Six days after Russian President Vladimir Putin celebrated his birthday in style and received a deluge of greetings from Russians extolling his unparalleled virtues, the Kremlin came under the spotlight for issuing a currency note with the image of Crimea on it.
Ukrainians were quick to react. The government in Kiev, already bitter years after the Crimean Peninsula was annexed to Russia, banned the note immediately as it did any other Rouble bill that had an image of the region.
Moscow had earlier issued a new note worth 200 roubles featuring a naval memorial in the city of Sevastopol — the base of Russia’s Black Sea Fleet — and Unesco-protected Greek and Roman ruins at nearby Chersonesus. The design also includes the Crimean Peninsula’s map.
That the Kremlin likes to be in the news is no news. It cleverly wants to keep Russians talking and thinking about Crimea — an issue that propelled Russian strongman Putin to the top of ranking charts when the Russian economy had tanked because of international sanctions imposed by the United States and other Western powers.
The note issue has again roiled ties between Ukraine and Russia as the two neighbours continue to tussle over the territory and insurgency in eastern Ukraine threatens the Donbass.
Putin’s Crimea gambit has played out well inasmuch as it has made him very popular with the average Russian as the country weathers a Western onslaught led by the eastward expansion of the North Atlantic Treaty Organisation (Nato) and
deployment of missile interceptor systems.
Putin is more concerned about his popularity not only because he has to sustain himself amid a flailing economy and faltering rouble but because of elections in 2018.
The former KGB spy has weathered many a storm over the years. He has revelled in taking on the West and riling responsible governments. Under Putin’s presidency, Russia has been spreading its sphere of influence by strong-arming former Soviet Republics Georgia and Armenia and trying to sow fear in the Baltic states of Estonia, Lithuania and Latvia.
The three Baltic Republics, with their peaceful societies and placid polities, have been shaken by Russian warplanes repeatedly trying to violate their air space. As far as Crimea is concerned, the Russian strongman was also supported in his misadventure by former Soviet President Mikhail Gorbachev — the father of Praestroika and Glasnost — who is known to have praised Putin for righting a historical wrong.
Amid Russia’s isolation from the West, Putin has cleverly worked to keep Russians happy by spouting nationalistic rhetoric and the country’s glorious Soviet past. Though even cultural icons like Leo Tolstoy are known to have been jettisoned in the new Russia being led by Putin, a large number of Russians feel that the glory of their country has been restored by their leader.
