Putin Sends Another Fuck You to West With Kerch Strait Bridge
To recount Putin’s self-satisfied acts of defiance against the West and its allies seems almost tired at this point. But its one of the main ways he manages to maintain widespread popularity there, with big, flashy, symbolic gestures that have about as much depth and nuance as an oligarch’s decorating taste. These essentially amount to a faux gold middle finger to Western Europe, like the new Kerch Strait bridge between the Russian mainland and Crimean peninsula that opened on May 16, with Putin ceremoniously driving across it in what else but a big, bright orange truck.
A brief reminder: Russia annexed Crimea in 2014, most likely to show strength at home as the government’s power slowly started to show signs of decay in former Soviet Republics like Kyrgyzstan and Georgia (the other sovereign state Russia illegally invaded in the 21st century), first with Kremlin backed proxy forces and then just out right invading the formerly autonomous region of Ukraine.
When Putin unveiled plans to build the Kirch Strait bridge, which will be the only direct transit connection between the Crimea and Russia, the United States responded by slapping sanctions on Russian construction companies helping to build it, along with both the U.S. and Europe strongly warning Putin against it. What did Putin do? Employ Arkady Rotenberg to build it. A longtime member of Putin’s inner circle whom the E.U. and U.S. hit with sanctions for his role in destabilizing Ukraine’s integrity as a sovereign nation.
This isn’t to say that we should not take Putin seriously. At all. Actions such as the bridge are symbolic at most, but still alarming as Russia continues to expand its sphere of influence and blatantly ignore international law. It does not seem helpful that the U.S. State Department thinks a boilerplate response such as Heather Nauert’s is going to assuage others’ fears of Russian expansion when the United States lacks the actions to back them up.
Putin claimed to be the first one to cross the bridge. That’s what all the ceremony was for at least. But according to Vox someone, or rather something made it across before him. An orange tabby cat.
