighters in sevastopol, just 24 men guarding all the passes, including the commander, sergei kolbin. on the opposite side, on the ukrainian side, the right sector had already concentrated several hundred militants. alexander ovcharenko (deputy commander of berkut special police force, sevastopol): the nazis said: “crimea will be ours or no one’s. those who disagree – we’re not going to look into every case – we’ll kill them all.”

fellow officers telephoned from kherson region: “men, banderovites will attack you today or tomorrow.” berkut was getting ready for the worst. our guys made their decision. they said “it’s better to die standing up than live on your knees.” and then, out of the blue, a line of buses arrived from the rear with many husky no-nonsense men. they were the members of the kuban cossack host. they came with an accordion and a soup kitchen. nikolai doluda (ataman of the kuban cossack host): when we arrived on the night of february 27 to 28, there were 11 berkut men on turetsky val, six on perekop and seven here on chongar. ivan bezugly (ataman of the taman chapter of the kuban cossack host): if there was an attack on the block post or an offensive by the militants, i can tell you that they would have been crushed, not because they are not brave, but because there were too few of them. but when we came, all the cossacks, i have to say this was a relief to them.

at first the other side thought the powerful reinforcements were regular russian troops, that’s until one evening the cossacks started playing the accordion. you know, they are people with big hearts. they like to work and fight and have a good time. they worked in a very disciplined fashion, like one team and they took their mission very seriously. and another thing: they worked together with the local men, with the local units, the volunteers. they were really like one family in that sense. people were coming there answering the call of their hearts and souls. vassily svetlichny (ataman of the yekaterinodar chapter of the kuban cossack host): after the developments on maidan, cossacks from crimea, the russian-speaking people (probably relatives and the like) were writing to us expressing their fears that the banderites could attack from the ukrainian side.

the cossacks discussed this at their meetings and decided to urge the ataman to move here. nikolai doluda, the ataman of the kuban cossack host, made the decision to deploy almost instantly. on february 27 the volunteers arrived in kerch by ferry. however, as they quickly realized, kiev had ordered the local authorities to do everything to prevent several hundred tough russians from getting shelter or transportation. the cossacks were left outdoors in february’s rain and wind. they went to pray at st. andrew’s church and unexpectedly found shelter there. father nikolai (archpriest of st. andrew church, kerch): they were very tired, they needed some rest. we have heated floors in our church, by the grace of god somebody had thought about it and we did it.

we made the floor nice and warm and they spent the night right there, resting… remark: may all the peoples inhabiting it unite into one family… so hundreds of kuban cossacks came out to defend the crimean borders: at perekop, chongar and turetsky val. were they the first people who managed to make the crossing and take up positions on this spot where we are standing now? nikolai doluda (ataman of the kuban cossack host): first, 450 cossacks came to the frontline on the border between the republic of crimea and ukraine; they dug the trenches and from midday on march 1 and until march 18 they prevented right sector militants from entering the territory of the crimean republic. the cossacks set up fully equipped camps at all the border crossing points. it soon became clear that no food supplies had to be brought in. food was flowing to the field kitchens.

alexander danilov (ataman of the maikop chapter of the kuban cossack host): the people’s gratitude knew no bounds. old women dropped to their knees and begged us not to leave. this was very moving. they brought us borsch in three-litre cans to feed the cossacks… the nationalists, who saw the cossack reinforcements, decided not to break through the crimean border, but they did not give up their plans. they asked kiev to send reinforcements, and the authorities sent in their troops. vassily svetlichny (ataman of the yekaterinodar chapter of the kuban cossack host): a large armoured column approached, ukrainian special forces. they had a grad and 80mm mortars. yes, there were reports that the ukrainian forces were bringing grads. yes, our aerial reconnaissance detected them.

they had brought multiple rocket launchers. we had to deploy our systems which in the event of any actions on their side… well, we would have annihilated them with the first salvo. “the russian army is exactly one step ahead of us,” the ukrainian military lamented addressing the rada. indeed, by the time kiev brought heavy weapons to the crimean border there was much more hardware backing berkut and the cossacks. mr shoigu, was a real military provocation, like in south ossetia in 2008, possible in crimea? sergei shoigu (minister of defense of the russian federation): i would say yes. when the first military units appeared, berkut urgently moved to the two isthmuses and to perekop. they dug in, sealed the border there and were watching.

most importantly, troops were concentrated on the other side which apparently planned to go in and start what is happening in eastern ukraine today. alexander ovcharenko (deputy commander of berkut special police force, sevastopol): yes, we identified the people who were supposed to capture crossings into crimea, that is, turetsky val, perekop and chongar. another failure to stage an offensive forced the ukrainian nationalists to change tactics. it was decided to blow up crimea from within. kiev organized deliveries of equipment for a maidan type event in crimea – bats, sharp tools, shields, helmets, and of course firearms. nikolai doluda (ataman, kuban cossack host): once we had to stop a van by shooting out its tires with our automatic rifles. why? because it ran the blocks and tried to disappear in the direction of armyansk. the van stopped and we came close to see what was what. there were three grenade launchers, about 24 hand-grenades, and 12 cartridge containers.

