This article is from the source 'washpo' and was first published or seen on . It last changed over 40 days ago and won't be checked again for changes.
You can find the current article at its original source at http://www.washingtonpost.com/world/as-the-wheels-turn-toward-secession-crimea-left-in-limbo/2014/03/17/e8b67172-adc6-11e3-96dc-d6ea14c099f9_story.html?wprss=rss_world
The article has changed 7 times. There is an RSS feed of changes available.
| Version 1 | Version 2 |
|---|---|
| As the wheels turn toward secession, Crimea left in limbo | As the wheels turn toward secession, Crimea left in limbo |
| (35 minutes later) | |
| SEVASTOPOL, Ukraine — Crimea’s vote to join Russia quickly set the wheels turning. The city council here has been renamed a “legislative assembly” in the Russian manner, and authorities said they would start paying pensions in Russian rubles by April 1. | |
| Establishment of a new central bank, allied with the one in Moscow and capitalized with funds from it, is reportedly in the works. | Establishment of a new central bank, allied with the one in Moscow and capitalized with funds from it, is reportedly in the works. |
| But none of that has dispelled the sense of limbo that remains around this breakaway province — from the uneasy standoff between Ukrainian troops stationed at Crimean bases and the Russian forces that in effect surround them, to the anxiety among the region’s minority Tatar population. | But none of that has dispelled the sense of limbo that remains around this breakaway province — from the uneasy standoff between Ukrainian troops stationed at Crimean bases and the Russian forces that in effect surround them, to the anxiety among the region’s minority Tatar population. |
| The uncertainties are both profound and mundane. As of Monday, do you salute a new flag and sing a new national anthem? Where do you pay your insurance? | The uncertainties are both profound and mundane. As of Monday, do you salute a new flag and sing a new national anthem? Where do you pay your insurance? |
| “Some of my friends have already left. I’m going to wait and watch events and gather my courage,” said Dennis Matzola, 26, who was active in protests against the Sunday referendum and said he had found leaflets pasted to walls in his neighborhood, with his name and photograph, telling people to report him as a traitor. | “Some of my friends have already left. I’m going to wait and watch events and gather my courage,” said Dennis Matzola, 26, who was active in protests against the Sunday referendum and said he had found leaflets pasted to walls in his neighborhood, with his name and photograph, telling people to report him as a traitor. |
| An insurance company executive of ethnic Ukrainian origin said he was hastily arranging to transfer his offices to other cities in Ukraine, partly from concern about the bureaucratic difficulties he would encounter in switching to Russian rules, and partly from a deeper worry that the economic system would now fall into the hands of unscrupulous and aggressive Russians and their local allies. | An insurance company executive of ethnic Ukrainian origin said he was hastily arranging to transfer his offices to other cities in Ukraine, partly from concern about the bureaucratic difficulties he would encounter in switching to Russian rules, and partly from a deeper worry that the economic system would now fall into the hands of unscrupulous and aggressive Russians and their local allies. |
| “Everyone knows that criminals are coming to power now in Crimea, and soon they will start dividing everything up,” said the executive, who spoke on condition that he be identified only as Slavo. He said he had been told there would be a 30-day grace period for payment of insurance policies in Crimea, but that he had no confidence in the long-term integrity or viability of doing business under new Russian officials. “Ukraine has a civilized way of doing things, but now they are going to get much more aggressive,” he said. | “Everyone knows that criminals are coming to power now in Crimea, and soon they will start dividing everything up,” said the executive, who spoke on condition that he be identified only as Slavo. He said he had been told there would be a 30-day grace period for payment of insurance policies in Crimea, but that he had no confidence in the long-term integrity or viability of doing business under new Russian officials. “Ukraine has a civilized way of doing things, but now they are going to get much more aggressive,” he said. |
| The United States and European Union announced the first sanctions against Russia, targeted at individuals who played central roles in the evolving Russian takeover of Crimea. Even as Crimean authorities voted to make the secession official and headed to Moscow to consult, Russia raised the slim possibility that passage of a new Ukrainian constitution, giving Crimea more autonomy, could keep the country intact. | The United States and European Union announced the first sanctions against Russia, targeted at individuals who played central roles in the evolving Russian takeover of Crimea. Even as Crimean authorities voted to make the secession official and headed to Moscow to consult, Russia raised the slim possibility that passage of a new Ukrainian constitution, giving Crimea more autonomy, could keep the country intact. |
| But on the ground, it seemed like a slow and complicated unwinding had begun, leaving many wondering what their next steps should be. | But on the ground, it seemed like a slow and complicated unwinding had begun, leaving many wondering what their next steps should be. |
| At a Ukrainian military base at Belbek, outside Sevastopol, troops said they would fight to the last man if ordered by their commanders in Kiev. But there is also talk of a choice in the works — stay and serve in a reconfigured force under Russian control, or head back to what’s left of Ukraine. | At a Ukrainian military base at Belbek, outside Sevastopol, troops said they would fight to the last man if ordered by their commanders in Kiev. But there is also talk of a choice in the works — stay and serve in a reconfigured force under Russian control, or head back to what’s left of Ukraine. |
