On October 7, an explosion destroyed part of the Kerch bridge connecting Russia with Crimea. This is a new build. When Russia first invaded Ukraine, in 2014, there was no such bridge, and there was no connection between Russia and the Crimea region of Ukraine. From the point of view of Ukraine, Crimea. From the point of view of Russia, Crimea is an island.
The Kerch Bridge was completed in 2018 as a way for Russia to gain control of Crimea, which it claims it annexed from Ukraine. This year, it was used to supply Russian soldiers, to wage a terrible war in Ukraine. The damage to the bridge will make it difficult for Russia to supply forces occupying Crimea and other parts of southern Ukraine. The explosion was also a blow to Vladimir Putin's prestige, as the bridge is a monument to his personal imperialism. Its weakness indicates not only the folly of this war for Russia, but more generally the self-destruction of Russian attempts to expand the empire by force.
The burning bridge mainly indicates Russia's weak relationship with Crimea. The explosion, therefore, gives us an opportunity to look at the history of Crimea, and thus to think, from a perhaps unfamiliar angle, on the history of Ukraine and Russia.
Crimea is a province of Ukraine, recognized under international law, and in accordance with agreements between Ukraine and the Russian Federation. On the other hand, Putin has been taking the view, for more than a decade, that international law should be subject to what he calls “civilization,” his peculiar understanding of the past. Disturbing features of the world that do not correspond to his previous plan are classified as foreign, illegitimate and subject to destruction (Ukraine, for example).
The example of Crimea reveals a problem with Putin's thinking. The idea of an immutable "civilization" outside of time and human agency always turns out to be unfounded. In the case of Crimea, Putin's notion that the peninsula has been "always" Russia is absurd, in more ways than one can calculate.
Crimea has been around for quite some time, and Russia is newly created. What Putin thinks of when talking about immortality is the baptism of the Kyiv ruler, Vladimir, in 988. From this moment of purification, we must understand, an eternal truth arose for Russian Crimea (and Russian Ukraine). We all have to accept or be subjected to violence. Crimea becomes "holy".
It doesn't take long to tell even a fraction of the meaningless ways. First, the historical event itself is not at all clear. One source says that Vladimir was baptized in Crimea, as Putin likes to say; Others that he was baptized in Kyiv. None of the sources are dated to the same period, so we can't be sure that it ever happened, let alone where.