Military specialists advised using all means of deterrence in ‘Crimean Spring’ – documentary

(Interfax – March 16, 2015)

Some military specialists suggested that Russian President Vladimir Putin should have used all means of deterrence in the Crimea situation but Putin declined to do so, it was said in a documentary, Crimea – Return to the Motherland, aired by the Rossiya-1 channel on Sunday.

“We were told by the Defense Ministry later that certain military specialists suggested that Vladimir Putin, the Supreme Commander in Chief, should use every available means to demonstrate Russia’s readiness to defend its national interests,” said documentary author Andrei Kondrashev.

“The president said the situation was complicated and dramatic but the Cold War was over and we did not need an international crisis of the Caribbean type.

Moreover, such actions were unnecessary under those circumstances and would have been at variance with our interests,” the journalist said.

“Speaking of our nuclear deterrence forces, they are always in a state of full combat readiness,” Kondrashev quoted the president as saying.

Russian President Vladimir Putin commented extensively on the circumstances surrounding the absorption of Crimea by Russia in a documentary entitled “Crimea: Return to the Motherland,” which aired on television channel Rossiya 1 March 15.

Putin said that the idea of taking Crimea away from Ukraine did not develop until after Yanukovich was ousted.