Russia

Putin era; annexation of Crimea (2014); invasion of Ukraine (2022)

21st Century · 2000 – present

Russia is the largest country in the world, spanning Eastern Europe and northern Asia. After the Soviet Union dissolved in 1991, it went through a turbulent decade of economic collapse and political upheaval. On the last day of 1999 Boris Yeltsin resigned, and Vladimir Putin became acting president. He was elected president in 2000 and has dominated Russian politics since, serving as president or prime minister. Under him power became more centralised, and independent media and opposition were increasingly restricted.

In February and March 2014, after the fall of Ukraine's president Viktor Yanukovych, Russia took control of Crimea and annexed it. Most governments and the UN General Assembly rejected the annexation as illegal, while Russia says the move reflected the will of Crimea's residents. Fighting also began in eastern Ukraine's Donbas region. On 24 February 2022 Russia launched a full-scale invasion of Ukraine, the largest war in Europe since 1945. It has caused great loss of life, displaced millions of people, and led to sweeping Western sanctions.

Things happened, and the rest is history

The Soviet collapse and the Yeltsin years
Event
What happened
In December 1991 the leaders of Russia, Ukraine and Belarus declare the Soviet Union dissolved, and Mikhail Gorbachev resigns as its president on 25 December. Russia under Boris Yeltsin begins rapid market reforms and privatisation. In October 1993 Yeltsin uses tanks against the parliament in Moscow, and a financial crisis hits in August 1998.
The rest is history
These years left many Russians with a lasting sense of humiliation and insecurity, and they shaped how Putin's rule was received later. Privatisation produced a small group of very rich businessmen, and many ordinary people lost their savings. The war in Chechnya, beginning in 1994, weakened trust in the state. Yeltsin resigned on 31 December 1999 and handed power to Putin.
Sources
1. BookService, Robert. A History of Modern Russia from Nicholas II to Vladimir Putin. Cambridge, MA: Harvard University Press, 2005.
2. BookHoffman, David E. The Oligarchs: Wealth and Power in the New Russia. New York: PublicAffairs, 2002.
Putin comes to power
Event
What happened
Vladimir Putin, a former KGB officer, is appointed prime minister in August 1999 and becomes acting president on 31 December 1999. He wins the presidential election in March 2000. Early in his rule he curbs the powers of regional governors and brings the main television networks under state-friendly control.
The rest is history
Rising oil prices helped Russia's economy recover in the early 2000s, and this brought Putin broad popularity. Because of the constitutional two-term limit, Dmitry Medvedev was president from 2008 to 2012 with Putin as prime minister. Putin returned as president in 2012. Constitutional changes approved in 2020 allow him to stay in office potentially until 2036.
Sources
1. BookHill, Fiona, and Clifford G. Gaddy. Mr. Putin: Operative in the Kremlin. Washington, DC: Brookings Institution Press, 2013.
2. BookMyers, Steven Lee. The New Tsar: The Rise and Reign of Vladimir Putin. New York: Knopf, 2015.
The Second Chechen War
Event
What happened
In August and September 1999 armed Chechen-based fighters invade Dagestan, and apartment bombings kill hundreds of people in Russian cities. Russian forces re-enter Chechnya in autumn 1999 and capture the capital, Grozny, in early 2000 after heavy bombardment. Russia then installs a pro-Moscow local government.
The rest is history
The war helped to raise Putin's standing as a strong leader. Fighting gave way to a long insurgency, and Russia declared the main phase of its operation over in 2009. Human rights groups documented serious abuses by Russian forces, and later by pro-Moscow forces. Responsibility for the 1999 bombings remains disputed, and Russian authorities blamed militants.
Sources
1. BookGall, Carlotta, and Thomas de Waal. Chechnya: Calamity in the Caucasus. New York: New York University Press, 1998.
2. BookPolitkovskaya, Anna. A Dirty War: A Russian Reporter in Chechnya. London: Harvill Press, 2001.
The Orange Revolution and NATO enlargement
Event
What happened
