Russian opposition leader Alexei Navalny says President Vladimir Putin’s decision to annex Crimea, which occurred five years ago this week, has come at a significant financial cost to Russian citizens and a large political cost to the president himself.
“Putin, in order to strengthen his personal power, sacrificed the interests of a huge number of people,” Navalny recently told VOA’s Russian Service, citing data from Russia’s Economic Development Ministry that show real disposable incomes sliding for the sixth year in a row.
Russia invaded Crimea and annexed the Black Sea peninsula from Ukraine in 2014, following street protests in Kyiv that resulted …read more
Source: Voice of America
