The Crimea – 5 years after
Book Review
Development – history – background
rt. Five years ago, in February 2014, the US policy of encircling Russia culminated in a staged coup on the Maidan in Kiev. The geostrategic goal of integrating Ukraine into the Western power sphere and thus being able to station NATO troops directly at the Russian border was achieved through this covert operation. Shortly after, the Crimea separated from Ukraine by referendum and joined the Russian Federation.
Long before, the West’s promise – not to advance its military towards the east after the collapse of the Warsaw Pact – had been broken. Also the covert operations in Russia’s neighbouring countries, talked around as “colour revolutions,” such as those staged 2003 in Tbilisi, 2004 in Kiev, 2005 in Bishkek or 2006 in Minsk, are meanwhile clearly classified as such.
As we know today, the coup d’état in Kiev in 2014, described in the leading Western media as a “justified” protest, had been planned for a long time. It is no longer a secret that money and personnel from Washington or from allied services made this coup possible, nor is it a secret that a peace agreement between the West and Russia is being actively prevented and that an attempt is being made to bring Russia to its knees by a radical economic boycott.
It quickly became clear in European business circles that the tightened economic sanctions on the one hand were immensely damaging the European economy itself and on the other hand were promoting deeper economic and military cooperation between Russia, China and India, which is actually not in the interests of the European economy.
Ukraine’s population is the big loser in this process. The well-functioning trade with Russia was interrupted, lucrative gas transmission from Russia to Western Europe ceased, and the country became impoverished under a corrupt oligarch-driven policy, although it is rich in raw materials and good soil.
In connection with the coup in Kiev, the Crimea separated and joined Russia. This voluntary detachment from Ukraine and the connection to Russia by referendum (participation about 80%, agreement 95.5%) are still presented in the official western language as “annexation” by Russia.
The Russian leadership could not allow the Crimean peninsula, which Khrushchev “donated” to the Soviet Republic of Ukraine in 1954, to be snatched by the West. The important military port Sevastopol with its warships, shipyards and ice-free access belongs to the heartland of Russia and is of vital interest for the country. Until then, Russia had been able to continue to operate the seaport through lease agreements with Ukraine. But as early as 2013, before the coup on the Maidan, a US naval department applied for construction contracts in Sevastopol - obviously not for the construction of children’s homes. But in the view of the conflict generated by the Western media, Russia still appears to be the cause of the conflict.
The authors Ralf Rudolph and Uwe Markus published “Die Rettung der Krim” (“Rescuing the Crimea”). The publication is offering a factual and at the same time well-founded view of the so-called “Crimean Conflict”, correcting the distorted image of Russia.The authors guide the reader through the history of the secession of Crimea. The reader learns about the historical, political and economic background. Since the authors are also experienced in military history, the reader is introduced to the geopolitical contexts. The progressive encircling policy of the USA towards Russia, is presented with numerous facts. This proceeding is also strongly driven by the US’s own economic interests, as in the dispute over the gas transversals in the Black Sea region. Today, the political upheaval in Macedonia in 2016 appears in a completely new light. The decisive factor was not domestic conflicts, but the planned construction of a pipeline by a consortium led by Russia’s Gazprom via the Balkans to Austria.The reader learns in detail how the Russian government succeeded in supplying the Crimea within a few months despite the economic blockade by the Ukraine (including bans on water, food, gas, oil and electricity imports) violating international law. It should not be embellished that the subsequent boycott by the West at US instigation, which continues to this day, is primarily affecting the civilian population.At the end of the book the reader learns that Crimea is an internationally extremely popular holiday resort with many historical landmarks. •
Rudolph, Ralf; Markus, Uwe. Die Rettung der Krim. Phalanx. 2017. 237 pages ISBN 978-3-00-057153-4