on march 10, a ukrainian military truck drove around a spike strip and concrete blocks at turetsky val and attempted to break through to crimea. sergei kolbin (commander of berkut special police force, sevastopol): oleg was just checking the on-duty details. without hesitating, he jumped into his car and blocked the road with it. there were several automatic rifles and ammunition in the truck cab. oleg gorshkov, an afghan war veteran, was put up for a decoration. i think, it was his war experience that played a role. why? because under the circumstances, he realized he had to stop a vehicle at any cost. oleg gorshkov was decorated with the order of the red star for his role in the fighting for kandahar. he came to turetsky val on the first day of the defense effort to help berkut and the cossacks. remark: oh my boy… oleg gorshkov’s mother received a medal for the recovery of crimea instead of him.

he survived by a miracle when his car was rammed by a speeding ukrainian car, but later he had a heart attack. we wanted to help the people of crimea and we did. we need peace and order because crimea is russia. crimea is not a terra incognita for us; historically, crimea is a russian territory with a predominantly russian population. we had to respond the way we did, because they’d confronted us with this situation. they basically left us no choice, and we simply had to defend these people. the timing was critical. to avoid bloodshed it was necessary to always be one step ahead. each time kiev issued increasingly tough and muddled orders to its forces, it got the same reply: “too late. we can’t get to crimea by plane, and the borders are closed.”

very quickly the maritime situation changed dramatically, but not at kiev’s command. nato announced naval exercises in the black sea: a us destroyer approached the romanian coast, an aircraft carrier task force entered the mediterranean, and a cruise missile destroyer, the uss donald cook, headed towards crimea. no one knew that russia had redeployed a bastion coastal defense missile system from the black sea coast. was this also your decision? in addition, we consciously displayed them for observation from space. bastion is a defensive system that protects the coast, protects territory. it doesn’t attack anyone. but it’s an efficient, modern and high-precision weapon.

so far no one else has weapons like this. maybe it’s the most efficient coastal missile system in the world today. yes, at some point we redeployed these bastion coastal systems there to make it clear that crimea was reliably defended. are we being observed from space? alexander ostrikov (deputy commander-in-chief of russia’s black sea fleet): perhaps we are. god grant they see and know that we have weapons without parallel in the world. what can this system do? it’s unique because it can fire a state-of-the-art supersonic missile that is invulnerable to all antimissile defense weapons and cannot be detected by radar. the missile can tack and, for example, hit a target hiding behind a natural obstacle, such as a mountain or a hill.

the missile will identify a target and destroy it, one-hundred-percent guaranteed. remark: battalion, combat alert! assume launch condition one! remark: crew, combat alert! remark: prepare for a missile strike! single target! alexander vitko (admiral, commander-in-chief of russia’s black sea fleet): at that time we had the cruiser moskva that can fire missiles with a longer range than bastion’s. but its missiles were developed in the 1970s, while bastion is an advanced weapon armed with unique missiles, the likes of which crimea has never had. the monitors on board the cruiser moskva, the flagship of the black sea fleet, showed clearly that a us destroyer was heading confidently towards the crimean coast,

to bring the peninsula within the range of its tomahawk missiles. suddenly, the bastion missile system’s radar, monolith, came to life near sevastopol. remark: monolith information source. remark: target type – a cruiser. remark: target identification – a hostile. how did the destroyer, the donald cook, behave, when she felt that our missiles were fixed on it? alexander vitko (admiral, commander-in-chief of russia’s black sea fleet): it veered south and headed for the bosporus at full speed. so, in fact, this fix told them that they were at gunpoint, didn’t it? yes, they were at gunpoint and likely to come under strike at any moment.

according to commander-in-chief alexander vitko, it’s unlikely that the black sea had ever seen a figure eight like the one that the uss donald cook made as it was running from bastion’s fix. was it clear to you when you were talking with the western leaders that they would not interfere militarily? of course, not. this couldn’t be clear at first. that’s why i had to immediately orient our armed forces in this way at the beginning. more than that, i issued direct orders with regard to russia’s possible behavior in any scenario. we were ready to do that. i talked to my colleagues openly, telling them just as i’m telling you now that historically this is russian territory where russians live. they came under threat, and there was no way we could abandon them.

we were not the ones who carried out the government coup. nationalists and other extremists did. you supported them. but where are you? thousands of kilometers away? but we are here, and this is our land. what do you want to fight for? you don’t know? we do know, and we are ready to do so. this is an honest, open stand. this is how it is. for this reason, i don’t think that anyone wanted to turn the situation into a global conflict of any kind. we were not looking for trouble. they just forced us to act this way.

