Russia accuses Ukraine of terrorism in Crimea, where Russia is building
Along the border of Ukraine and disputed Crimea, tensions are rising 鈥� again.聽
Ukraine put its troops on high alert on Thursday, one day after Russian president Vladimir Putin accused Ukrainian agents of engaging in 鈥渢error鈥� attacks against infrastructure in the city of Armyansk, near the border with mainland Ukraine,
The Federal Security Service (FSB), Russia's principal intelligence agency, claimed that Ukrainian commandos had twice attempted incursions into the Crimean peninsula, killing a Russian soldier and an FSB agent in the process, . It also said that it had detained several Ukrainian military intelligence agents who were part of a Crimean network.
On Wednesday, Mr. Putin vowed a tough response to the incident, and the Kremlin said that he had met with his security council to consider 鈥渁nti-terrorist security measures at the land border, in the waters and in the airspace of Crimea,鈥�
Ukrainian president Petro Poroshenko denied that the attacks had taken place, calling them a 鈥渇antasy鈥� designed as a pretext for military escalation.
鈥淩ussian accusations towards Ukraine of terrorism in the occupied Crimea sound as preposterous and cynical as the statements of the Russian leadership about the absence of the Russian troops in Donbass (region of Ukraine)," Mr. Poroshenko, according to Reuters.
NPR that the United States appears to be backing Ukraine鈥檚 account, with US ambassador to Ukraine, Geoffrey Pyatt, saying it "has seen nothing so far that corroborates Russian allegations of a Crimea incursion."
Since the March 2014 referendum on Russia鈥檚 annexation of Crimea, Putin has sought to further legitimize Russia鈥檚 claim to the peninsula 鈥� rejected by much of the West 鈥� through new infrastructure projects. On the second anniversary of the annexation, Putin trumpeted the construction of a bridge between the peninsula and Russia as part of a 鈥渉istoric mission鈥� dating back to Tsarist Russia, saying it would lay the basis for future economic growth, Reuters then.
But it has proven difficult for Putin to take Crimea from war footing to the sort of stable ground normally necessary for economic growth.
鈥淚t seems to me that it鈥檚 going the other way,鈥� says Mark Katz, a professor of government at George Mason University, where he specializes in Russian politics. 鈥淚n fact, he鈥檚 taking it back to a war footing and I think it鈥檚 in part because he can鈥檛 develop it. If your economic plans don鈥檛 materialize, it must be someone else鈥檚 fault.鈥澛�
In March, Eurasian political experts Melinda Haring and Alina Polyakova of the Atlantic Council聽聽in Newsweek that the economic situation in Crimea had grown 鈥渄esperate鈥� in the two years following the annexation, blaming a fall in tourism and sanctions that restrict access to the economies of Ukraine and the West. Infrastructure projects 鈥� from a to 鈥� have run into complications stemming from those sanctions.
Human rights groups have noted a climate of in Crimea brought by the arrival of the Russian military, and fighting between the Ukrainian government and Russian-backed separatists has heated up again in the eastern part of Ukraine.
But Russia may also be turning to its military as a driver of its civilian economy, not just as a means of securing claims over territory. In late June, deputy prime minister Dmitri Rogozin announced that the defense industry would become the main engine of the Russian economy by 2020, , a news agency owned by Russia's government. And just this week, Russia and India that they would collaborate on a joint investment center in the Crimean port of Sevastopol, an important naval base.
鈥淲e can鈥檛 tell for sure what the economy would be like [without sanctions],鈥� Dr. Katz told the Monitor. 鈥淲hat [Putin] can鈥檛 get is the West to accept his annexation in Crimea. That鈥檚 the thing he can鈥檛 get us to do.鈥�
