Putin won’t stop efforts to destabilize Ukraine
The world has witnessed an incredible sequence of sociopolitical events unfold in Ukraine over the past year. Last fall, millions of people took to the streets in cities across the country demanding the resignation of the Russian-backed president Victor Yanukovych.
Following his successful ouster in February, and the ushering in of a new pro-Western government in Kyiv, a series of militias from Ukraine’s southeastern regions have advocated for annexation by Russia. These separatists have been supported financially and militarily by the government of Russian President Vladimir Putin on the grounds that the new Ukrainian government persecutes the large number of ethnic Russians living in these areas. This support eventually led to the annexation of the Crimean Peninsula by Russia in March.
Throughout the duration of the conflict, Putin has consistently characterized the new government in Kyiv as motivated by hatred of ethnic Russians. In fact, over the course of the Ukrainian conflict, Putin has rebranded himself as the global protector of ethnic Russians and their culture, which he portrays as being under attack by Western governments.
My personal experiences among the protesters and in cities across Ukraine have shown me just how misleading Putin’s claims have been. Last December, as the anti-government protests were gaining momentum, I attended rallies in Kyiv, Lviv, and other small cities in western Ukraine. Never once did I hear protest leaders or attendees make disparaging comments about ethnic Russians.
Rather, the participants at the rallies were focused on ending the culture of government corruption flourishing under President Yanukovych. The Ukrainians I spoke with consistently said that official corruption was the most important factor motivating their desire for regime change. Many people pointed to the example of President Yanukovych’s son, Oleksandr, who before his father’s presidency was a middle-class dentist. Inexplicably, he became one of Ukraine’s richest businessmen after his father took office by running a company that happened to win the majority of public procurement contracts in the country.
Others mentioned the rape and murder of Oksana Makar, whose attackers were released from police custody thanks to their political connections. Perhaps the most common complaint concerned Ukraine’s corrupt police force, and their penchant for threatening imprisonment to extort small bribes from random passersby. One of my good friends from Lviv summed up this anti-corruption sentiment by saying she longed for Ukraine to be a “regular country, like Europe, Canada, or the United States.”
This desire for government accountability has been behind Ukraine’s shift away from Moscow and towards Europe. Integration into the European Union brings with it a set of standards that hold public officials accountable for engaging in graft. This is in stark contrast to the current situation in Russia, where corruption is the order of the day.
Putin regularly uses government contracts to enrich his supporters and members of his inner circle. Take, for example, the recent Sochi Olympics, where it is estimated that two-thirds of the 51 billion dollars spent were lost to corruption. This includes the 9.4 billion dollar Adler-Krasnaya Polyana road, which at 28 miles in length cost about five times more than the entire Vancouver Winter Olympic Games. Not surprisingly, the construction of the road was awarded in a no-bid process to two companies controlled by Putin supporters.
It’s the anti-corruption sentiment behind the new government in Kyiv, not an obligation to protect ethnic Russians, which has led to Putin’s military support of the separatists in southeastern Ukraine. A European Ukraine, with a government held accountable to its people, would be an existential threat to Putin’s Russia.
Ukraine and Russia share a similar culture and a long border that is crossed frequently by people on both sides. If Ukraine is able to improve the overall well-being of its population by rooting out the government corruption that is such a drag on its economy, Russians will take notice. A similar phenomenon occurred in Ukraine following the European integration of Poland. As the quality of life increased in Poland after its government was held to Western standards, the people across the border in western Ukraine realized that through similar reforms they could change their own situation. This realization is what eventually led to the revolution earlier this year.
Putin knows that if Ukraine succeeds in its European ambitions, it will provide the Russian population with a perfect example on how to change the course of their nation. In this scenario, Putin would face the same fate as ex-President Yanukovych, which is why he won’t stop in his efforts to destabilize Ukraine.
Jordan Karsten is an Assistant Professor of Anthropology at the University of Wisconsin-Oshkosh.
A forum that is free and open to the public on the crisis in Ukraine will be held Wednesday (Sept. 17) at 7pm in Sage Hall room 2232 on the the University of Wisconsin Oshkosh campus.