Crimeans Who Ushered in the Russians Now Have to Live With Their Choice
'It’s like I’ve betrayed someone, fled Ukraine when it was in trouble'
Demonstrators hold a Crimean flag at Lenin Square in Simferopol.
Photographer: Filippo Monteforte/AFP via Getty ImagesThis article is for subscribers only.
Yevgeny Repenkov, a soccer coach and local celebrity in Sevastopol, co-founded one of the “self-defense” units that helped Russia and pro-Kremlin rebels expel the Ukrainian government and military a year ago. He says he sometimes feels uneasy about having participated in what he calls a revolution.
“It’s like I’ve betrayed someone, fled Ukraine when it was in trouble,” he says.