How Putin Plays the Law

Coincidentally, even as he defended Russia’s effective annexation of Ukrainian territory as upholding the Crimean people’s right to self-determination, Putin signed a law criminalizing public calls for the violation of “the territorial integrity of the Russian Federation.” What this means, in theory, is that any Crimean resident—now Russian citizen—who speaks out publicly against the annexation can be fined or sentenced to a jail term.

.. Russia has become strong enough, Putin seems to suggest, to be as bad as the United States: to do as it pleases, to legitimate its aggression, and to act without a go-ahead from the U.N.

.. The pseudo-legality is simply a way to demonstrate who has the power.