i would like to repeat that we were ready for the worst-case scenario. however, i assumed that it wouldn’t go that far, and there was no need to excessively fuel tensions. as we were later told at the defense ministry, there were military specialists back then who proposed hat vladimir putin as commander-in-chief use all available means to demonstrate that russia is ready to stand up for its national interests. the president replied: “although the situation is extremely complex and dramatic, the cold war has ended, and we don’t need international crises like the cuban missile crisis.” moreover, such actions were not needed in the given situation, and would have run counter to russian interests. “as for our nuclear deterrence forces, they are constantly on combat alert anyway,” the president added. at the same time, over a dozen crew members from the us destroyer donald cook resigned.

according to media reports, one of the reasons was that a russian su-24 bomber jet flew over the ship at a dangerously low altitude. this added to fears associated with russia’s bastion coastal defense missile system. alexander vitko (admiral, commander-in-chief of russia’s black sea fleet): we were charged with the task of demonstrating russia’s strength and resolve in order to produce a chilling effect on the us forces. to this effect, we made use of attack aviation, which approached targets at a distance at which weapon employment was possible. was it your decision to fly over the vessel at such a low altitude? no, no, it wasn’t mine. they started doing it on their own and didn’t even report it to me. in fact, you turned crimea into a fortress. we made a fortress out of crimea both from sea and land.

by the time crimea’s borders were secured, ensuring security within the peninsula was still a matter of concern. in fact, 193 units of the ukrainian army were headquartered in crimea. in no other region of ukraine was the density of military forces so high; it was as if kiev was preparing for 23 years to wage war in crimea. it was obvious that this territory was heavily militarized: over 20,000 fully mobilized and armed people, if i’m not mistaken 43 s-300 missile launchers, 18 or 20 buk units and other similar heavy weapons, including armored vehicles. all in all, this was quite a force. let me reiterate sincerely that we had never planned any of the actions that were undertaken. it all started from a blank page. our actions were underpinned by the ongoing developments.

what were your next orders and instructions for russian forces in crimea? in order to ensure that people living in crimea were able to express their will in a safe and fair environment, it was necessary to prevent, to put it bluntly, bloodshed and also prevent ukrainian armed forces headquartered in crimea and national law enforcement bodies from thwarting the vote. we had to disarm ukrainian army units and law enforcement officers and convince them not to interfere with the expression of popular will and even join us in these efforts. did you believe that this would be a success from the outset? i had no doubt. the successful outcome was attributable to the fact that people took center stage in preventing bloodshed.

across crimea people held rallies near military bases calling on service personnel to take russia’s side. chanting: russia! russia! as soon as the first reports of crimean military personnel switching to russia’s side reached kiev, the enraged maidan authorities started saying that all units had to respond with lethal force to any attempts to pressure them by pro-russian forces. however, making such statements in the national parliament is one thing, but giving such orders to commanders on the ground is another thing. army officers do not follow orders from tv. in fact, when it came to issuing an official order, kiev hesitated. military commanders were afraid to sign off on bloodshed by issuing an order

transmitted using unsecured communication channels, while secured communication channels were no longer available to them. to be honest, we did everything to ensure that they would not be able to use special communication channels. this is what the swat teams of russia’s chief intelligence directorate are for. they know what to do and how to do it. for this reason, they had to use unsecured communication channels, and there is no point in pretending that we didn’t control all their communications. we were aware of the internal situation in military units on the ground and their kiev commanders. veryone was seeking to avoid taking personal responsibility. in the coastal resort city of yalta, demonstrations were held around the clock.

people were calling on the service personnel of the only local ukrainian border operation unit to switch allegiance to russia’s side. vitaly punko (head of the yalta night wolves motorcycle club): i was born in the city of dneprodzerzhinsk, in central ukraine’s dnepropetrovsk region. even though i’m from ukraine, deep down i’m russian. vitaly punko is the head of the yalta night wolves motorcycle club. he was among the organizers of rallies in yalta. vitaly punko (head of the yalta night wolves motorcycle club): ukraine and russia have always been brotherly nations. you mean russians and ukrainians? well, yeah. the americans spoiled it all. just like everywhere else. in crimea there was no war thanks to putin and people like us.

but a war could have broken out. on march 5, colonel general mikhail koval, head of the personnel department of ukraine’s border operation authority, was dispatched from kiev to the yalta division of border control vessels. in his suitcase he carried this very order on the use of lethal force. we learned that he was coming. what for? vitaly punko (head of the yalta night wolves motorcycle club): to give the orders to border control officers and convince them to side with ukraine. by this time, communication between military units and kiev was lost, right? that’s right. his only option was to show up in person.

as members of the night wolves motorcycle club, we hatched a plan. some of us were responsible for diverting the attention of those who accompanied koval, while others had to take him. and the third group, which was us, had to get him out of there. the general arrived in a mercedes accompanied by a car with local commanders. border control officers watched the scene unfold from inside their post. as soon as mikhail koval’s motorcade got lost in the protesting crowd, the operation began. the orders and the general were quickly transferred into a nearby car. to avoid agents of the ukrainian security service, vitaly punko drove to old yalta to foul the trail in yalta’s narrow streets. generally speaking, how serious of an organization was ukraine’s security service back then? they had some capabilities, didn’t they?