| Russia took control of the base airstrip two weeks ago, but Ukrainians still run the rest of the facility. | Russia took control of the base airstrip two weeks ago, but Ukrainians still run the rest of the facility. |
| A truce is in effect until Friday. | A truce is in effect until Friday. |
| “Something is going to happen. But we don’t know what,” said a soldier outside the gate, where a sign taped to the wall declared that “the army is outside politics.” | “Something is going to happen. But we don’t know what,” said a soldier outside the gate, where a sign taped to the wall declared that “the army is outside politics.” |
| Nearby, at base A2991, relations were warmer as troops traded supplies and Russian soldiers charged cellphones from an extension cord run over to them by Ukrainians. | |
| “This is friendship between Slavic people,” shouted a soldier, who gave his name as Pavel and says he is from central Russia. “They’ve given us hot water, and we’ve given them food. Maybe they’ll give us some of those meals that (President) Barack Obama said he’s going to send over. I’d like to try them.” | “This is friendship between Slavic people,” shouted a soldier, who gave his name as Pavel and says he is from central Russia. “They’ve given us hot water, and we’ve given them food. Maybe they’ll give us some of those meals that (President) Barack Obama said he’s going to send over. I’d like to try them.” |
| Dmitri Kozackovich, the Ukrainian deputy commander at the base, just shrugged. | Dmitri Kozackovich, the Ukrainian deputy commander at the base, just shrugged. |
| “They’ve been camping out there for three weeks,” he said of the Russians. “They’re cold.” | “They’ve been camping out there for three weeks,” he said of the Russians. “They’re cold.” |
| In downtown Sevastopol, small groups huddled against an icy wind shouted the name of Russian President Vladimir Putin and sang the Russian national anthem — or at least what they know of it so far. | In downtown Sevastopol, small groups huddled against an icy wind shouted the name of Russian President Vladimir Putin and sang the Russian national anthem — or at least what they know of it so far. |
| Nadezjda Muhina, 60, said she was fed up being part of a country so stingy with its services that she has to bring her own bed linens, gauze and even light bulbs when checking into a hospital. When her grandson was old enough to attend school, she said, families were asked to buy the desks. | Nadezjda Muhina, 60, said she was fed up being part of a country so stingy with its services that she has to bring her own bed linens, gauze and even light bulbs when checking into a hospital. When her grandson was old enough to attend school, she said, families were asked to buy the desks. |
| “I woke up with tears in my eyes this morning” after the vote, she said, waving a Russian flag onto which she had taped letters spelling Russia and Sevastopol. | “I woke up with tears in my eyes this morning” after the vote, she said, waving a Russian flag onto which she had taped letters spelling Russia and Sevastopol. |
| Avis Ispatilor, 66, said the 23 years of Ukrainian rule brought only deterioration to the city’s trolley system for which he works. The 300 cars they had during Soviet times are now half that many, and the more than 2,000 employees slashed to 700. | Avis Ispatilor, 66, said the 23 years of Ukrainian rule brought only deterioration to the city’s trolley system for which he works. The 300 cars they had during Soviet times are now half that many, and the more than 2,000 employees slashed to 700. |
| “I’ve lived here for 45 years, and for 23 of them, life has been deteriorating,” he said. | “I’ve lived here for 45 years, and for 23 of them, life has been deteriorating,” he said. |
| Valentina Slavchenko, 58, said she woke up Monday at 6 a.m. in a joyous mood. She works at a hospital, where all the official paperwork and all the medications are written in Ukrainian, which she does not speak. She said she spent years doing her job with the help of a Russian-Ukrainian dictionary and translation pages on the Internet. | |
| “We are all so happy now,” she said. “They should have made Ukraine a country with two official languages. If they had shown us more respect, we could have lived in Ukraine. Now I’m sure they regret it.” | “We are all so happy now,” she said. “They should have made Ukraine a country with two official languages. If they had shown us more respect, we could have lived in Ukraine. Now I’m sure they regret it.” |
| In the Crimean capital of Simferopol, streets that had been filled with celebratory throngs Sunday night were quiet Monday. Squads of riot police in camouflage uniforms guarded empty sidewalks near government buildings, and loudspeakers in Lenin Square had switched from patriotic Russian anthems to Russian and U.S. rock music. | |
| Among the most anxious groups here Monday were leaders of the minority Crimean Tatar community, which boycotted the referendum as illegal and challenged official declarations of an 83 percent voter turnout and 97 percent pro-Russian preference. Nearly 300,000 Tatars live in Crimea, and polling stations in many Tatar areas reported that only a handful of people cast ballots. | Among the most anxious groups here Monday were leaders of the minority Crimean Tatar community, which boycotted the referendum as illegal and challenged official declarations of an 83 percent voter turnout and 97 percent pro-Russian preference. Nearly 300,000 Tatars live in Crimea, and polling stations in many Tatar areas reported that only a handful of people cast ballots. |
| “There is just no way these figures are right,” said Mustafa Abliazov, a member of the Simferopol council for Crimean Tatars, pointing to a Monday newspaper headline. “It was clear they decided way ahead of time that everything would be falsified. For Tatars, this is a big threat,” he said. “We are an unarmed and law-abiding people, but how can we tolerate something like this?” | “There is just no way these figures are right,” said Mustafa Abliazov, a member of the Simferopol council for Crimean Tatars, pointing to a Monday newspaper headline. “It was clear they decided way ahead of time that everything would be falsified. For Tatars, this is a big threat,” he said. “We are an unarmed and law-abiding people, but how can we tolerate something like this?” |