The main events unfolded on the night of February 27, 2014. After a mass brawl between Russian residents and Tatars (supporters of the Euromaidan), in which there were many wounded and even dead, well-equipped masked people appeared, who promptly seized the buildings of the Crimean government and the Supreme Council. Then during weeks, the most significant objects of the entire peninsula and the capital of the republic were taken under control.
These people did not have nationality and insignia, but in private conversations with the Crimeans they admitted that they were Russian soldiers. Russia, as expected, completely dismissed these rumors, calling these soldiers Crimean militias.
Why did Russia not recognize these soldiers as its servicemen?
For one simple reason, if the Russian Federation would openly admit that there are Russian military in Crimea, it would mean only one thing - military invasion of Ukraine.Consequently, no referendum would have saved the situation, all territorial acquisitions would have been considered annexation. Russian bloggers began to call these soldiers "Polite people."
So what does "polite people" mean?
They were named so because they did not interfere in the local Crimean social and political life and did not try to exert any pressure on the Crimeans during the expression of will in the referendum.They behaved extremely correctly and restrainedly with the surrounding citizens, they behaved emphatically benevolently. Without any problems they gave permission to shoot, which was immediately taken advantage of by local girls who decided to capture themselves with the defenders as a keepsake.
However, the most important circumstance is that the presence of "Polite people" on the Crimean peninsula immediately cooled the hot Tatar and not only heads calling for a war for the independence of Crimea.
The story of how "Polite people" took the commandant's office. The story of eyewitnesses.
It happened 15 March before the all-Crimean referendum, which was held 16 Martha. It is not known for certain whether their appearance was timed to coincide with this event or was planned in advance. However, the fact remains that people in masks and in military uniforms appeared like devils from a bottle near the Simferopol garrison.
Simferopol is essentially a large village. Its streets in the central part of the city are narrow, and the houses are one-story, so the appearance of "Polite people" with closed faces, in helmets and camouflage, with machine guns at the ready looked very impressive, especially considering that they arrived in an armored personnel carrier , who threateningly drove a machine gun from side to side.
The Ukrainian servicemen immediately locked themselves in their commandant's office and completely refused to leave. Whether it was a desire to divide spheres of influence or a frank demonstration of disobedience, it is now difficult to say. However, it is known that the "Polite people" remained outside the commandant's office. the weather was extremely dank, it was amusing to watch how the door of the commandant's office slammed periodically and a Ukrainian soldier came out with a boiling kettle at the ready and gave it to his "polite" colleague.
This disgrace lasted for about a week, when one day Ukrainian servicemen began to gather near the door of the commandant's office and staged a local rally at which civilians were also present. "Polite people" did not interfere in this disgrace, but watched with great interest what was happening from the side. Moreover, they even drove their armored personnel carrier to 20 meters to the side. Thus ended their last day of duty. Already in the morning locals drew attention to the absence of such "polite" soldiers, in addition, the Russian flag was already flying over the commandant's office.
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MOSCOW, May 16 - RIA Novosti. Friday, May 16, marks two months since the referendum in Crimea, in ensuring the security of which "polite people" took an active part - military men without identification marks.
During the "straight line" on April 17, Vladimir Putin confirmed that they were representatives of the Russian army. Since that time, the expression "polite people" has firmly entered the political and everyday lexicon of the whole country and, according to experts interviewed by RIA Novosti, is gradually becoming a new symbol of the Russian Armed Forces.
A monument to the "Polite Soldier" will be erected in BakhchisaraiThe purpose of creating the monument is the desire of the city residents to perpetuate the memory of those people who ensured the peaceful and free expression of the will of the townspeople during the all-Crimean referendum, the city council said in a statement."Polite people" with a gun
The beginning of this, as they like to say on the Internet, the meme was laid in late February - early March, when, against the background of the bloody events in Kyiv, armed men in camouflage without identification marks began to appear throughout Crimea.
They began, as the local press wrote, "politely blocking" local military and transport facilities on the eve of the March 16 referendum, in which more than 96% of voters voted for the peninsula to join Russia.
Answering questions from Russians in April, Putin explained that Russian servicemen stood behind the backs of the Crimean self-defense forces, because "it was simply impossible to hold a referendum openly, honestly, with dignity and help people express their opinions in any other way." He also said that he would award military personnel who took part in ensuring security during the referendum, but he would do so in private.
Later, the Russian leader mocked that the United States had "revealed" the secret of the identities of "polite people": judging by the sanctions list, these are businessmen Gennady Timchenko, Yuri Kovalchuk, Boris and Arkady Rotenberg.
