CHAPTER 12 IN THE RED CORNER

Vladimir Putin’s disdain for Ukraine that led to the invasion in February 2022 was most likely heightened in 2014 when the pro-Russian government of Viktor Yanukovych was overthrown after months of protests.

Yanukovych fled to Russia and Putin refused to recognize the interim government in Kyiv as legitimate.

Putin got parliamentary approval (possibly to create a sense of legitimacy for what was to come) to send troops to Ukraine to safeguard Russian interests.

By early March 2014 Russian troops and pro-Russian paramilitary groups moved on Crimea, a Ukrainian autonomous republic where the population was predominantly ethnic Russian.

Residents of Crimea voted in a referendum in March to join Russia. In response to the Russian action, Western governments introduced a series of travel bans and asset freezes against members of Putin’s associates.

Two days later, Putin, claiming that Crimea had always been part of Russia, signed a treaty incorporating the peninsula into the Russian Federation.

The US and EU further escalated economic sanctions against more of Putin’s political allies.

After ratification of the treaty by both houses of the Russian parliament, on March 21 Putin signed legislation that formalized the Russian annexation of Crimea.

Ukrainian regions adjoining Crimea had a significant proportion of Russian loyalists who also wanted to rejoin Russia.

It was probably only a matter of time before Putin took direct action to make that happen. Even though it took him another eight years to make his move, it was no surprise that on February 20, 2022, just before he launched the invasion of Ukraine, that he officially recognized the independence of the separatist Donetsk and Luhansk People’s Republics that had been proclaimed in 2014.

The US, UK and EU called Putin’s move a “breach of international law.”

In a lengthy televised address just before the invasion, President Putin described Ukraine as an integral part of Russia’s history and said the areas in eastern Ukraine were ancient Russian lands while modern Ukraine, as a state, was created by the Bolsheviks after the 1917 revolution.

He said he was confident that the Russian people would support his decision.

The Donetsk and Luhansk People’s Republics were proclaimed in 2014 when Russian-backed separatists fought Ukrainian troops in an ongoing civil war.

“I deem it necessary to make a decision that should have been made a long time ago — to immediately recognize the independence and sovereignty of the Donetsk People’s Republic and the Luhansk People’s Republic,” President Putin said.

He also used the speech to attack Ukraine’s leadership, saying that neo-Nazis were on the rise, oligarchic clans were rife, and that the former Soviet country was a US colony with a puppet regime.

Whatever Putin’s plans were for Ukraine he had plenty of time to enact them. In 2021 he signed a law paving the way for him to run for two more presidential terms, potentially extending his rule until 2036.

Putin, at age 70 in 2022, was in his fourth presidential term that was set to end in 2024. The new legislation would allow him to serve two more six-year terms.

Putin became acting President after Boris Yeltsin’s resignation on December 31, 1999. He was then elected President of Russia on May 7, 2000 with 52.94% of the vote, for a four-year term. He was re-elected in 2004, for another four-year term, in 2012 for a six-year term and in 2018 for another six-year term.

Vladimir Vladimirovich Putin was born on October 7, 1952 in Leningrad, RSFSR, USSR (now Saint Petersburg, Russia).

He studied law at Leningrad State University, graduating in 1975. He worked as a KGB (romanised: Komitet Gosudarstvennoy Bezopasnosti — ‘Committee for State Security’) foreign intelligence officer for 16 years, rising to the rank of lieutenant colonel, before resigning in 1991 to begin a political career in Saint Petersburg. He moved to Moscow in 1996 to join the administration of President Boris Yeltsin. He briefly served as director of the Federal Security Service (FSB) and secretary of the Security Council, before being appointed Prime Minister in August 1999.

Putin’s rule has been characterized by corruption allegations, the jailing and repression of political opponents, the intimidation and suppression of media freedom in Russia, and a lack of free and fair elections.

Putin’s Russia has scored poorly on Transparency International’s Corruption Perceptions Index, the Economist Intelligence Unit’s Democracy Index, and Freedom House’s Freedom in the World index.

Putin was married to Lyudmila (now divorced). They had two daughters, Katya and Masha.

It is unclear whether he remarried but his partner is said to be Alina Kabaeva, a 39-year-old Olympic rhythmic gymnastics gold medalist, politician and media manager. They have seven-year-old twin daughters together. It is also believed they have two sons, but their ages and existence have never been publicly verified.