10 years ago, namely on March 16, 2014, the pro-Russian authorities held an illegal referendum in Crimea on joining Russia, which led to the annexation of the peninsula. Before that, the so-called “green men” appeared on the territory of Crimea — Russian military units without any identification marks on uniforms. The civilized world did not recognize the results of the pseudo-referendum, which was held without the observance of international standards and the supervision of independent observers.
Among those whose eyes the Russian Federation annexed the Crimean Peninsula was Emine Ziyatdinova — photojournalist of Crimean Tatar origin. She was born in Uzbekistan, where her family was deported from Crimea in 1944 by the Stalin regime. In 1990, Emine returned home with her family, but in 2014 she had to leave her home due to the Putin regime.
“I had a very clear understanding of the threat,” Emine begins to recall the events of spring 2014. “This, of course, is connected with the history of the Crimean Tatars. There was great fear and concern, because there were talks about Crimean Tatars being deported from Crimea again. The Crimean Tatars did not support any of the leaders of the occupation regime — neither Aksonov nor Konstantinov.
On February 20, 2014, the military appeared in Crimea without identifying marks on their uniforms. They spoke Russian. Ukrainians and Crimeans called them “green men” because of the color of their uniforms. Unknown people were actually armed personnel military of the Russian Federation. They took turns capturing Ukrainian border posts and blockading military units.
At that time in Kiev, Emine actively participated in the Revolution of Dignity. Danish journalists contacted her and asked her to travel together to Crimea to cover everything that is happening on the peninsula.
“Everyone expected a military development of events. Journalists, for example, too. Before that, the Heavenly Hundred had already been killed on the Maidan, so everyone was in a tense state, everyone expected that something would happen. Because all the military units were surrounded,” recalls Emine, who collaborated with Danish journalists as a fixer.
When the Russians had already captured all Ukrainian military units, Emine and her team understood that Crimea would be given over without armed confrontation.
“I was personally very disappointed because of this. And there was also a clear understanding that the Donbas would be next,” says Emine.
International journalists from all over the world came to cover the actions of Russians daring for the civilized world. They, like Emine's team, daily made reports about the capture of the next military unit, the history of the Crimean Tatars. The “Green Men” persuaded the Ukrainians to lay down their arms and move to their side. Moscow initially denied the presence of its military on the territory of Crimea.
“We went there: we drove to Belbek. We were in this military unit before it surrendered. We went to Sevastopol, we went to Perevalnoe, as well as Bakhchisarai — to all the military bases that were surrounded,” says Emine, adding that the events developed too quickly: “Then all the famous world media worked in Crimea: CNN, Al Jazeera, photojournalists from other media. It was very strange, because everyone understood from the very beginning that it was the Russian military, that it was Russian aggression, that it was Russia that crossed our state border, that it was them annexing, that we were on the verge of war.
Some Ukrainian military continued to resist and did not want to betray the oath. During this time, the pro-Russian authorities threatened and intimidated local civilians, as a result: Ukrainian activists were arrested for fabricated cases, and Crimean Tatars were found murdered. The Russians paid special attention to the Crimean Tatars — the indigenous population of the peninsula, because they always actively opposed the occupation authorities. Despite the resistance, the Russians managed to seize all Ukrainian military, law enforcement and administrative facilities and hang their “tricolor”. As a result, the puppet government held a pseudo-referendum.
On the “referendum” the ballot had two questions: on the restoration of the Crimean constitution of 1992 and on the accession of Crimea to Russia. Thus, the organizers of the pseudo-referendum did not give the inhabitants of the peninsula the opportunity to remain part of Ukraine. The survey was conducted without international observers, so no one recorded violations or falsifications. At that time, the occupiers reported that voter turnout was more than 83%, and in Sevastopol — almost 90%. However, according to the information of the leader of the Crimean Tatar people Mustafa Dzhemilev, the voter turnout did not exceed 30%.
“The culminating moment for me personally was the event when the results were announced on March 16 on Lenin Square. The world seems to have collapsed around me. I remember Zhenya Maloletka was in the same square. I sat and just sobbed on his shoulder. I couldn't stop crying for hours afterwards,” admits Emine.
According to Emine, there were a lot of drunken joyful people with tricolors on Lenin Square. When she and a team of Danish journalists were already putting things together to leave the scene, she was approached by a woman who wanted to confess her love for Russia on camera. The stranger screamed and pushed Emine, but no one could protect her. “For me, this is a very metaphorical moment. These journalists I worked with are just standing by, and no one is helping me. There was also a driver in our team, it was my girlfriend's husband. He also stands, watching it all with a smile. Until I walked up to him, grabbed his hand and said, “We're paying you, get her out of here,” he wouldn't have done anything. For me, this is a very metaphorical scene of these events.”
