ABSTRACT
In March 2014 Crimea broke away from Ukraine and joined the Russian Federation after a short, but intense military and political operation. Though Russia did not orchestrate a full-scale military intervention to annex this strategically important peninsula, the Kremlin obviously played a pivotal role in all phases of the secessionist campaign, providing the Crimean separatists with political, economic and, it seems, even military assistance. Since then, separatism has moved to the major industrial hubs of eastern and southern Ukraine. Again Russian support appears to have been crucial for fuelling, legitimizing and bolstering separatist forces in an attempt to boost opposition to the new pro-European and pro-democratic government in Kyiv that was formed following the recent ouster of the corrupt and increasingly authoritarian president, Viktor Yanukovych.
