Crimea Island

The image of “the island of Crimea,” of course, is connected with the famous anti-Soviet dystopia by the russian writer Vasily Aksyonov. It was actively used during the occupation and annexation of Crimea, when the Ukrainian peninsula almost truly became a “russian island,” having lost its real connection with the mainland.

I myself noted at the time that the occupation of Crimea seemed senseless, because without a connection to the mainland, the peninsula had never existed throughout its long history. And when it did begin to exist in that way, it meant the start of serious historical changes. Thus, the decline of the Crimean Khanate, which led to its annexation and liquidation by Catherine II, began precisely when russian troops managed to establish control over the Crimean state’s territories on the mainland. It was the lack of connection with the mainland, which was controlled by the Bolshevik army, that led to the final defeat of the White movement in the Russian state. And now, in 2014, the peninsula once again found itself not only without a connection to the mainland, but also without water — because control over the canal that had transformed Crimea in the final decades before the occupation remained in Ukraine’s hands.

Putin, as was to be expected, drew his own conclusions from this situation of a “new island” — not to give up control over stolen Crimea, but to break through a corridor to Crimea across occupied Ukrainian territory, which became one of the main goals of the 2022 invasion. It may have seemed that the Crimean problem had been solved for Russia, that Crimea was no longer an island, that it now had a connection with the mainland through the occupied territory of Ukraine and through the bridge built during the years of occupation.

The russian president simply failed to take into account that the war against Ukraine could last more than one year and, moreover, could change technologically. And now we have an astonishing situation in which the efforts of Ukraine’s Defense Forces have finally turned Crimea into a real island. The corridor exists, but it is under bombardment and has effectively ceased to function as a transport artery. The bridge exists — but they are afraid to send fuel tankers across it, so as not to create conditions for the destruction of the structure. The ferries in the Kerch Strait have been destroyed. There is no fuel left on the peninsula — or rather, on the island. Crimea is approaching a real logistical catastrophe, and the russians who decided to vacation on stolen land are trying to leave — and cannot get out!

Just a few years ago, the kremlin said that the issue of Crimea was not up for discussion with Ukraine. Just a year ago, the President of the United States proposed that his russian counterpart recognize Crimea’s russian status. But now the kremlin might begin to wonder what the point of occupied territories is if control over them appears merely nominal.

Since the early 1990s, Russia had tried to preserve its presence in Crimea, using the Black Sea Fleet and pro-russian activists for this purpose. The first and last president of the autonomy, Yurii Meshkov, formed the government and administration of the President of the Autonomous Republic of Crimea out of russian citizens who were already preparing the peninsula for annexation. When the russian operation failed, they began demanding a special status for the Black Sea Fleet and, eventually, convinced Leonid Kuchma of the need for agreements. When the date was approaching for ending the presence of this true occupation contingent in Ukrainian Sevastopol, Viktor Yanukovych and the gang of collaborators posing as the Ukrainian government were used to extend the term. And then, in 2014, they annexed all of Crimea. For what purpose? To use its territory as a foothold for the occupation of Ukraine’s south and for destabilizing the situation in the Black Sea.

As a result, the Black Sea Fleet — that eternal symbol of russian shame and defeat — fled to Novorossiysk; there is no fuel or electricity in Crimea; and russians are already fleeing someone else’s land, even though their troops are still there. What, then, is the point in our time of occupying foreign lands that you cannot defend? What sense does “the island of Crimea” make for Russia?

While this material was being prepared for publication, it became known that on June 23, units of the Special Operations Forces, in cooperation with underground members of the SOF Resistance Movement, successfully destroyed a railway bridge in occupied Crimea. The facility was located near the settlement of Rozdolne and crossed the North Crimean Canal.

Author: Vitaly Portnikov