The overwhelming majority of Russians view Crimea as an ancestral Russian territory and see Putin as their hero, ever since his special forces took Crimea in early March without firing a single deadly shot. One of the spectators, a woman from the Volga region, is wearing a T-shirt with Putin’s portrait and the words: “The most polite of all people.”
“Polite people” — it is a term Russians use to describe the soldiers who seized Crimea as well as Putin, who annexed the peninsula in violation of international law. It is a move that has dramatically ratcheted up tensions between the West and Russia. Sanctions imposed by the US and Europe mean, among other things, that Russians will no longer be able to eat American chicken or French Camembert. But for the moment, Russians are still scoffing at the sanctions.
A Visit to Crimea in Search of the Beginnings of a Putin Legacy – SPIEGEL ONLINE.