vitaly punko (head of the yalta night wolves motorcycle club): certainly. after we got the general into my car and drove off, within 20 minutes we started receiving phone calls from the prosecutor’s office in kiev. the search efforts by ukraine’s security service didn’t yield any results, maybe because of the general mayhem or because cameras automatically stopped recording after many crimean residents started putting russian flags on their license plates. did you have one of these stickers, too? yes, of course, to cover up the ukrainian flag. this was a way to show that we were already in russia. general koval was successfully taken to simferopol, during which time a kiev envoy asked that the general be released. and when the promise was made, he was so grateful that he even cursed the maidan.

you mean that general koval was here, in the back seat of this very car? now there is a car seat here. who is it for? for my daughter, polina. when it was clear that the victory was ours, we decided to have another baby. i have two sons, and now a daughter. we named her polina, although calling her pobeda (victory in russian) would have been more appropriate. on that day, border control officers were already celebrating their victory in yalta. after general koval failed on his mission to hand over the order, under which they were to spill blood in crimea, the entire division soon switched to the russian side. how did the border control officers respond to koval’s arrival?

vitaly punko (head of the yalta night wolves motorcycle club): when koval was put in our car, they gave a standing ovation. they were standing. chanting: russia, russia, russia! imagine a local commander. as military, he follows orders of the higher command, not some independent, unintelligible and amorphous structure unable to take responsibility for its actions. the ukrainian military personnel found themselves in a tough spot in crimea. they didn’t want to cause bloodshed or to serve nationalists who usurped power. in fact, they also contributed to our cause. let me reiterate that they were not russian agents of any kind.

we didn’t know these people who were doing what they felt was right. having failed in crimea, general koval completed his bloody mission later. it was his order that started the war in donbass. maidan speaker turchinov appointed him defense minister in recognition of his yalta heroism, where, as general koval reported, he had to deal with russian spetsnaz and paratroopers at the same time. in the early days of march 2014, some 20 units of the ukrainian army switched to the russian side in crimea. however, after that kiev decided to bring criminal charges against commanders, intimidate them and accuse officers of colluding with the enemy. the new maidan military command required combat readiness

and wanted to launch an operation on the day of the crimea referendum. it became obvious that public activists would not suffice. blocking and disarming 20,000 well-armed people requires a certain number of military personnel both in terms of quantity and efficiency. we needed specialists who knew how to do it. for this reason, i instructed the defense minister, to put in plainly, to use the need to enhance the security of russian military facilities in crimea as a pretext for transferring special units of the chief intelligence directorate, marines and paratroopers there. fourteen helicopters were moved to the kacha and djankoy airfields, and five il-76 cargo airplanes flew regularly to the peninsula with thousands of officers and soldiers from various units. another 3,500 service personnel could be added before reaching the limit of russian military personnel in crimea as envisaged in the international treaty.

however, this was enough to protect almost all key facilities. this was quite a challenge, since preventing bloodshed was an absolute priority. as i’ve said, we had to ensure that people could express their will. sevastopol’s self-defense forces, crimean self-defense forces, cossacks and ordinary people joined the troops in neutralize ukrainian military units that kiev prevented from choosing between staying in crimea under the russian flag or resigning or moving to ukraine. on march 19, the lengthy confrontation at the headquarters of the ukrainian navy in sevastopol came to an end. kiev replaced several commanders and complained that they all started sympathizing with russia. as amazing as it might seem, russian navy sailors were always able to come to terms with the ukrainians. the reason for this might have been the place where it all happened.

chersonesus, also called korsun in slavic chronicles. it is here that prince vladimir was baptized. orthodox christianity started to spread across russia from here in 988. was it a coincidence that this very place, a sacral orthodox site, was chosen for meetings with the ukrainian side during the crimean spring? alexander vitko (admiral, commander of russia’s black sea fleet): it was intuitive. perhaps, the ukrainian commanders and i were seeking integrity, truth and security. maybe we just made an attempt to tell the truth. navy commanders kept changing. one commander categorically refused to switch over to the crimean authorities, let’s put it this way.

