[CCIP]

Meanwhile, let's take a look at how Putin has managed to quash some of the opposition and silence internal opposition to this (obviously very bad) move in Russia. It's through a clever piece of rhetorical/sociopolitical engineering that Western politicians could only dream of. Here it is from an opposition perspective (in Russian):

http://slon.ru/russia/2011_2014_bols...-1071447.xhtml

Translated it for you here:

2011-2014: THE GREAT PUTIN TEST

[This situation] could be framed as a test, in which there are a series of questions – there are two possible answers to each. And while the questions are a bit strange, answering them essentially straightforward. The first question was asked in December 2011 – the people were faced with the fact of rather questionable elections to the state Duma [parliament], and asked whether they agreed with their results. Those who replied that they agreed were immediately left in peace, while the others were asked a new question: here is Pussy Riot in the cathedral of Christ the Saviour, singing about Mother Mary and Putin – what should be done about that? The first option was to agree that those girls must necessarily be put in jail, to accept that the relationship between the Russian Orthodox Church and the state are not subject to discussion, let alone revision – that Orthodoxy must have a strong fist, and that spirituality is a political factor. Those who agreed with that were also left in peace, and those who did not […] effectively voted against Christianity.

Then there was the question of adoption of Russian children by Americans. The question was formulated as follows: in America, Russian children are typically dying, and those who are at fault for it are left without punishment – so do you agree to put an end to this horrible practice and ban adoptions by Americans? And those who said that they don’t agree voluntarily put a tag on themselves which effectively said that they have no sense of sympathy for the deaths of poor Russian children.

Then there was a question of “gay propaganda”, and those who answered negatively were labeled as supporters of gay marriage or worse. Then there was “territorial integrity”: do we put people in jail for debating it? Those who said no to imprisonment for that – they’re clearly in favour of dismemberment of the Russian state. There was also a question of the war: was Stalin right in everything, was the Red Army faultless? And those who said that no, not in everything – obviously a revisionist, a traitor.

For two years, while posing these loaded questions to the politically-active segment of society, Putin’s administration methodically and ruthlessly decimated the ranks of those who were ready to voice their disagreement with Putin’s course of policy. In December 2011, a loyal citizen could still go out to protest on Bolotnaya square if he was concerned about some irregularities in elections (which, in effect, were inconsequential anyway). Two years later, when the pressure of these first questions was combined with the load of the rest of them – Orthodox Christianity, gays, foreign adoption, war, territorial integrity – the price of holding an anti-Putin position rose by several times. The first Bolotnaya protest didn’t demand much sacrifice from a participant, but in these intervening years everything has changed. And this is to say nothing of the risk of losing your job or going to jail – no, it works simply even at the level of this: to say that you’re against Putin, you must also sign underneath a whole package of other statements, each of which demands additional courage – especially in case you don’t really don’t really have anything to say in favour of promoting gay relations, don’t think that Leningrad should’ve surrendered to the Germans, and don’t think that the mother of Christ is the correct addressee for qualms against Putin.

I’m listing these questions now that not so long ago were subject to lively and active debate, and now I feel rather trivial for even remembering them, because the next question on Putin’s test – this is already a few orders above everything that came before it. It’s not just about propaganda – now everything is about real lives, real people, real everything – Ukraine and especially Crimea. The Crimeans who voted to join Russia are celebrating. If you’re against Putin – now you’re against those people too, you say to their face: hey you, I don’t want to see you in Russia, I don’t need you, stay in Ukraine, for the sake of your and my freedom. Signing under this statement is even tougher than under gay marriages or American adoptions. Those who went out to protest against war in Moscow on Saturday – there were fewer of them than at rallies on Bolotnaya and Sakharov a couple of years earlier, but among them, it seems likely that there are no incidental people. Here are only those who are against Putin under any conditions. Those, whose dislike of the present Russian authority is stronger than anything in the world. These people on the boulevards are the products of a hellish, thoroughly brutal selection by Putin’s technocrats. Those, who in the course of two years passed through this incredible test. Those who didn’t give up, didn’t back down, didn’t change their minds. Different numbers are quoted by the media, but in any case they are several thousand men and women, citizens of the Russian Federation.

And perhaps a far more interesting question than the future of Crimea is: what plans does Putin have for these people, what will he do with them, how does he plan to coexist with them in the same country? It’s clear that in the Russia that Putin needs, these people shouldn’t exist in principle, but they’re here, they exist, so what to do with them? Judging from the set of extravagant actions which we observed in the last few weeks, Putin may also have some ideas for the prospects facing the anti-Putin minority, and it’s doubtful that among these ideas there’s a single one that could be described as nice – but however horrible these prospects look, one still wants to know how precisely how Putin plans to reduce this minority to a zero. The moral bankruptcy of the leaders of December 2011, who once agreed to this test, can already be considered an irreversible fact. And so these people on the boulevards, they’re facing Putin one on one – such is our tragic model of sociopolitical order.

As a Russian myself, I have no illusions about history and identity. Sure, most Crimeans want to be in Russia. That's not the issue, the issue is manner and spirit in which all of this is conducted, and the repercussions it will have. It's not worth it. And more disturbingly, it's all part of a game to make everyone shut up and accept things as they are, no matter how rash or unjust.

Another referendum is happening quietly in the meantime: http://www.bbc.com/news/world-europe-26604044

I'd like Putin & co. to learn some lessons from this instead.