Two days later, that is, on March 18, 2014, Putin and representatives of the occupation authorities signed a document on the admission of Crimea to the Russian Federation. Subsequently, the self-proclaimed Prime Minister of the occupation authorities in Crimea Sergey Aksenov admits that Putin personally led the “annexation” of Crimea.
After the invasion of Crimea in Emin, there were no thoughts that Russia could attack all of Ukraine, but there was a clear understanding that now events would unfold in the Donbas. However, already in July-August 2014, when the hot phase of fighting continued in Eastern Ukraine, there was fear in Emine that the Russians might also fire on Kiev: “I was constantly watching the news then. I had a kind of paranoia that Kiev would be bombed, and at every snack with my girlfriend I said: “Look how they bombed Grozny, and Kiev will be bombed!” It seemed to me that it would all start right now, in the same 2014. It was such a feeling.”
Russian troops did start bombing Kyiv and all of Ukraine, but 8 years later, on February 24, 2022. All this time since 2014, the occupiers have been actively militarizing Crimea and preparing for a full-scale invasion of Ukraine.
For Emine, as for a considerable number of Ukrainians, the 10-year Russian-Ukrainian war began in 2014. The documentarian admits that it was painful for her to feel powerless and to watch the lawlessness that was being perpetrated before her eyes: “I was left alone with Russian aggression, and just everyone is watching it live. It was very difficult for me emotionally to survive this March 2014.”
The Ukrainian defense forces are now doing everything possible to liberate Crimea and all other temporarily occupied territories of Ukraine.
Emine Ziyatdinova is a Ukrainian documentary photographer of Crimean Tatar origin, co-founder of Ukrainian Warchive. She studied photojournalism at the University of Ohio (USA). The main theme of Ziyatdinova's documentary photographs is immigration and ethnic minorities.
Recall that the Ukrainian Association of Professional Photographers has started a series of materials dedicated to key events of the Russian war against Ukraine, where he publishes memoirs and photographs of Ukrainian documentary photographers.
The project is implemented thanks to support IWM Documenting Ukraine.
The material was worked on:
Researcher of the topic, author of the text: Vera Labych
Bildeditor: Vyacheslav Ratynskyi
Literary Editor: Julia Futei
Site Manager: Vladislav Kuhar
10 years ago, namely on March 16, 2014, the pro-Russian authorities held an illegal referendum in Crimea on joining Russia, which led to the annexation of the peninsula. Before that, the so-called “green men” appeared on the territory of Crimea — Russian military units without any identification marks on uniforms. The civilized world did not recognize the results of the pseudo-referendum, which was held without the observance of international standards and the supervision of independent observers.
Among those whose eyes the Russian Federation annexed the Crimean Peninsula was Emine Ziyatdinova — photojournalist of Crimean Tatar origin. She was born in Uzbekistan, where her family was deported from Crimea in 1944 by the Stalin regime. In 1990, Emine returned home with her family, but in 2014 she had to leave her home due to the Putin regime.
“I had a very clear understanding of the threat,” Emine begins to recall the events of spring 2014. “This, of course, is connected with the history of the Crimean Tatars. There was great fear and concern, because there were talks about Crimean Tatars being deported from Crimea again. The Crimean Tatars did not support any of the leaders of the occupation regime — neither Aksonov nor Konstantinov.
On February 20, 2014, the military appeared in Crimea without identifying marks on their uniforms. They spoke Russian. Ukrainians and Crimeans called them “green men” because of the color of their uniforms. Unknown people were actually armed personnel military of the Russian Federation. They took turns capturing Ukrainian border posts and blockading military units.
At that time in Kiev, Emine actively participated in the Revolution of Dignity. Danish journalists contacted her and asked her to travel together to Crimea to cover everything that is happening on the peninsula.
“Everyone expected a military development of events. Journalists, for example, too. Before that, the Heavenly Hundred had already been killed on the Maidan, so everyone was in a tense state, everyone expected that something would happen. Because all the military units were surrounded,” recalls Emine, who collaborated with Danish journalists as a fixer.
When the Russians had already captured all Ukrainian military units, Emine and her team understood that Crimea would be given over without armed confrontation.
“I was personally very disappointed because of this. And there was also a clear understanding that the Donbas would be next,” says Emine.
International journalists from all over the world came to cover the actions of Russians daring for the civilized world. They, like Emine's team, daily made reports about the capture of the next military unit, the history of the Crimean Tatars. The “Green Men” persuaded the Ukrainians to lay down their arms and move to their side. Moscow initially denied the presence of its military on the territory of Crimea.
“We went there: we drove to Belbek. We were in this military unit before it surrendered. We went to Sevastopol, we went to Perevalnoe, as well as Bakhchisarai — to all the military bases that were surrounded,” says Emine, adding that the events developed too quickly: “Then all the famous world media worked in Crimea: CNN, Al Jazeera, photojournalists from other media. It was very strange, because everyone understood from the very beginning that it was the Russian military, that it was Russian aggression, that it was Russia that crossed our state border, that it was them annexing, that we were on the verge of war.
