Putin’s strangling fig in Ukraine
Trying to figure out Putin’s plausible motives for the Ukraine war, is not condoning them. Like a strangling fig tree, Putin apparently wants to engulf Ukraine gradually with incremental steps.
He started with the eastern Russianspeaking part, followed by Crimea in the south. He is now trying to take the whole south coast of Ukraine. What is there that he wants?
The Crimea peninsula, the size of Switzerland, is in the Black Sea, connected to Ukraine with a narrow landbridge. Its southern coast with moderate climate, called the Crimean Riviera, has popular vacation resorts.
Putin’s 2014-annexation of Crimea gave him control over Sevastopol’s harbour on the south-west coast of Crimea where most of the Russian navy in the Black Sea is stationed, dating back to 1783.
The Sevastopol inlet has about 30 bays, is ice-free all year, and has deep water. Being in the middle of the Black Sea, enables the navy to patrol this sea. Taking control of this naval base was hailed by Russians.
The 19-kilometer-long Crimea Bridge, connecting Crimea with Russia by road and railway over the Kerch Strait, was opened in 2018. This longest bridge in Europe is a gift of Putin to thousands of Russian tourists.
Ukraine reacted to this landgrab by closing the 402-kilometer-long North Crimean Canal that supplied water from Ukraine to Crimea since 1975. This affected farming in Crimea severely. It invited another Russian attack – it was reopened when the present war started.
For several centuries, Crimea’s population consisted mostly of Tatars, part of the Ottoman Empire, and of Muslim faith. In 1944, Russia deported them to central Asia for allegedly colluding with Germany.
When the Soviet Union broke up 45 years later, some of them returned to Crimea. Their properties were occupied or destroyed, and they struggled to survive amid discrimination.
After Russia’s annexation of Crimea in 2014, many Russians settled in Crimea. Today, about 60 percent of the population is Russian, 24 percent Ukrainian, and 11 percent Tatar.
Another reason for Putin’s obsession with Crimea and it surroundings is the undersea oil and gas reserves. If Putin gains control of southern Ukraine, he will control all the oil and gas reserves of that area.
Furthermore, he can then also control Ukraine’s 18 ports on the Black Sea and the Sea of Azov, practically making Ukraine a land-locked country that can only export by rail to Europe.
Apparently, Putin wants to “break” Ukraine like a horse, to serve Russia’s purposes economically and militarily.
Putin will be 70 years old in October. Maybe he wants to be remembered as one of Russia’s great leaders. Subduing Ukraine will be his major achievement. Pride comes before the fall ( Judges 16:20, Is. 14:12-15, Luke 12:16-21, Rev. 3:17-18).
Jacob Van Zyl of Lethbridge is a retired counsellor and the author of several faith-based books