i asked wwii veterans to work with him. they… did you ask them personally? were there other options? there was a military option. i told our military directly: “send our wwii veterans over there.” they were quite skeptical about my proposal, saying that elderly veterans wouldn’t be able to accomplish much. but the veterans went there, and discussions lasted until 7 am. anyway, by 7am he signed his resignation papers. alexander vitko (admiral, commander of russia’s black sea fleet): the veterans council offered to help,

and at the same time an order was given to get them involved. we worked almost every day and with every unit. and i believe this proved to be extremely useful. how did you eventually deal with the ukrainian navy? we made an impromptu decision. what could we do to prevent fatalities and force their crews not to use their weapons? we decided to make them stay inside akhtiarskaya harbor. they recalled the history of the great patriotic war when boom defenses were used for similar purposes. they found those kinds of booms and cables at a local depot, and we were able to quickly seal off the harbors. alexander vitko (admiral, commander-in-chief of russia’s black sea fleet): we deployed sea-going tugboats nearby and ordered their crews to beach

any ship trying to put to sea. we had to send a message to the ukrainians. and then you had to scuttle a ship? first, we scuttled (sank) the mothballed ship ochakov, and then we scuttled two divers’ unit boats alongside. we blew them up in order to prevent any attempts to salvage the ochakov. we let water in from above. did you scuttle the ship along a waterway used by ukrainian ships? yes, we scuttled it right along the donuzlav waterway where the slavutich and the ternopol were moored. as a result, it turned out that ukrainian ships were unable to raise anchor and to sail out. so… so, they were simply trapped? yes, they were trapped and blocked completely.

alexander vitko boarded the ships with armed ukrainian sailors alone and unarmed. the talks aboard the ships lasted for days. any ukrainian sailors wishing to join the russian navy were told that they would retain their military ranks, awards and service records. you know, i should say that the guys, ukrainian personnel, behaved in a very dignified manner. they tried to remain loyal to their oath of allegiance, but the situation was unclear – there was no state, and the president of ukraine, the legitimate commander-in-chief, had been overthrown. and some absolutely illegitimate people who had staged the coup were busy issuing orders. the ships that did not raise the st. andrew’s flag were the ones that were boarded by euromaidan supporters who threatened to take vengeance on ukrainian and russian sailors.

we had to use special forces. the western leaders were probably calling you during that time. what did you discuss? we received many calls. our us colleagues told us bluntly during our conversation that we were blocking ukrainian military units. i told them that there were no longer any military units, that there were groups of unarmed military personnel, that no one was threatening them, and that we would do our best to prevent any use of force. the status of those groups was somewhat different from that of the armed forces. the romantic spirit of the crimean spring prevented ill-wishers from casting a shadow on russia. soldiers were polite, crimeans were in high spirits and even the prosecutor was one of a kind.

we don’t see a single female portrait among these. so you are a pioneer in the history of the crimean prosecution. how does it feel? natalia poklonskaya (prosecutor of the republic of crimea): yes, all previous prosecutors in crimea were men. well, a day was supposed to come when a woman joined this highly respected party. natalia poklonskaya has worked at the ukrainian prosecutor general’s office for 12 years, including on some high-profile cases with some very important people involved. there was a case against vitali klitschko – who shouted his lungs off at maidan – that’s now long forgotten. he once had a wild party with an ex-chief of the ukrainian security service that resulted in the death of andrei nechiporenko. i investigated the case but didn’t have a chance to finish it. during maidan, both cases and prosecutors’ mouths were closed for political reasons.

once, natalia poklonskaya came to work and found that instead of the police, the right sector was checking the ids of the staff. natalia pinned on a st. george’s ribbon, handed in her notice and left home for crimea. natalia poklonskaya (prosecutor of the republic of crimea): i’m having tea in the kitchen and my sister’s husband, andrei, is there too. he starts laughing, “you’ll be fine, natasha. i can build a shed for you and you can breed chickens or do some farm work.” you know, i have worked at the prosecutor’s office for 12 years. so i say, “sure, i can breed chickens – as long as those nazis don’t come here.” i didn’t know what to do. on march 8, i had a meeting with sergei aksyonov. we had never met before, but i had seen him on tv and supported him.

i was thinking, “god help them. these men are so brave. finally, there is a leader in crimea who will stop all this mess.” so i come in and introduce myself. “mr. aksyonov, i want to help in any way i can.” sergei aksyonov (head of the republic of crimea, leader of the all-ukrainian party russian unity, 2008-2014): natalia, would you have the guts to work for the prosecutors? and she said, “i’m starting now.” she was not afraid to go where even some men shied away. natalia poklonskaya says she knew it would happen because she made a wish on new year’s eve – in spite of what was going on at maidan. crimea will reunite with russia. thank god. i think that was not only my wish but that of all the people here. many had been wishing for it for many years. so it happened. however, poklonskaya’s own life has become much harder. there have been several attempts on her life.

there have been explosive devices and letters. all kinds of things. but neither my staff nor i have any fear. and who would be afraid of them? we’re not afraid. they should be afraid. god is helping us. of course, i’m proud to be the prosecutor of crimea as part of russia, and a russian prosecutor. this is a great and powerful country. everybody knows it – that’s why there are all these attempts to undermine us. at some point, moscow had to send a division to crimea that the crimeans didn’t have because they hadn’t faced such a threat before. there were reports of possible terrorist attacks. some radical ukrainian leaders, including the chiefs of security agencies, were ready to organize mass terrorist attacks. russian security services deactivated an explosive device under a local dam. a lack of water, of which there is never enough in crimea, was to be used to pressure the peninsula.

