Gotland – the other Crimea

Pro-Russian “self-defence milita” members at a checkpoint in Sloviansk. Image from Twitter.

Few, if any, military or political observers saw Russia’s swift occupation and annexation of Crimea coming. Reeling from the shock of slaughter on Institutskaya Street and struggling to interpret the political vacuum in the aftermath of Maidan, all the while searching for a fugitive ex-president and fretting over large Russian troop movements toward the Ukrainian border, members of the press and official onlookers were diverted from disquieting events in Crimea. Once set in motion, opposed only by a demonstrably non-violent Ukrainian resistance to ”self-defence militias” and ”polite green men”, there was little to stop Russia’s slow-motion conquest.

The annexation of Crimea was a lot of things, but first and foremost it was testament to Vladimir Putin’s ability for drastic and game-changing action.

In holding Crimea, Vladimir Putin puts the validity of the May 25 election in question since…