What’s ‘the West-backed coup’ in Ukraine in 2014 that Putin is talking about?

Russian President Vladimir Putin has blamed the West for his 2014 invasion of Crimea.

Putin, speaking at the 25th Shanghai Cooperation Organisation (SCO) summit in the northern Chinese port city of Tianjin on Monday, claimed that the roots of the Ukraine crisis can be traced to the events that occurred over a decade ago in Kyiv.

“This crisis did not arise as a result of Russia’s attack on Ukraine, but as a result of the coup d’état in Ukraine, which was supported and provoked by the West, and then by attempts to use armed forces to suppress the resistance of those regions and people who did not accept this coup”, Putin said.

Putin also blamed the West for Ukraine’s ambitions to join North Atlantic Treaty Organisation (Nato). “The second reason for the crisis is the West’s constant attempts to drag Ukraine into Nato”, Putin added.

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But what is Putin referring to? What happened in 2014?

Let’s take a closer look:

A brief look at Russia and Ukraine

First, let’s understand the context of the situation.

Ukraine was part of the erstwhile Soviet Union. Kyiv declared its independence after the fall of the Soviet bloc in 1991 . Crimea, whose population, language and culture was overwhelmingly Russian, joined the newly-independent country.

Then, in 1994, Ukraine signed the landmark Budapest Memorandum in Hungary . Under this agreement, Ukraine gave up its stockpile of nuclear weapons – at the time the third largest in the world, much of it left over from the Soviet Union – in exchange for security guarantees from the leaders of the United States, the UK, Russia and Europe.

Ukraine handed over all its nuclear weapons to Russia for disarmament . Russia in exchange promised not to violate Ukraine’s borders and the US-led West said it would guarantee Ukraine’s sovereignty. This was around half a decade before Putin, who was a KGB agent, would come to power in Moscow.

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Over the next two decades, Ukraine faced a choice – align itself with Europe and the West or move closer to “Mother Russia”. This has been, since Ukraine’s founding, the foreign policy conundrum faced by Kyiv.

Enter Viktor Yanukovych – a Ukrainian politician hailing from the Donetsk coal-mining region of eastern Ukraine. Yanukovych, who was fervently pro-Russian, won the presidency of Ukraine in 2004. The election, which was widely regarded as fraudulent, was thrown out by the courts after mass protests across the country – known as the “Orange Revolution”.

However, that wasn’t the end of Yanukovych’s career. In 2010, the opposition leader defeated then Prime Minister Yulia Timoshenko to win the presidency of Ukraine and replace Viktor Yushchenko. It was a stunning comeback for Yanukovych, who had campaigned on bringing years of turmoil and gridlock in Ukraine and capitalised on the frustrations of voters to reach the country’s highest office. True to form, Yanukovych’s administration began charting a pro-Russian course immediately.

What is Putin referring to?

Putin is referring to the series of events that preceded his invasion of Crimea in 2014. At this time, Yanukovych was still president of Ukraine. A series of events led Yanukovych to being ousted by Parliament and fleeing to Russia.

Yanukovych in the intervening years had grown even closer to Russia. He had, among other things, extended Russia’s lease of the Sevastopol port – where its Black Sea Fleet is based – till 2042. While there were some indications that Yanukovych was prepared to pivot towards the West and Europe, things changed abruptly.

In November 2013, Yanukovych rejected a deal that would have seen Ukraine grow closer to Europe. At this time, Ukraine was witnessing its economy falter. Many within the country saw a growing relationship with Europe as the cure for the country’s ills. However, Yanukovych clearly did not see things that way. Instead, Yanukovych decided to seek a $15 billion bailout loan from Russia and cheaper gas for his nation.

The decision led to mass uprisings across Ukraine – known as the Maidan Movement – which began in late 2013 and continued unabated into 2014. Yanukovych, who had had enough, decided to crack down. Around 100 people were said to be killed by security forces – many claim on the direct orders of Yanukovych.

However, Yanukovych’s security forces failed to tamp down on the ire of the protesters. Ukraine’s Parliament then got involved by deciding to impeach Yanukovych. The then president chose not to stick around – he instead fled to Russia, denounced those opposing him as ‘fascists’ and claimed he was still the leader of Ukraine. It was these events that Putin referred to as a ‘Western-backed’ coup.

Putin invades Crimea

This is where things get even more interesting. Putin used these events as a pretext to invade Crimea in February 2014. Putin, who has made no secret about his fondness for the Soviet Union, sent armed troops to invade the region and began taking over its military bases and government buildings. Putin at the time cited a request from Yanukovych and said that he was only trying to protect Russians and Russian speakers in the region.

Putin also blamed those in Ukraine who wanted to join Nato – saying the move posed a ‘direct threat’ to Russia’s sovereignty.

Crimea later in 2014 held a controversial referendum under armed occupation. Moscow later claimed that the region voted overwhelmingly to join Russia. Moscow then formally annexed the region.

Yanukovych later admitted that he erred and described the move by Russia as “a major tragedy.” “I was wrong,” Yanukovych said. “I acted on my emotions.” He also said Crimea must be returned to Ukraine.

“We must set such a task and search for ways to return to Crimea on any conditions, so that Crimea may have the maximum degree of independence possible … but be part of Ukraine,” he said. Yanukovych also denied giving the order to kill protesters.

“I personally never gave any orders to shoot,” he said. “As far as I know, the weapons were never given to those special troops who took part in defending the state buildings and the state bodies — they just complied with their orders.”

“My principles which I always follow are that no authority, no power is worth a drop of blood,” Yanukovych claimed.

However, by then, Putin had little if any use for Yanukovych. TCrimea remains firmly in Russian hands. As of today, so does nearly a fifth of Ukraine.