Вежливые люди в Крыму 2014 год — Little green men (Russo-Ukrainian War)

The “little green men“ (Russian: зелёные человечки zelyonye chelovechki; Ukrainian: зелені чоловічки zeleni cholovichky) were Russian soldiers who were masked and wore unmarked uniforms upon the outbreak of the Russo-Ukrainian War in 2014. They were active just before and during the Russian annexation of Crimea and carried regular weapons and equipment, but were always masked and wore distinctly unmarked green military fatigues. Russia, which had been denying any involvement in Ukraine prior to the annexation, used these little green men to give it plausible deniability on the international stage. Between February and March 2014, these unmarked Russian soldiers occupied and blockaded the Simferopol International Airport, most of Ukraine’s Crimean military bases, and the Supreme Council of Crimea. The name has also sometimes been used to refer to Russian troops during the War in Donbas; the Kremlin stated that no Russian troops were active in the region, but many little green men were operating in this region while disguised as pro-Russian separatists. Russian media referred to them with the euphemism “polite people“ (вежливые люди vezhlivye lyudi) due to their well-mannered behaviour, as they kept to themselves and mostly made no effort to interfere with civilian life while also refusing to interact with journalists. After two months of denial, on 17 April 2014, Russian president Vladimir Putin confirmed that the Russian military had been operating in Ukraine. Furthermore, numerous sources, including Russian state-owned media, have confirmed that the little green men were a mix of operatives from the Special Operations Forces and various other units of the Spetsnaz GRU. It likely also included paratroopers of the 45th Guards Spetsnaz Brigade of the Russian Airborne Forces, as well as mercenaries from the Russian state-funded Wagner Group. While their status as soldiers acting under the orders of the Russian government was continually denied, their nationality was not. Alexander Borodai of the unrecognized Donetsk People’s Republic stated that 50,000 Russian citizens had fought in Ukraine’s Donbas by August 2015 and argued that they should receive the same benefits as Russia’s other war veterans, though he maintained that the Russian government did not send them.