the unsuccessful explosion of the dam did not stop the extremists. sergei turchanenko (regiment commander of the crimean self-defense forces): it is the simferopol reservoir that supplies water to the entire city. locals call it the simferopol sea. sergei turchanenko, an afghan war veteran. he’s been with the crimean militia from the very beginning. his men tracked down and neutralized a group of nationalists planning terrorist attacks. sergei turchanenko (regiment commander of the crimean self-defense forces): we arrested people from the so-called right sector. it was a sabotage group. they were provided with all kinds of poisons and chemicals in tubes and ampoules. we confiscated everything. what were they planning to do?

we have strong proof of a plan to poison the water reservoirs in crimea. people would have died in masses. the closer the referendum came, the more active were the extremists that were controlled from outside crimea. the central electoral commission in simferopol was attacked twice. cossacks repulsed the attack of a dozen unknown assailants who tried to steal ballots. maidan militants were arriving by train, disguised as mountaineers. they had weapons and were detained. however, only the city residents were in a position to fight those who spread out in the crimean towns. the same people always showed up first at the sites of conflicts, perhaps because they were riding motorcycles. alexander, for you the crimean spring began much earlier than in the spring of 2014. how did it all start?

how and why did the night wolves bikers came to sevastopol, simferopol, yalta and other crimean towns? alexander medvedev (president of the crimean night wolves club): we used to hold bike shows every year. when we realized that someone was trying to make sevastopol into a city glorifying bandera and not a city of russian military glory, the club members decided to hold a bike show here and remind everyone that sevastopol was still a city of russian military glory. motorcycle shows by the night wolves club have become a big event across the entire biking world, not just russia. the club unites like-minded people from former soviet republics and europe alike. in sevastopol, the patriotic idea behind the show fell on fertile ground. this city of russian military glory showed record attendance numbers. the abandoned quarry at the bottom of mount gasfort drew up to 10,000 bikers and up to 100,000 spectators.

the idea of the unity of the russian people has never been directed against ukraine, and the two flags have always been displayed next to each other. sevastopol, gasfort, june 24, 2010 vladimir putin: long live ukraine! long live russia! long live the motorcycle! (the last phrase is in ukrainian) alexander medvedev (president of the crimean night wolves club): as soon as we arrived in sevastopol, we immediately raised the russian flag. they tried to ban us, to arrest us for separatism and even to steal the flag, so we had to guard it. however, alexander zaldostanov aka the surgeon (he founded the club in soviet times), and the president of its crimean branch alexander medvedev, as well as their colleagues, decided to go all the way and did, as they said, what the people of crimea expected them to do. once the first blood was shed in kiev, the night wolves in crimea were already attending the rallies,

and then started building roadblocks alongside other residents. they had so much to do to protect crimea from unwelcome visitors that they had only a couple of hours a day to sleep. few knew that alexander medvedev had lost his foot in an accident shortly before these events. he was using a temporary prosthesis, and doctors told him to give it as much rest as he could. instead, he chose to defend crimea which became his home. alexander medvedev (president of the crimean night wolves club): there was no time to rest, so i thought, "i'll take care of it later." but when it was all over, and when i had time to take care of my foot, it was too late and i had to do the surgery. the wound could not heal after that much abuse. alexander had to have another 10 centimeters of his leg amputated. alexander medvedev (president of the crimean night wolves club): that’s not important.

what matters is that crimea is now part of russia, the truth has triumphed, and crimea will now be part of russia forever. this is the most important thing. one operation by the night wolves saved many lives. a biker plant in the right sector reported that kiev was using cargo mail to store certain supplies on mount ai-petri. however, the exact location of the nationalists’ hideout was unclear. a biker codenamed gvozd (nail) helped. he worked as a ranger at a nature reserve on this beautiful mountain on the crimean coastline and remembered that back in the days of yushchenko certain emissaries from western ukraine used to come to a cavern hidden in the forest. the night wolves moved out to search for it.

among relict trees, ancient oaks and pines they found the cave. it was a perfect all-weather hideout, and a natural hole in the caverns served as a flue for bonfires, while long limestone hallways could be used to store food, explosives, weapons and ammunition. vadim gvozd (ranger, ai-petri nature reserve): people brought it all here. some digging was done as well. it’s unknown how many subversive actions against crimea have been thwarted by that discovery, but the night wolves have been hunted for since then. on a march night before the referendum, when alexander medvedev came home after touring the polling stations, he saw people in his yard who quickly put on masks. did they attack you first? how it all happened?

yes, but i managed to turn... and stop the first two who ran at me from behind with a traumatic pistol. then suddenly, one of them with the mask around the corner stabbed me in the back. where exactly did he stab you? right here, in the back. here? yes. they aimed for the heart. right here, where it says “russia”? right, they aimed at russia.

