POTUS Joe Biden is finally squeezing Russian #MadVlad to forcibly and financially show him once and for all that Crimea doesn't pay.
Besides the human atrocities Russia and its military have so far participated in throughout Ukraine, the second most alarming action the Moscow butcher has done is to turn Russia into a “journalistic darkroom” with his mandatory 15-year sentence for offering the “Truth” about his war. Even village parents whose son-soldiers have been killed by Ukrainian freedom fighters can’t comment out of fear of reprisal. Even Stalin allowed some modicum of journalistic information.
Russian attacks halt plans to evacuate Ukrainian Civilians
https://apnews.com/article/russia-ukraine-vladimir-putin-kyiv-europe-1f…
Ukrainian Journalists Risks Standing Up to Putin
Russia’s history of suppressing independent media at home offers clues about what might happen in Ukraine https://niemanreports.org/articles/ukraine-journalists-putin/?utm_sq=gz…
Back in 1783, Crimea was annexed by the Russian Empire as the result of the Russo-Turkish War (1768–1774). Following the Russian Revolution of 1917, Crimea became an autonomous republic within the Russian SFSR in the Soviet Union. During World War II, Crimea was downgraded to the Crimean Oblast and the entirety of one of its indigenous populations, the Crimean Tatars, were deported to Central Asia, an act recognized as a genocide by Ukraine and three other countries. In 1954, the Soviet Union transferred Crimea to the Ukrainian SSR from the Russian SFSR.
The transfer to Ukraine was made by Soviet leader Nikita Khrushchev. The year 1954 happened to mark the 300th anniversary of the Treaty of Pereyaslav, which was signed in 1654 by representatives of the Ukrainian Cossack Hetmanate and Tsar Alexis of Russia.[6] With the collapse of the Soviet Union, Ukraine was re-established as an independent state in 1991, and most of the peninsula was reorganized as the Autonomous Republic of Crimea, and the city of Sevastopol retained its special status within Ukraine. The 1997 Partition Treaty on the Status and Conditions of the Black Sea Fleet partitioned the former Soviet Black Sea Fleet and allowed Russia to continue basing its fleet in Crimea: both the Ukrainian Naval Forces and Russia's Black Sea Fleet were to be headquartered in Sevastopol. Ukraine extended Russia's lease of the naval facilities under the 2010 Kharkiv Pact in exchange for further discounted natural gas.
The status of Crimea is disputed. In late February 2014, following the Revolution of Dignity that ousted the Ukrainian president, Viktor Yanukovych, Russian troops were deployed to Crimea, occupying government buildings. The Republic of Crimea declared its independence from Ukraine following a disputed referendum on 16 March, deemed illegal by Ukraine and most countries, which was held on the issue of reunification with Russia; its official results showed over 90% support for reunification, but the vote was boycotted by many loyal to Ukraine. Russia formally annexed Crimea on 18 March, incorporating the Republic of Crimea and the federal city of Sevastopol as the 84th and 85th federal subjects of Russia. Despite its annexation, Crimea was considered by most countries of the world in a UN resolution of March 2014 to remain part of Ukraine.
Since 2014, Moscow pumped huge sums of money into the Crimean economy, funding a number of large infrastructure projects of dubious value. This expenditure has not only created the pretense of prosperity – but it has also proved a monumental drain on Russia’s finances at a time when international sanctions are beginning to bite.
Russia War on Ukraine: What to know about it
https://apnews.com/article/russia-ukraine-vladimir-putin-kyiv-business-…