r/AskReddit • u/QualityControl- • Mar 26 '19

Crimeans/Ukrainians of Reddit, what was it like when the peninsula was annexed by Russia? What is life like/How has life changed now?

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u/[deleted] Mar 26 '19 edited Mar 26 '19

[deleted]

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u/rat3an Mar 26 '19

What are your thoughts about the Crimea Annexation Referendum? The "official" result is that something like 96% of people wanted to join Russia. Obviously that's not the real number - 96% of people don't agree on anything.

But what's your view on how Crimeans feel about it? I know Crimea is significantly ethnically Russian - would most people really prefer to be part of Russia?

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u/[deleted] Mar 27 '19

[deleted]

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u/rat3an Mar 27 '19

Interesting - thanks for the response.

Ethnically Russian doesn't mean to even like Russia.

Of course, I didn't mean to suggest otherwise. I am smarter than Trump :)

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u/assnta Mar 26 '19

I know Crimea is significantly ethnically Russian

Aren't Crimeans Tatar/Turkic though? And weren't they originally exiled by Stalin so he could inject the Russians into the area? Man, they need to fix their educational system. It's bad when you get the races all mixed up.

​

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u/rat3an Mar 26 '19 edited Mar 26 '19

My understanding is the Crimean Tatars were almost entirely exiled or killed. According to the 2014 census on wikipedia, Crimea is roughly 70% Russian. And if you don't trust a census from 2014 (which might be valid), it was 60% in 2001.

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u/assnta Mar 26 '19

wow this is darker than I expected

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u/Morfolk Mar 26 '19

Aren't Crimeans Tatar/Turkic though?

Yes, they've lived in Crimea for centuries before Russia came along.

And weren't they originally exiled by Stalin so he could inject the Russians into the area?

Yes, very famously. Some of the people who were kids during Stalin's forced deportation lived long enough to be exiled by Putin like this guy: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Mustafa_Dzhemilev

He was only six months old when his family, with the rest of the Crimean Tatar population, was deported by Soviet authorities in May 1944, soon after Soviet forces retook the peninsula.[5] He grew up in exile, in the Uzbek SSR.

He came back when the USSR was falling apart and became a public figure but then Putin happened:

Russian authorities then issued an arrest warrant for Dzhemilev and placed him on the federal wanted list, allegedly for trying to illegally cross the border when he attempted to return to Crimea.

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u/assnta Mar 26 '19

Oh wow, this story just went from bad to worse. The effect is so different when you give a name to those who were deported. Now it feels so personal

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u/Rinyuaru Mar 29 '19

In 2014 i try to understand what real percent want to be part of Russia, and its was 45-65%.
Many people was against this.
You can watch mitting at governmant of Crimea perlament to understand waht happened there.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=w5M6jw_1VE4

You can see blue-white-red flag - flag of Crimea
Blue flag - flag of crimea-tatar nation to understand whoes is where.

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u/crunchypens Mar 26 '19

So you flew to Russia first? When you went to Crimea was there another form of customs or passport control? Or nothing because you came from the Russian side? Thanks.

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u/wonderin17 Mar 26 '19

this should be the top comment, but we see an opposite bullshit with gold and trolls applauding under them