"Polite people" redirects here. For the Icelandic film, see Polite People.
Little green men (Russian: зелёные человечки, romanized:zelyonye chelovechki; Ukrainian: зелені чоловічки, romanized:zeleni cholovichky; Polish: zielone ludziki) are masked soldiers of the Russian Federation who appeared during the Russo-Ukrainian War in 2014 carrying weapons and equipment, but wearing unmarked green army uniforms.[1]
Russian media referred to them with the euphemism "polite people" (Russian: вежливые люди, romanized:vezhlivye lyudi)[6][7] due to their well-mannered behavior, as they kept to themselves and mostly made no effort to interfere with civilian life.[8]
The Russian Federation initially denied that these were Russian military forces, but on 17 April 2014 Russian President Vladimir Putin finally confirmed the presence of the Russian military.[9][10] Furthermore, numerous sources, including Russian state media, have confirmed that the "little green men" were a mix of operatives from the Special Operations Forces and various other Spetsnaz GRU units. It likely also included paratroopers of the 45th Guards Spetsnaz Brigade of the VDV,[11][12][13] and Wagner Groupmilitary contractors.[14][15] While their status as troops acting under the orders of the Russian government was continually denied, their nationality was not. Alexander Borodai, Prime Minister of the self-declared Donetsk People's Republic, stated that 50,000 Russian citizens fought in the Donbas up to August 2015, and argued that they should receive the same benefits as Russia's other war veterans (while still proclaiming that the government did not send them).[16]
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:
Other media have published a photo of an unmarked Russian soldier armed with a VSS Vintorez taken as proof of deployment of Russian special forces.[17]
In March 2014, Putin continued to maintain that there was no pre-planned intervention,[20][21] 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)".[22][23] According to the Ukrainian Association of Gun Owners, Ukrainian law does not allow the selling or carrying of firearms other than for hunting.[24]
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.[25][9][10][26][27] Later, he admitted that the Russian Armed Forces had blocked the Armed Forces of Ukraine in Crimea during the events.[28]
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".[29][30]
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.[31][32][33][34]
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.