The Russian Military Is 'Gloating' On Their Crimea Takeover

Situation in Crimea. © REUTERS/ David Mdzinarishvili

Putin’s ‘Test’ in Crimea Gives Russian Army a Rare Chance to Gloat -- Simon Shuster, Time

The annexation of Crimea did not exactly put Russia's military through the races, but it gave the Russian Defense Ministry a neat recruitment tool while pleasing its commander in chief.

In early March, just as Russia began its military occupation of Crimea, a strange series of billboards began appearing on bus stops in Moscow. They were military recruitment posters from the Russian Ministry of Defense, and they showed a soldier dressed exactly like the troops who were occupying Crimea – same green uniform, same helmets, same pattern of camouflage, same lack of insignia – standing in front of a landscape that had an odd resemblance to the Crimean coastline. For some passersby it was enough to do a double take. Hadn’t President Vladimir Putin just denied sending any Russian troops to Crimea at all?

Indeed he had. On March 4, the same day those posters were spotted in Moscow, Putin publicly claimed that the Russian troops taking over Crimea were not Russian at all. Even though they drove Russian vehicles with Russian license plates and often admitted to being from Russia, Putin said these were just “local militia,” thus forcing his entire government to play along with this ruse. But that did not stop his Ministry of Defense from using the “local militias” as a recruitment tool.

Read more ....

My Comment: I will admit that the Russian military acted professionally and swiftly in their takeover of Crimea .... it was (and is) a success story .... but it should be noted that they did have everything going in their favor. The Ukraine military was disorganized and deeply divided .... and the Ukraine political leadership even more so. The Russians already had bases in Crimea .... and not only were they already in position, but they also knew the "lay of the land". The local population was friendly .... and helpful .... and the Russian military had the element of surprise. But put against a well equipped force that was determined to fight .... I suspect that we would then be having a different discussion right now.

Update: Analysis: Crimea intervention - The increasing sophistication of Russia's military resurgence -- Janes 360