Some Ukrainian military continued to resist and did not want to betray the oath. During this time, the pro-Russian authorities threatened and intimidated local civilians, as a result: Ukrainian activists were arrested for fabricated cases, and Crimean Tatars were found murdered. The Russians paid special attention to the Crimean Tatars — the indigenous population of the peninsula, because they always actively opposed the occupation authorities. Despite the resistance, the Russians managed to seize all Ukrainian military, law enforcement and administrative facilities and hang their “tricolor”. As a result, the puppet government held a pseudo-referendum.
On the “referendum” the ballot had two questions: on the restoration of the Crimean constitution of 1992 and on the accession of Crimea to Russia. Thus, the organizers of the pseudo-referendum did not give the inhabitants of the peninsula the opportunity to remain part of Ukraine. The survey was conducted without international observers, so no one recorded violations or falsifications. At that time, the occupiers reported that voter turnout was more than 83%, and in Sevastopol — almost 90%. However, according to the information of the leader of the Crimean Tatar people Mustafa Dzhemilev, the voter turnout did not exceed 30%.
“The culminating moment for me personally was the event when the results were announced on March 16 on Lenin Square. The world seems to have collapsed around me. I remember Zhenya Maloletka was in the same square. I sat and just sobbed on his shoulder. I couldn't stop crying for hours afterwards,” admits Emine.
According to Emine, there were a lot of drunken joyful people with tricolors on Lenin Square. When she and a team of Danish journalists were already putting things together to leave the scene, she was approached by a woman who wanted to confess her love for Russia on camera. The stranger screamed and pushed Emine, but no one could protect her. “For me, this is a very metaphorical moment. These journalists I worked with are just standing by, and no one is helping me. There was also a driver in our team, it was my girlfriend's husband. He also stands, watching it all with a smile. Until I walked up to him, grabbed his hand and said, “We're paying you, get her out of here,” he wouldn't have done anything. For me, this is a very metaphorical scene of these events.”
Two days later, that is, on March 18, 2014, Putin and representatives of the occupation authorities signed a document on the admission of Crimea to the Russian Federation. Subsequently, the self-proclaimed Prime Minister of the occupation authorities in Crimea Sergey Aksenov admits that Putin personally led the “annexation” of Crimea.
After the invasion of Crimea in Emin, there were no thoughts that Russia could attack all of Ukraine, but there was a clear understanding that now events would unfold in the Donbas. However, already in July-August 2014, when the hot phase of fighting continued in Eastern Ukraine, there was fear in Emine that the Russians might also fire on Kiev: “I was constantly watching the news then. I had a kind of paranoia that Kiev would be bombed, and at every snack with my girlfriend I said: “Look how they bombed Grozny, and Kiev will be bombed!” It seemed to me that it would all start right now, in the same 2014. It was such a feeling.”
Russian troops did start bombing Kyiv and all of Ukraine, but 8 years later, on February 24, 2022. All this time since 2014, the occupiers have been actively militarizing Crimea and preparing for a full-scale invasion of Ukraine.
For Emine, as for a considerable number of Ukrainians, the 10-year Russian-Ukrainian war began in 2014. The documentarian admits that it was painful for her to feel powerless and to watch the lawlessness that was being perpetrated before her eyes: “I was left alone with Russian aggression, and just everyone is watching it live. It was very difficult for me emotionally to survive this March 2014.”
The Ukrainian defense forces are now doing everything possible to liberate Crimea and all other temporarily occupied territories of Ukraine.
Emine Ziyatdinova is a Ukrainian documentary photographer of Crimean Tatar origin, co-founder of Ukrainian Warchive. She studied photojournalism at the University of Ohio (USA). The main theme of Ziyatdinova's documentary photographs is immigration and ethnic minorities.
Recall that the Ukrainian Association of Professional Photographers has started a series of materials dedicated to key events of the Russian war against Ukraine, where he publishes memoirs and photographs of Ukrainian documentary photographers.
The project is implemented thanks to support IWM Documenting Ukraine.
The material was worked on:
Researcher of the topic, author of the text: Vera Labych
Bildeditor: Vyacheslav Ratynskyi
Literary Editor: Julia Futei
Site Manager: Vladislav Kuhar
UAPP is an independent association of professional Ukrainian photographers, designed to protect their interests, support, develop and promote Ukrainian photography as an important element of national culture.
UAPP's activities span educational, social, research and cultural initiatives, as well as book publishing.
UAPP represents Ukrainian professional photography in the international photographic community and is an official member of the Federation of European Photographers (FEP) — an international organization representing more than 50,000 professional photographers in Europe and other countries around the world.
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