"I think it's just them" polite people "in camouflage, with machine guns. Yes, and their names are somehow strange - Kovalchuk, Rotenberg, Timchenko. Typical Muscovites. I think you need to stay away from them," he replied with a smile Putin to the question whether the sanctions against these entrepreneurs are related to their possible involvement in the events in Crimea.
"The military got the point"
The expression "polite people" in many respects characterizes the new quality of the Russian Armed Forces, which "everyone saw in the Crimea", is a fundamentally new equipment, new weapons, new means of communication, as well as the speed and decisiveness of actions, the editor-in-chief of the National Defense magazine believes. Igor Korotchenko.
In his opinion, to a certain extent, this is the result of Shoigu's activities as Minister of Defense.
The armed forces of Russia, after the collapse of the USSR, found themselves in a state of deep crisis, in last years receive injections of many billions of rubles, gradually replacing obsolete both morally and physically weapons with the most modern ones.
"Shoigu set the army and navy in motion - military people got a sense. There is a positive here! The attitude of society towards the army has changed, so it enthusiastically accepted its new face. The army is becoming prestigious in Russia today social institution, the authority of the Armed Forces of the Russian Federation is being revived," the RIA Novosti expert said.
According to him, the new attitude towards the army and its new image are not imposed from above, it is the result of understanding and conscious pride in one's country, because "no image can replace real combat training."
“It was here that all the components were taken into account, as a result of which this new brand “polite people” was born, which characterize the intellectual component and military power of Russia. People wear T-shirts with “polite people” - this is patriotism not imposed from the outside, ”Korotchenko believes .
According to him, the new image of the Russian army has become widespread also because high marks were voiced not only within Russia, but also from the lips of Western experts.
"This is also an indicator - no one expected that the Russian army could demonstrate this new look with such efficiency and clarity. It is very attractive, positive and deserves high praise, including from the current NATO generals," the agency's interlocutor added.
Brand in the service of the military
The Ministry of Defense of the Russian Federation did not stand aside from the general interest in the new meme and tried to put "polite people" at the service of the image of the Russian army. So, the head of the department of culture of the military department, Anton Gubankov, wrote the words for the hymn to "polite people", which was performed during the tour by the Ensemble. Alexandrov in the Crimea and received with a bang.
In addition, the Ministry of Defense decided to start selling branded products with the "Polite People" logo on Victory Day. Special pavilions, where those who wish can purchase T-shirts and other products, will work in holidays in Moscow, St. Petersburg, Rostov-on-Don, Yekaterinburg and others largest cities Russia.
True, it is not clear whether the Ministry of Defense is going to continue this practice further: questions may arise with the right to the brand. As Izvestia wrote, about a month ago, St. Petersburg businessman Roman Yeremyan registered the Polite People brand and is making plans to export clothing.
Russians miss "normal polite guys"
Longing for "politeness" in the Ministry of Defense also explained the popularity of a video that recently appeared on the Internet about the benefits of military service.
The video titled "It's... the first day of your NEW life" was posted to YouTube by mrdmitry187 on May 4th. Since that time, he has gained almost 1.5 million views; only on this video hosting, over 5.5 thousand comments have already been left under the video.
“We are pleasantly surprised by such support for the video by a young audience. Today we can state that “politeness” takes not only cities, but also wins hearts.<…>Our society really misses normal polite guys," a representative of the Ministry of Defense told RIA Novosti.
He confirmed that the military department was involved in the work on the video. "Of course, we know the authors of this original material. These are young, creative and patriotic guys who did everything themselves, from developing the script to its implementation," the source said.
The video is one minute long. "This is the first day of your new life. What happened yesterday doesn't matter. Who you were before no one cares anymore. Now what matters is who you will be today. Here the pain hardens, the scars are everyday life, it's you trying to prove something, it's you trying to see in every shadow of your enemy, because without an enemy there is no fight, and without a fight there is no victory. surpass, become better than him, and come back - a winner. Because tomorrow is the first day of your new life, "says the voice of the announcer off-screen.
The video ends with the coat of arms of the Ministry of Defense and the inscription "Armed Forces Russian Federation".
Who are these - polite people where did this expression come from, why do the roots come from the Crimea? In this article, we will fully answer questions about this.
AT recent times In the world of the Internet, you can increasingly hear the phrase "polite people". The expression has become so common that it has become an internet meme.
This meme gained the greatest popularity after the case when the President of the Russian Federation Vladimir Vladimirovich Putin used it in one of his interviews.
Who are "polite people"?
The term “polite people” was born as a result of the events that took place on the Crimean peninsula at the end of February 2014. At that time, Crimea theoretically belonged to Ukraine, but in fact it was already considered Russian territory.
