The Crimean Crisis: An Analytical Study

The secession of Crimea from Ukraine with help of the immediate Russian military intervention, and the succeeding annexation of the region by Russia, marked a major turning point in the political history of the region, which experienced numerous contentions in the past and was controlled by different empires during various historical periods. Crimea is located on the south of the Ukrainian region of Kherson, to which it is connected by the Isthmus of Perekop and is located in the west of the Russian region of Kuban, from which it is separated by the Strait of Kerch and is linked by the Crimean Bridge. The authors, through this paper, have tried to highlight the violation of human rights by the Russian Federation as well as the Ukrainian authorities on the people of Crimea and Eastern Ukraine. Crimea is an important strategic base of the Russian navy. According to the Russian census, 84% of Crimean inhabitants are Russian-speaking and the rest are other ethnic groups, because of which, in March 2014, after a referendum held in Crimea, Russian Federation ‘annexed’ the Crimean Peninsula. To explain this, the authors have evaluated on the history and the causes behind the Crimean Crisis, comprehending the atrocities by Joseph Stalin in 1932-1933 and the Political upheavals in 2013. The paper has examined how far the expansion of NATO, as well as that of the European Union, was a motive for Russia’s action. Concluding that, this paper also highlights the aftermath and how the annexation has brought Russia in a compromising milieu along with the actions taken by the United Nations in dealing with the whole situation.