give me five! come on! good boy! what about mom? alexander medvedev’s son: papa-papa, mama-mama. the danger of a large-scale conflict in crimea was subsiding as the ukrainian military switched sides to join russia. seventy-five ukrainian naval vessels hoisted the st. andrew's flag, with 193 ukrainian land units coming over to the russian side. there were moments when the commanders of the blocked ukrainian units turned to their russian colleagues, "let your troops come in. we need to report back to kiev that we have been taken over, and then we’ll raise the russian flag ourselves." according to the statistics, of more than 20,000 ukrainian troops, only 2,500 returned to ukraine, with 18,000 soldiers and officers remaining in crimea to serve, as they said, in the new russian army. the world is stunned: it’s a whole new army.

well, this is the result of long and hard work. don’t forget the late 1990s and the early 2000s, and the bloody events in the north caucasus. the army was barely operational then. things are very different now. over the years, we have done a lot to re-equip, train and most importantly, (and this is still the most important thing) - our military have this confidence that they are doing something that’s important and useful for our country. in this case, they are not afraid to put all they have on the altar of their fatherland, including the most valuable thing – their lives. this is the operation that has remained classified for over a year now. it was in the town of feodosia, the first marine battalion of the ukrainian navy. this is the only unit that the russian military had to take by assault.

and then, in fact, it was not exactly ukrainian. alexander ostrikov (deputy commander-in-chief of russia’s black sea fleet): it was a fully-trained unit that was part of nato. therefore, we could expect one thing only - a violent conflict which we could not allow in that situation. in the midst of the maidan events, on january 8, this unit in feodosia officially took up combat duty as part of the nato rapid response force. that's the partnership target code. the alliance code l0318 means advanced aircraft gunners. who the targets were in crimea that the ukrainian officers were supposed to direct nato airstrikes at is anyone’s guess. l0001 means ground operations. alexander ostrikov (deputy commander-in-chief of russia’s black sea fleet): in the circumstances in which they found themselves,

their only mission was to represent the will of a neighboring state, not their own. with whom did they liaise? they were in touch with the us consulate general in kiev which issued direct instructions, including from the embassy, all of which were designed to encourage the use of force against peaceful civilians in feodosia. the talks continued for three weeks, and the unit has been blocked all that time. according to intelligence that was intercepted later, the ukrainian marines were preparing for an armed raid at feodosia. large sums of money promised by the us consulate general were transferred to their commanders’ bank cards. we had to apply soft force to remove the seat of tension that had developed in feodosia. the assault began on march 24, three hours before dawn.

the russian special task unit was facing the best combat unit in ukraine. marines who completed 22 training programs in eight nato countries at their best bases such as lackland and fort benning in the united states. russian troops only fired live ammunition at the arms room to prevent nato servicemen from using their weapons. after that, they only fired blanks. crimeans were not recruited into that battalion. it was mostly manned by western ukrainians who spoke english and had nato certification. however, over half of them switched to join the russian side before the assault. none of the rest were even wounded during that delicate operation. alexander ostrikov (deputy commander-in-chief of the russian black sea fleet): the servicemen that we captured during the operation

were later deported to ukraine. i’m aware that they participated in the nationalist operation against the donetsk and lugansk republics. this is what they did in gorlovka. the former marines acted in novorossiya so ruthlessly as if this is what they had been trained to do. while deployed in feodosia, they referred to their battalion as galicia. their emblem was a snarling wolf. alexander ostrikov (deputy commander-in-chief of the russian black sea fleet): rage is evidence that this is the symbol of units that kill civilians. like a nazi symbol, the wolfsangel. yes, it’s like the wolfsangel, which nationalistic ukrainians like to display. alexander bochkaryov (deputy regiment commander of the crimean self-defense forces): as someone who’s been around and has seen a lot,

i’m deeply grateful to russia that crimea has returned home after all. because we see the tragedy in donetsk and lugansk. believe me the tragedy would have been much worse here in crimea. because of the banderites’ hatred for us, crimeans, precisely crimeans… they have always seen us as part of russia, and we have always thought that we were part of russia, if you see what i mean. sergei aksyonov (head of the republic of crimea, leader of the all-ukrainian party russian unity, 2008-2014): thank god for that. you know, if not for the fools in ukrainian leadership, we would not be part of russia now. and the turnout was really huge during the referendum; we never expected this. people had been in line since 10 a.m. there were long lines at all the polling stations. with a record-high turnout, 96.7 percent voted for crimea reuniting with russia. the figure for sevastopol was 95.6 percent.

the march 16 referendum in crimea turned into a public holiday. but it was unclear what would happen next. would russia welcome crimea? this is what pollsters tried to determine in russia. on march 14, the vtsiom and fom pollsters joined forces to poll nearly 50,000 people in 83 russian regions. people from kaliningrad in the west to kamchatka in the far east answered four questions. the results were announced on march 16. should russia protect the interests of russians and other nationalities in crimea? 94 percent said “yes.” should russia do this even if it complicates its relations with other countries? 83 percent said “yes.” do you agree that crimea is part of russia? 86 percent said “yes.” and lastly, would you support crimea’s reunification with russia as a constituent entity? 91 percent said “yes.” in fact, all of this coincided with crimeans’ opinions as expressed at the referendum. only washington and brussels thought differently.