In late 2004 mass protests in Ukraine follow a disputed presidential election, and a rerun vote brings Viktor Yushchenko to power. In April 2008 NATO leaders say at Bucharest that Ukraine and Georgia will become members at some future date. In August 2008 Russia and Georgia fight a short war over South Ossetia, after which Russia recognises South Ossetia and Abkhazia as independent.
The rest is history
Putin and other Russian leaders described NATO's eastward growth as a threat. Western governments said states were free to choose their alliances. In a speech at Munich in 2007 Putin openly criticised the post-Cold War order. The 2008 war showed Russia's readiness to use force in its neighbourhood.
Sources
1. BookSarotte, M. E. Not One Inch: America, Russia, and the Making of Post-Cold War Stalemate. New Haven: Yale University Press, 2021.
2. BookPlokhy, Serhii. The Gates of Europe: A History of Ukraine. New York: Basic Books, 2015.
The Bolotnaya protests of 2011 to 2012
Event
What happened
After disputed parliamentary elections in December 2011, tens of thousands of people protest in Moscow and other cities. They demand fair elections. Putin wins the presidency again in March 2012, and a protest on 6 May 2012 ends in clashes with police.
The rest is history
Many protesters were prosecuted afterwards. New laws tightened rules on protests and on organisations receiving foreign funding, the so-called foreign agents law of 2012. Putin's government presented the protests as Western-inspired, while organisers said they reflected domestic anger. The following years saw closer control of media and civil society.
Sources
1. BookGessen, Masha. The Man Without a Face: The Unlikely Rise of Vladimir Putin. New York: Riverhead Books, 2012.
2. BookDawisha, Karen. Putin's Kleptocracy: Who Owns Russia? New York: Simon & Schuster, 2014.
The Euromaidan and the fall of Yanukovych
Event
What happened
In November 2013 Ukraine's president Viktor Yanukovych drops a planned association agreement with the European Union, and protests begin in Kyiv's Maidan square. In February 2014 dozens of protesters are killed in the city centre. On 22 February Yanukovych leaves Kyiv, and Ukraine's parliament votes to remove him.
The rest is history
Russia called these events an unconstitutional coup, while Ukrainian and Western governments saw a popular uprising. Within days unmarked Russian soldiers took over key sites in Crimea. The crisis opened the way to the annexation of Crimea and to war in the Donbas.
Sources
1. BookPlokhy, Serhii. The Gates of Europe: A History of Ukraine. New York: Basic Books, 2015.
2. BookWilson, Andrew. Ukraine Crisis: What It Means for the West. New Haven: Yale University Press, 2014.
The annexation of Crimea
Event
What happened
In late February 2014 armed men without insignia seize the Crimean parliament and other sites. A referendum is held on 16 March under military presence, and officials announce a large majority for joining Russia. On 18 March Russia signs a treaty absorbing Crimea and the city of Sevastopol.
The rest is history
On 27 March 2014 the UN General Assembly adopted a resolution declaring the referendum invalid, with 100 votes in favour. The United States, the EU and others imposed sanctions. Putin first denied that Russian troops were involved, then acknowledged it in April 2014. Crimea remains under Russian control, and Ukraine and most states do not recognise the annexation.
Sources
1. PrimaryUnited Nations General Assembly Resolution 68/262, Territorial Integrity of Ukraine. Adopted 27 March 2014.
2. BookSakwa, Richard. Frontline Ukraine: Crisis in the Borderlands. London: I.B. Tauris, 2015.
War in the Donbas and the Minsk agreements
Event
What happened
In April 2014 armed separatists seize towns in Ukraine's Donetsk and Luhansk regions, and Ukraine launches a military operation against them. In July 2014 Malaysia Airlines Flight MH17 is shot down over eastern Ukraine, killing all 298 people on board. Ceasefire deals, the Minsk agreements, are signed in September 2014 and February 2015, but fighting continues at lower intensity.
The rest is history
A Dutch-led investigation concluded that MH17 was hit by a Buk missile from a launcher brought from Russia, and Russia denies responsibility. The Donbas conflict killed thousands of people before 2022. The Minsk agreements were never fully carried out, as the two sides disagreed over their order and terms. On 21 February 2022 Putin recognised the two separatist areas as independent states.
