A warning from the Crimea: Hybrid warfare and the challenge for the ADF

Russia's annexation of Crimea was like a magician sawing a woman in half: mysterious, orchestrated and cunning. President Putin's illusion began on 20 February 2014, after several months of protests threatening the government of then-Ukrainian President Viktor Yanukovych, and culminated in the pro-Kremlin leader fleeing Kiev for Moscow. As opposition protestors seized control of the Ukrainian Parliament and voted for a new direction for Ukraine, Putin led his audience through tales of misinformation, diverting their attention away from the realities of the magic box at the centre of his act.