Then unknown men in military uniform seized two airports in Simferopol and Sevastopol. The people were dressed in unmarked camouflage. They did not give any comments and did not talk to journalists, but they behaved “politely”, they spoke delicately.
Polite people are soldiers with a machine gun in their hands in uniform without symbols or other insignia, who have seized important objects in the Crimea. later it was found out and officially confirmed that they were Russian military personnel.
The history of the meme "polite people"
The first time "polite people" used popular blogger Boris Rozhin in one of his posts describing the turbulent situation in Crimea. He called " polite people seized two airfields in Crimea". Boris heard an interview with the security chief of one of the captured facilities, where he, describing what happened, said: "We were politely asked to leave." The blogger thought it was funny that the armed people who had committed the seizure asked the guards to politely leave the premises. So he decided to use the phrase in the title of his blog. Since then, it has come into general use.
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As the author himself says, he came up with only a funny phrase and focused on it. There is no more merit in such a wide distribution of this expression. He does not claim ownership of it and considers "polite people", like many other memes, to be the common property of the Internet community. It was people who spread the meme and made it so popular.
Symbols and identification marks
As mentioned earlier, the soldiers Russian army, who captured the airfields, there were no identification marks on the camouflage. Therefore, initially there was no symbolism characterizing them.
Subsequently, this was quickly corrected by inventing catchphrase visual picture.
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As a result, the image of a fighter with a machine gun in his hands and a hidden face under a mask, glasses and a helmet became a symbol of "polite people". With such an image, various demotivators, photo-toads began to appear on the Internet.
Why did "polite people" become popular?
"Polite people" very quickly became popular among bloggers and users social networks. The term "polite people" actively use means mass media. The Russian army has created an account in Twitter with the same name. What is the reason for such a strong popularity of the meme?
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One of the reasons is the surge of national pride in the country, which was especially pronounced after the annexation of Crimea to the territory of Russia. Russians developed pride in their country, the spirit of patriotism woke up. Therefore, this phrase is so fond of Russian Internet users.
Another reason - "polite people" became the first meme of federal significance. Everyone uses it: ordinary users, journalists and politicians, including the president of the country. As practice shows, a unique phrase seen in the words of famous figures is gaining incredible popularity. An example is the “internets” meme, which appeared after George W. Bush said it while answering questions from the audience.
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Products with symbols of polite people
People actively use the meme in their communication. Although many of them, most likely, do not even know the expression "polite people."
The popularity of the meme has reached a large scale distribution. Various souvenir products appeared with the image of the symbol of "polite people".
In online stores, if desired, you can buy T-shirts, baseball caps, hats, mugs and other goods with a picture of a soldier with a covered face and a machine gun in his hands.
Video about the operations of special services in the Crimea
"Polite people" became a meme and a brand
Shortly after the tragic events in Kyiv in February 2014, a relatively peaceful change of executive authorities took place in Crimea and Sevastopol, and on March 16, the famous referendum on the future status of the peninsula took place. At the referendum, by an absolute majority of votes, a decision was made on the entry of the Republic of Crimea and Sevastopol into Russia. Based on the results of the referendum, the Crimean Supreme Council adopted the Declaration of Independence. After that, Crimea unilaterally announced its secession from Ukraine and signed an agreement with Moscow on joining the Russian Federation. Sevastopol did the same, having received the status individual subject RF.
"Green Men"
All these events in the Crimea took place with a very noticeable participation of well-armed and organized people in camouflage and masks, but without identification marks. And although many knew or guessed that these were Russian military personnel, there was no official confirmation of this information for a long time. But suddenly, the armed assistants of the Crimean Spring, who were first called "little green men", had a name that instantly became a meme: "Polite people." Later, Russian President Vladimir Putin removed the veil of secrecy from the origin of the "polite people", recognizing the participation of the Russian military in the Crimean events, and many of them were awarded medals "For the return of Crimea."
These medals bear the dates of the Crimean Spring: 20.02.2014-18.03.2014. However, “polite people” appeared in Crimea a little later than the first date - in the last days of February - and immediately took under protection the most important objects: authorities, transport, communications and infrastructure facilities, enterprises and all places of deployment of the Ukrainian armed forces.
In Crimea, “polite people” carried out the tasks assigned to them until about the end of March 2014, ensuring the peaceful evacuation of Ukrainian units from the peninsula. And since April, armed people who led the seizure of various objects in the Donetsk and Luhansk regions in the South-East of Ukraine began to be called “polite people”. True, in fact it was already a slightly different story.
