Since 2005, the Russian Federation has systematically directed significant financial resources to support the activities of pro-Russian organizations in Sevastopol. This was stated by Dmytro Bilotserkovets, a member of the Kyiv City Council and participant in pro-Ukrainian actions of 2014, in an interview.
This is reported by Finway
Funding through the “House of Moscow”
According to Bilotserkovets, every year between 2 to 3 million dollars were allocated for the activities of Kremlin-controlled organizations in Sevastopol. The money came through the “House of Moscow,” located in Nakhimov Square, which effectively served as a branch of the Moscow city government in the city. It was there that pro-Russian structures received funding, competing fiercely among themselves for access to these funds.
“How did it all begin? Since 2005, when Russia started investing in the activities of pro-Russian organizations from 2 to 3 million dollars each year. How did we know about this? The thing is that Russian and pro-Russian structures competed fiercely among themselves for this funding,” he said.
The deputy emphasized that even during the tenure of Moscow Mayor Yuri Luzhkov, these funds were officially allocated to support pro-Russian movements in Sevastopol. This Kremlin policy, he said, laid the groundwork for the subsequent hybrid occupation of the city by Russia.
Preparation for occupation and residents’ reactions
Bilotserkovets also noted that the decision to deploy troops to the peninsula was made by Vladimir Putin after February 23, 2014, when it became clear that Russia did not have sufficient support among the residents of Sevastopol. According to him, contrary to the Kremlin’s expectations, there were no mass demonstrations in Sevastopol in support of Russian ideas, and in Simferopol, most of the protesters supported a pro-Ukrainian position – they were participants of EuroMaidan.
It was precisely the lack of widespread pro-Russian support, as Bilotserkovets pointed out, that forced the Kremlin to switch to a forceful scenario. The very next day after these events, Russian special forces from the Black Sea Fleet seized the building of the Crimean Parliament, marking the beginning of the open occupation of the city.