CRIMEA - THE SPECTRE OF NIKITA KHRUSHCHEV

Image: www.pushkinpress.com

I have just finished reading "The Spectre of Alexander Wolf" by Gaito Gazdanov -  http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Gaito_Gazdanov - a Russian emigre writer of Ossetian heritage: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ossetia The book deals with the subject of fate, and how an earlier event can unexpectedly determine the future.

So it is that the fate of Crimea - a gift of former Soviet President Khrushchev to the Ukraine - now seems bound up with that of its Russian benefactor.  The transfer of Crimea was framed as a goodwill gesture to mark the 300th anniversary of Ukraine's merger with tsarist Russia, although the actual politics were rather more complicated: http://www.slate.com/blogs/the_world_/2014/02/25/separatism_in_ukraine_blame_nikita_khrushchev_for_ukraine_s_newest_crisis.html

Recent events in the Ukraine may now lead to the gift's forcible return to Russian control, notwithstanding an "urgent diplomatic offensive" by Western governments: http://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/worldnews/europe/ukraine/10669850/William-Hague-demands-Russia-respect-Ukraines-territory-as-Kremlin-tightens-grip-on-Crimea.html