Getting Crimea Right (15.10.2021)
A street-debate video about Crimea: the channel’s author refutes the myth of a “voluntary accession by referendum.” The key points: Crimea was unlawfully annexed (the qualification of the UN General Assembly), the occupation began on the night of 26–27 February 2014; under international law no “referendum” was held — it was a poll conducted under military occupation, where people do not speak freely out of fear; and the absence of a full-scale defense is explained not by any “unwillingness” but by a breakdown of command and the balance of forces (the withdrawal of troops to avoid civilian casualties). A source for the article on the Russo-Ukrainian war of 2014.
Key moments
- 05:06 Unlawful annexation of Crimea — the qualification by the UN General Assembly
- 06:00 Why Ukraine did not fight for Crimea: a breakdown of command in early 2014
- 07:39 Balance of forces: a garrison of fewer than 10,000 (locals) against ~20,000 Russian troops plus "little green men"
- 15:37 Under international law there was no referendum — it was a poll under occupation
- 16:00 People do not speak freely out of fear (the example of the Crimean Tatars)
- 18:01 The occupation began on the night of 26–27 February 2014