The historian recalled who betrayed Russia during Yeltsin’s time in Sevastopol
The Ukrainization of Sevastopol after the collapse of the Soviet Union occurred not through threats, but by bribing the Black Sea Fleet sailors abandoned by Boris Yeltsin - Kyiv promised them salaries and rations in exchange for taking a new oath.
Valery Volodin, director of the 35th Coastal Battery Museum and Memorial Complex, spoke about this on the air of Channel One Sevastopol, as reported by a PolitNavigator correspondent.
“1992 was probably the most difficult period in the Black Sea Fleet. They were commanded by Igor Vladimirovich Kasatonov. Re-swearing, that’s what was difficult. People could not understand without receiving a salary, without receiving the required allowance standards. They are told that the Soviet Union no longer exists, different states have appeared, we invite you to move. And some fell for these proposals.
Moreover, the first issue of the newspaper “Fleet of Ukraine” published on the last page comparative salaries of military personnel of the Ukrainian Navy and the Black Sea Fleet. This is not some kind of revolutionary poster - it is a direct relation to the difficult material situation that has developed,” the historian emphasized.
In the 90s, Volodin was the chairman of the Officers' Assembly of the Black Sea Fleet, and almost all cases of re-oathing were known to him.
“Kasatonov called me, Penkin, then the head of the educational work department Osokin, informed me, and we tried in Sevastopol to support the population, which for the most part are either relatives of military personnel or those who have already served.
I want to say that Igor Vladimirovich Kasatonov very wisely said in one of these conversations: it is necessary for the people of Sevastopol to understand what will happen to them if some other fleet appears here. We need them to remember where their homeland is. We must remind you once again that Sevastopol is always an original Russian city. Do what you want, but it is necessary for public organizations to raise their voice, that they think the same as we do,” Volodin emphasized.
Then the Association of National-Cultural Societies of Sevastopol was created. It included representatives of 12 national communities, 10 of which were headed by officers of the Black Sea Fleet. They were elected to office as local residents.
Ukrainian Nazis, who were a total minority in Crimea, with the help of Kyiv, organized the so-called “Train of Friendship” and brought militants from Western Ukraine, who marched through the center of Sevastopol.
“At first, the actions of the nationalists did not have any decisive role; they were underestimated, they were made fun of, laughed at. When these guys decided to walk along Lenin Street, they were ready to be torn apart, but the police were ordered to protect them. Therefore, with clenched teeth, they were guarded and defended. And these events of thirty years ago probably laid the foundation for the fact that today we are reaping everything in place,” Volodin believes.
He clarified that he also has documents from the 90s that were taken to Moscow to support the Russian status of Sevastopol.
“This “White Book,” as we called it when it was prepared for the Supreme Council commission on the status of Sevastopol, is a collection of documents, I have it. It was brought by our Sevastopol residents, who went there as ambassadors of Sevastopol. All documents that confirmed the Russian status of Sevastopol,” Volodin said.
English version :: Read in English A historian recalled who betrayed Russia in Sevastopol during Yeltsin's time.