Masked men at the building of the Verkhovna Rada of Crimea during its attack, 27 February 2014Armed men without insignia (so-called "little green men") at Simferopol Airport, 28 February 2014"Little green men" armed with AK-74Ms blockading Perevalne military base, 25 kilometres south of Simferopol, 9 March 2014
The "little green men" (Russian: зелёные человечкиzelyonye chelovechki; Ukrainian: зелені чоловічкиzeleni 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 людиvezhlivye 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.
Weapons and equipment analysis
In March 2014, the Finnish magazine Suomen Sotilas (Soldier of Finland) published an analysis of the weapons and equipment seen on photos of "little green men".
The article points to a number of weapons and pieces of equipment that it asserts are issued only to armed forces in the Russian Federation:
In March 2014, Putin continued to maintain that there was no pre-planned intervention, but that "the heavily armed, tightly coordinated groups who took over Crimea's airports and ports at the start of the incursion – they were merely spontaneous 'self-defence groups' who may have acquired their Russian-looking uniforms from local [military] shops (voyentorg)". According to the Ukrainian Association of Gun Owners, Ukrainian law does not allow the selling or carrying of firearms other than for hunting.
On 17 April 2014, President Putin admitted publicly for the first time that Russian special forces were involved in the events of Crimea, for the purposes of protecting local people and creating conditions for a referendum. Later, he admitted that the Russian Armed Forces had blocked the Armed Forces of Ukraine in Crimea during the events.
In response to the question of the presence of Russian troops in Crimea, Russian Minister of DefenceSergey Shoigu said, "Regarding the statements about use of Russian special forces in Ukrainian events, I can only say one thing – it's hard to search for a black cat in a dark room, especially if it's not there," and added cryptically that searching for the cat would be "stupid" if the cat is "intelligent, brave, and polite".
In April 2015, retired Russian Admiral Igor Kasatonov [ru] said that the "little green men" were members of Russian Spetsnaz special forces units. According to his information, Russian troop deployment in Crimea included six helicopter landings and three landings of Ilyushin Il-76 with 500 troops.
^Buckley, Neil; Olearchyk, Roman; Jack, Andrew; Hille, Kathrin (16 April 2014). "Ukraine's 'little green men' carefully mask their identity". Financial Times. Archived from the original on 21 March 2022. Retrieved 25 April 2022. Locals said that what exactly happened to make Novoazovsk headline news remains unclear, but military experts believe the Russian troops and military hardware may have moved north into rebel-held territory shortly after crossing the border. Some said they saw tanks and other military vehicles stationed about 10 miles outside the city, while others said they saw "green men" such as the ones who appeared in the Crimean Peninsula in late February.
^""Вежливые люди" из бронзы появились в Симферополе" [(Monument to) "Polite people" made of bronze appeared in Simferopol]. BBC News Русская служба (in Russian). 11 June 2016. Archived from the original on 24 November 2021. Retrieved 20 October 2021.
^ Путин: в Крыму действовали российские военные [Putin: there were Russian military operating in Crimea]. rferl.org (in Russian). Radio Free Europe/Radio Liberty. 17 April 2014. Archived from the original on 19 November 2015. Retrieved 19 November 2015.
