Crimea, one year after the annexation: the end of the honeymoon?

On 18 March 2015, the first anniversary of the Russian Federation’s annexation of Crimea was marked by celebrations in Russia. The main ceremony, attended by President Vladimir Putin, took place in Moscow by the Kremlin.

The celebrations were intended to strengthen the social consensus on the annexation of Crimea, a step that (according to the Kremlin) saved the peninsula from the prevailing chaos and terror in Ukraine.

However, the ceremony barely masked a decline in the social euphoria that burst out in Russia a year ago after the peninsula was annexed. The effects of the annexation, combined with the recession, have hit both the residents of Russia and Crimea in the last year, while the economic expectations aroused on the peninsula have not been met.

• Primary Source

ESO: Background information: Crimea - a year in Russian hands http://www.europeansources.info/record/crimea-a-year-in-russian-hands/

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