Ideas of Crimea : Crimea in the modern Russian political and cultural imagination
Why does Putin’s regime claim Crimea as a part of Russia? How does the construction of national myths help to justify the annexation of Crimea in 2014? Political mythmaking is a process of instrumentalising power narratives that form a bond between the past and the present, reimagining history through elite lenses for their political survival. Myths function as strategic legitimising mechanisms that justify actions of the incumbent authorities. Myths are dynamic due to the constantly evolving political landscape and national interests which they represent. This research explores three dominant Russian myths about Crimea: the return of Crimea in 2014, the Battle of Sevastopol and the Baptism of Prince Vladimir. The 2014 Myth revitalises the legitimacy of Putin in modern Russia. The Battle of Sevastopol evokes Soviet glory in the Second World War, demonstrating the Russian continuous effort to defend Crimea from Western powers. The Myth of baptism of Prince Vladimir aims to link one of Russian state-building events to the Christian origin of Crimea. Three myths are strongly embedded in Kremlin discourse that validates the annexation. Through document analysis of Russian cultural and media production, forty-seven expert interviews in Moscow and St. Peterburg, this work demonstrates the complex evolution of political myths about Crimea in Russia’s elite imagination between 1991 and 2017. Understanding how Russian political mythmaking was used to justify the annexation of Crimea opens the avenue for deeper analysis of imperial practices and the subsequent invasion of Ukraine.
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