Crimea, a Year Later

March 16 marks one year since Crimea passed a referendum, with a 96 percent majority, in favor of its independence from Ukraine and joining Russia.

Russia’s Parliament, the Duma, considered the accession of Crimea to Russia to be legal, but the Ukraine and the West nonetheless rejected it. Last March 18, when President Vladimir Putin assured, “Crimea has always been a part of Russia,” the United States put into place a series of sanctions – which until recently have been steadily augmented – with which it wants to “punish” the Russian Federation for having accepted the will of the majority of Crimeans.

In response to Putin’s declarations, the first action of President Obama was to convoke a meeting of the G-7, without Russia. At this meeting, France, the U.K., Italy, Germany, the U.S., Canada, and Japan decided to suspend meetings with Russia until the situation in Ukraine had normalized, which had a constitutional crisis that the West had provoked.

The accession of the proclaimed Crimean Republic to Russia has its roots in the political-social crisis that has been taking place in the Ukraine since the end of 2013, which in turn was the result of the disagreement that many Ukrainians had with the coup that the country’s nationalist sector had organized and that overthrew the democratically-elected President Viktor Yanukovich.

The Ukraine, which is economically and politically the second-most powerful country to emerge out of the collapse of the Soviet Union, turned into a perfect excuse for the United States to resurrect the Cold War. The U.S. thus embarked on an international campaign to isolate and surround Russia, attributing to it the main responsibility for the crisis in Ukraine.

At least 60 percent of the population of Crimea is of Russian descent, 25 percent is Ukrainian, and a minority of 12 percent is Tartar.

The U.S. sanctions against Russia are directed against its economy. Last September Obama announced new sanctions against several Russian banks, as well as against U.S. organizations, businesses, and individuals who meet or negotiate with sanctioned banks.

The Western media have also collaborated in the demonization of Russia, a country that some consider an emergent superpower of the 21st Century. A presumed Russian invasion of Ukraine is part of the editorial line of the majority of the news media in the United States, as well as of right-wing media around the world.

Why Did Crimea Declare Independence from Ukraine?

After World War II, Crimea remained within Russian territory, but in 1954, Nikita Krushev handed its administration over to Ukraine, which in 1991 declared its independence from the Soviet Union – dissolved that same year

The majority of Crimea's population speaks Russian. When Yanukovich was ousted, the new government took over with the intention of completely separating the country from Russia, a country historically linked to Crimea.

Parting from this event, Crimeans fought to maintain their links to Russia, and its rejection to the de facto government – which later legitimized itself through elections along with members of the Pravi Sector, a radical right-wing group linked to Nazism.

Crimea is geographically strategic because of its passage to the Black Sea. Its territory is 26,100 square meters and has two million inhabitants.

Who Governs Ukraine?

After over a year of crisis, Ukraine continues to be a fragmented country in which the different regions reject the extremism of the right-wing government. Tension is mainly concentrated in Donetsk and Luhansk, regions which have approved their autonomy through a referendum. However, they are still expecting that their autonomy be recognized by the government of Kiev, which was established in the Minsk agreements of September 2014.

Ukraine is backed by the United States and its Western allies. The International Monetary Fund (IMF) has implemented a rescue plan for Ukraine. The first phase of the aid which amounts to US$5 billion was handed over Friday. This “rescue” program is estimated at US$40 billion, which will be funded by the European Union, the United States and international organizations.

Petro Poroshenko was elected president of Ukraine last June. He has been juggling a double discourse; on one hand he has established a dialogue with his Russian counterpart Vladimir Putin, while on the other hand he promotes military upscale in the eastern region of the country.

The following is a list of the members of the Ukranian government who have an extensive far-right history:

- Andriy Parubiy, Secretary of the National Security and Defense Council. He is also a co-founder of the National Socialist Party of Ukraine.

- Dimitri Yarosh, Deputy Secretary of the National Security and Defense Council. He has also been the leader of the country's nationalist right wing.

- Alexander Sych, Deputy Prime Minister, as well as member of the far-right Liberty Party (Svoboda). He is against abortion even in rape cases.

- Igor Tenyuk, Defense Minister. He participates in Svoboda party meetings, but his militancy has not been confirmed. His military career was forged in the United Sates and he has led joint military exercises of Ukraine and the North Atlantic Treaty Organization (NATO).