In his address to the Federation Council, the upper chamber of Russian parliament, President Vladimir Putin said on Dec. 4 that Crimea is to Russians what the Temple Mount is for Muslims and Jews.
He based his statement on the fact that Prince Volodymyr the Great, the
ruler of medieval Kyivan Rus in the 10th century, was baptized in Crimea
as he brought Christianity to his kingdom. The fact is that Volodymyr
ruled in Kyiv. Putin’s remarks underscore Ukraine’s connection to the
peninsula, not Russia’s.