by the way, the western stance on the referendum wasn’t always the same, was it? first they thought that we wouldn’t hold it. later, when they saw that we wouldn’t stop, they proposed several different scenarios. that is, they did their best to prevent the reunification of crimea with russia at all costs and in any format. they obviously wanted to put distance between russia and its interests again. it’s difficult to do this. let’s face it, this is impossible to do. do you think that everything went well? yes, in general. there was probably one hitch when there was a delay in the deployment of the first group of units there. there was some misunderstanding, and they reversed the order. when i learned about it, i pointed it out.

the minister’s attention? yes, the minister. he said: “i stopped them.” and i had to ask him who allowed him to do this. he immediately answered: “they are moving in.” right that second! i’m not blaming anyone and have no complaints, because after i issued the order i didn’t contact the defense minister for about 20 hours, because i was busy with other issues – legal, political and international issues. and they might think that i had changed my mind, and taking on this responsibility is a challenge. but there was not a single failure, not a single one, which i want to stress. it was a challenging job, considering its scale and the use of mixed troops and equipment, which involved, i repeat,

the use of the gru special ops units, the paratroopers and the marines at the initial stage, and other units later on. not only the defense ministry but also all others worked professionally as a team, including the foreign ministry, the legal services and those who were concerned with domestic policy. they worked so harmoniously, accurately and quickly that i sometimes wondered if it was us who was doing it. but everything went off as planned. we know the referendum results, and we did what we had to do. march 18, 2014 was when vladimir putin delivered the first ever emergency address to the federal assembly. everyone who gathered in st. george’s hall in the kremlin expected him to speak about crimea and sevastopol, but no one knew until the last minute what decision the president would make.

from the president’s address to the federal assembly back then, it was impossible to imagine that ukraine and russia could split up and become two separate states. however, this happened. the ussr fell apart. it was only when crimea ended up as part of a different country that russia realized that it was not simply robbed, it was plundered. was it you who suggested the word “plundered”? yes, it was my suggestion. it came from my heart. i called my colleagues the speechwriters the evening before and told them to write down the tagline, which was: “i submit to the federal assembly and request that you support the law on the reintegration of crimea and sevastopol.”

today, in accordance with the people’s will, i submit to the federal assembly a request to consider a constitutional law on the creation of two new constituent entities within the russian federation: the republic of crimea and the city of sevastopol. did you understand that you were making history? i’ll tell you this: if you keep thinking about making history, that you are an important person, your positive work will come to an end very soon. but if you believe deep down that you are doing the right thing, that you are acting in the interests of the country and the people, if you really think so, everything will work out. is this how it happened in crimea? if you had to do it all over again, would you make the same decision on crimea? absolutely. what do you think? could we have acted any differently?

i never would have done it if i didn’t think we had to. and so when they talk about sanctions and… sanctions are bad. sanctions should be imposed on those who stage coups and those who help them. as for us, we acted in the interests of russian people and the country as a whole. giving this up for money, giving up people for some benefit, for the ability to sign contracts or receive bank transfers, would be absolutely unacceptable. if we start acting in accordance with this logic, we’ll lose everything, we’ll lose the country. this doesn’t mean that we should not respect international law or the interests of our partners, but that our partners should respect russia and its interests. epilogue

we interviewed vladimir putin soon after the events, so as not to miss a single detail. greetings on behalf of all crimeans, our compatriots. thank you. we are meeting a year after the events in crimea. mr. putin, when we met last time we couldn’t imagine the changes that would happen so quickly. why not? we could easily imagine it. when we took actions in crimea that were staunch and rather tough, i was considering the possibility of a tragedy similar to what we are now seeing in donbas. it was to prevent this that we had to take measures to ensure that people could freely express their will in crimea.

we had to build up our military group in crimea so as to have enough troops there to create conditions for a referendum, a referendum without violence. i’m sure that had we not done this, events in crimea would have been similar to, or even worse than what is happening in donbas, although it seems that nothing can be worse than what’s going on in lugansk and donetsk. crimea is now part of russia. how do you see crimea’s future? the first thing we must do is address issues of socioeconomic development. the most important of them are structural in nature. and then there’s infrastructure. we must build a bridge to connect crimea to the caucasus in the russian federation. this can and must be done as quickly as possible.

we must create conditions for the development of the power industry in crimea, its own power. we must fully restore what makes crimea such a wonderful place to vacation, so that russian citizens can take advantage of the peninsula’s unique nature and climate. and it’s no less important, in my opinion, to revive crimea’s cultural component as an inalienable part of our culture and russia’s cultural heritage. when we do all of this, we’ll be able to say that we not only resolved everything in terms of reunification, but that we have done everything our people, including crimeans, expected from us. what do you hope for crimeans? happiness.