“...That shameful film about Crimea”

They say that “audacity is shameless.” This expression is very appropriate when talking about Russian President Vladimir Putin. He confirmed his shameless reputation with Andrei Kondrashov’s documentary Crimea. The Way Home which was broadcast by Russia 1 TV on March 15. The master of the Kremlin admitted in this film to personally leading the operation to capture Crimea. As you know, he and other Russian high officials previously denied the Russian military involvement in the annexation of Crimea.

Now, Putin defiantly admitted that the annexation of Crimea involved GRU and marine units, tasked with neutralizing the Ukrainian military units stationed on the peninsula.

Most strikingly, Putin said he had considered the use of nuclear weapons during the annexation of Crimea in the event of armed opposition from Western countries.

“We were ready to do this [bring the nuclear weapon-armed forces into a state of alert]... I talked to my [Western] colleagues and told them that it [Crimea] was our historical territory. Russian people lived there. They were in danger. We could not abandon them,” Putin was quoted as saying by the All-Russian State Broadcasting Company’s website.

One of the first to react to these revelations from Putin was Prime Minister of Ukraine Arsenii Yatseniuk who saw the trailer of the film on March 8. “I ask the Ministry of Justice to send this trailer to the Hague Tribunal. It is important for the entire film to be also sent to the Hague Tribunal as soon as it is released. This film should be of interest to international prosecutors and investigators,” the prime minister said. “It answers the question of who gave instructions to seize Ukrainian territory in Crimea and commit this violation of international law, and who was responsible for it all.”

Russian actress Liya Akhedzhakova’s response to this film was quite interesting as well. “It was just as Oleg Basilashvili came to visit me. We decided to turn on the TV as we were at our tea, and it showed that horrible, shameful film about Crimea. It is a totally horrible film. They have taken away, stolen Crimea, have made our kindred people into enemy. This enmity will stay there for centuries. I have a heavy soul, I am just ground down by it,” she tweeted.

The Brussels-based bodies responded to this film in a very calm manner. Maja Kocijancic, the spokesperson for EU High Representative for the Common Foreign and Security Policy Federica Mogherini, said: “We do not recognize this violation of international law and will continue to fully comply with our policy of non-recognition, including through preventive measures.”