Ukraine Orders Crimea Pullout; Russia Offers Higher Pay for Defectors

Russian Generals Courting Soldiers in Crimea Visits

Though the “truce” between Ukraine and Russia allows the Ukrainian forces to remain in the Crimea through Friday and as recently as this morning Ukrainian officials had suggested troops would remain long past the deadline, fighting if need be, the Ukrainian government has backed down and is now calling for a full withdrawal from the peninsula.

That’s best case scenario for them now, however, as a pair of Russian generals are said to be on the peninsula right now and courting the Ukrainian troops at those bases, offering lucrative packages for defectors.

“The pay is five times that offered by Ukraine,” noted one of the Ukrainian captains, adding that pensions were also five times as large and could be collected 20 years earlier than the pensions on Ukraine military positions.

The defection is a no-brainer for people who were from the Crimea in the first place, which includes many of the naval personnel, and even Ukrainian officials predicted that many were likely to take them up on the offer.

Author: Jason Ditz

Jason Ditz is Senior Editor for Antiwar.com. He has 20 years of experience in foreign policy research and his work has appeared in The American Conservative, Responsible Statecraft, Forbes, Toronto Star, Minneapolis Star-Tribune, Providence Journal, Washington Times, and the Detroit Free Press.