Friday was the second anniversary of Russia’s annexation of Crimea from Ukraine.
To mark the event, Vladimir Putin paid a visit to the island of Tuzla, where he checked in on a construction project aimed at bridging the Black Sea peninsula with the Russian mainland. The bridge, which is expected to cost somewhere in the neighborhood of €3 billion, will be the first direct link between Crimea and Russia and will span about 12 miles across the Kerch Strait.
Putin called the effort “a historical mission,” that will boost Crimea’s economic growth. It’s expected to be completed by December of 2018. Also in the works is an undersea power cable meant to help prevent the types of blackouts that have beset Crimea due to its dependence on Kiev for power.
“State-sponsored concerts and public festivities took place across Russia to commemorate the March 2014 takeover that Moscow insists followed a referendum in which Crimea residents voted overwhelmingly to swap countries,” AFP writes, adding that “in Moscow, thousands gathered just off Red Square for a concert featuring pro-Kremlin pop stars including 78-year-old crooner Joseph Kobzon, who was blacklisted by the EU last year after he performed for rebels in eastern Ukraine.” Here are a few images from the (freezing cold) festivities:
“[The bridge] will be yet another symbol of our unity,” Putin said in a televised address, after congratulating the country on the annexation. “We will confidently move forward together, and only forward,” he promised.
Yes, “forward and only forward.” That is of course unless someone forgets to build the road that will link the bridge to Crimea’s capital, Simferopol. “Officials keep passing responsibility for the work to colleagues in different ministries,” Bloomberg writes. And Putin isn’t happy about it. In fact, if winter of 2018 rolls around and the road isn’t built, he’s going to “hang” someone – he just needs to know who it’s going to be.
“There should be a specific person who can be hanged if it’s not done,” he said on Friday. “A specific entity, a specific person responsible for the whole project is needed, so I wouldn’t have to call all government phones or regions.”
(“Are you him?”)
“The president’s comments were figurative,” the Kremlin later said, dryly.
The US and the West have said that Putin will eventually have to leave Crimea and return the peninsula to Ukraine. Somehow, we think all of the above seems to suggest that Moscow isn’t about to be “returning” anything to anyone anytime soon.
Meanwhile, the fate of Ukraine still “hangs” in the balance, so to speak.
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