Sources
1. PrimaryDutch Safety Board. Crash of Malaysia Airlines Flight MH17. Final report, 13 October 2015.
2. BookPlokhy, Serhii. The Russo-Ukrainian War: The Return of History. New York: W. W. Norton, 2023.
Putin and the claim that Russians and Ukrainians are one people
Popular belief
The legend
It is often said, and Putin has argued, that Russians and Ukrainians are one people and that Ukraine is an artificial creation of the Soviet era. In this telling, Ukrainian identity was invented by outsiders.
The rest is history
Kyivan Rus, a medieval state centred on Kyiv, is claimed as a shared origin by Russians, Ukrainians and Belarusians. Historians point out that Ukrainian language, culture and political movements developed over centuries, including a short-lived Ukrainian People's Republic in 1917 to 1921. In a 1991 referendum about 90 percent of voters in Ukraine backed independence, with majorities in every region including Crimea. Putin set out his version in an essay of July 2021, and most historians reject its main claims.
Sources
1. PrimaryPutin, Vladimir. On the Historical Unity of Russians and Ukrainians. Essay published on kremlin.ru, 12 July 2021.
2. BookPlokhy, Serhii. The Origins of the Slavic Nations: Premodern Identities in Russia, Ukraine, and Belarus. Cambridge: Cambridge University Press, 2006.
The promise that NATO would not expand one inch
Popular belief
The legend
Many people say the West promised Gorbachev in 1990 that NATO would never move east, and that Russia was later betrayed. Others say no such promise was ever made.
The rest is history
In February 1990 US Secretary of State James Baker told Gorbachev that NATO would not move one inch eastward, in the context of German reunification. Declassified records show that the talk concerned the territory of East Germany. No treaty bound NATO about further members, and the final German settlement of 1990 did not include such a clause. Historians such as Mary Elise Sarotte describe a more complicated story in which informal assurances were discussed but never written into any binding agreement. Poland, Hungary and the Czech Republic joined NATO in 1999.
Sources
1. BookSarotte, M. E. Not One Inch: America, Russia, and the Making of Post-Cold War Stalemate. New Haven: Yale University Press, 2021.
2. ArticleSarotte, Mary Elise. "A Broken Promise? What the West Really Told Moscow about NATO Expansion." Foreign Affairs 93, no. 5 (2014): 90-97.
The tale that Kyiv was the cradle of Russia: Rurik and the Primary Chronicle
Origin story
The legend
The Russian Primary Chronicle says the Slavic and Finnic tribes, tired of quarrelling, invited Varangians from overseas to rule them, saying that their land was large and rich but lacked order. Three brothers, led by Rurik, came, and Rurik settled at Novgorod. His kinsman Oleg later took Kyiv and made it his seat.
The rest is history
The Primary Chronicle was compiled in Kyiv in the early 12th century, about 250 years after the events it describes, and its account of the invitation is debated. Scandinavian settlers did play a part in the early state of Rus in the 9th and 10th centuries. Historians disagree over how large that part was. Modern Russia, Ukraine and Belarus all claim the legacy of Kyivan Rus, and the story features in arguments about who owns the past. In 2016 Moscow unveiled a large statue of Prince Vladimir, who adopted Christianity around 988.
Sources
1. PrimaryPovest vremennykh let (Russian Primary Chronicle). East Slavic chronicle, compiled in Kyiv, early 12th century. Translated by Samuel Hazzard Cross and Olgerd P. Sherbowitz-Wetzor, Cambridge, MA: Medieval Academy of America, 1953.
2. BookFranklin, Simon, and Jonathan Shepard. The Emergence of Rus 750-1200. London: Longman, 1996.

← Back to the outline

Things happened, and the rest is history

The Soviet collapse and the Yeltsin years

Putin comes to power

The Second Chechen War

The Orange Revolution and NATO enlargement

The Bolotnaya protests of 2011 to 2012

The Euromaidan and the fall of Yanukovych

The annexation of Crimea

War in the Donbas and the Minsk agreements

Putin and the claim that Russians and Ukrainians are one people

The promise that NATO would not expand one inch

The tale that Kyiv was the cradle of Russia: Rurik and the Primary Chronicle