The Ukrainian crisis gave to Moscow a unique opportunity to annex Crimea, the independence of which had never been fully accepted by Russia after 1991. The regime change occurred in Kiev in February 2014, after Viktor Yanukovich’s running away during ...
Russia’s March 2014 annexation of Crimea has overthrown the maritime context in the Black Sea region. The full sovereignty recovered by Moscow over the Crimean peninsula is likely to tremendously sustain Russia’s maritime power in the region and beyond, in the Mediterranean[1]. However, the lack of local maintenance infrastructures as well as limited shipbuilding capacities remain a structural challenge to the revival of Moscow’s maritime and naval might in the Black Sea region...
Part Two:
What are the consequences for the buildup of the Black Sea Fleet?
Having examined the plans for the economic development of Crimea and the construction of infrastructures in the peninsula in our previous paper, we now raise issues related to the impact of Russia’s seizure of Crimea for the modernization of the Black Sea Fleet. The buildup of the Black Sea Fleet ‘1.0’ was initiated years before Russia’s takeover of Crimea which has recast Moscow’s paradigm...
... Development: First Steps, First Challenges
Russia’s annexation of Crimea on March 18, 2014 has raised issues related to the economic impact of such a move for Moscow. The takeover of the peninsula as well as Moscow’s involvement in the Ukrainian crisis have sparked economic sanctions from the Euro-Atlantic community. On the diplomatic stage, Western countries have sought to isolate Moscow and boosted their efforts to ease Kiev’s economic rapprochement with the EU. Beyond the political ...