Where did the term come from
The authorship of the term "polite people" belongs to the respected colonelcassad(Boris Rozhin). Here's what Wikipedia says about it: "... The term was accidentally coined on February 28, 2014 by LiveJournal blogger Boris Rozhin (colonelcassad), who later recalled it like this:
Personally, I just liked the expression “politely” in relation to unknown persons who seize strategic objects without formally revealing their incognito, therefore, as a joke (since everyone in Crimea perfectly understood who they were and where they came from) in the style of “but we you know who it is”, used the expression “polite people” a couple of times, without any ulterior motive that this would have at least some consequences, except for chuckles from several readers, who might pay attention to the expression I liked...."https://ru.wikipedia.org/wiki/%D0%92%D0%B5%D0%B6%D0%BB%D0%B8%D0%B2%D1%8B%D0%B5_% D0%BB%D1%8E%D0%B4%D0%B8
I’ve been reading Boris’s magazine for a long time and I remember how this expression, which later became famous, appeared on his blog for the first time.
On February 27, the media reported that unmarked soldiers blocked the buildings of the parliament and the government of Crimea, and then occupied the Simferopol airport. “At about one in the morning, Simferopol airport was seized by the same people. With weapons, strong, in the same clothes. The head of security said that his people were politely asked to leave, ”the Politnavigator website reported at the time.
This news was reprinted in his LiveJournal by Boris Rozhin, writing: “Polite people seized two airports in Crimea.” “Personally, I just liked the expression “polite” in relation to unknown persons who seize strategic objects without formally revealing their incognito, so as a joke I used the expression “polite people” a couple of times, Rozhin later recalled.
Then Defense Minister Sergei Shoigu successfully joked about this. Claiming that allegations of a Russian military presence in Crimea are false, Shoigu said: “It is difficult to look for a black cat in a dark room, especially if it is not there. This is all the more stupid if this cat is smart, brave and polite.”
The term quickly took root, especially since it fully corresponded to the behavior of the "little green men". They did not communicate with journalists, but they behaved emphatically politely with the local population, which quickly earned the love of the Crimeans. Social networks were quickly filled with “be-be-bear” photos, in which “polite people” hugged Crimean girls, aunted children, stroked cats and almost helped old women cross busy streets.
This image in the spring of 2014 became a new calling card of the Russian Armed Forces - from now on, Russian soldiers were perceived by many not as narrow-minded martinets, but as modern and professionally trained "polite people". The new image of the Russian soldier fits perfectly into the patriotic upsurge associated with the return of the Crimea.
Armament
"Green men", renamed "polite people", were dressed in camouflage (or "pixel") military uniform, reminiscent of the Russian form "Digit", but without identification marks and military insignia. They differed from the Crimean self-defense fighters high quality uniforms, more closed face masks and the most modern weapons.
Judging by the numerous photographs, the “polite people” were armed with AK-74M Kalash, GP-25 Koster underbarrel grenade launchers, and Pecheneg-M machine guns. They traveled across the Crimea in armored vehicles GAZ-233014 "Tiger", as well as KamAZ-4326, KamAZ-4350 and KamAZ-6350.
We must pay tribute to those who gave orders to "polite people": these weapons were practically not used - the displacement of the Ukrainian military took place almost everywhere relatively bloodlessly. The loudest stories took place during the night capture by Russian paratroopers of the base of the 1st Feodosia Battalion marines Ukrainian Navy under the command of Lieutenant Colonel Dmitry Delyatitsky and during the assault on the Belbek airbase commanded by Colonel Julius Mamchur.
In Feodosia, at the suggestion of the commanders, the outcome of the confrontation was decided by wall-to-wall hand-to-hand combat with the participation of senior officers. There were broken faces and broken ribs, but there were no dead or seriously injured. On the video: the story of a Ukrainian soldier who was "rumpled" during a fistfight between Russian and Ukrainian marines.
As military experts later noted, the style of the operation to neutralize the Ukrainian armed forces in Crimea was more like the actions of the Ministry of Emergency Situations, which for many years was headed by Russian Defense Minister Sergei Shoigu.
“Everyone is free to evaluate the political significance of this story by virtue of his convictions. But I consider it good luck for everyone that decisive orders in Crimea were given by people who value other people's lives no less than military glory, ”said military journalist Valery Shiryaev.
Confession
Russian President Vladimir Putin, as well as Defense Minister Sergei Shoigu, denied the actions of Russian troops on the peninsula during the Crimean Spring for quite some time. The term “polite people” was perceived as a euphemism, since the presence of Russian servicemen on the territory of Crimea was an open secret from the very beginning.
The need to dissemble disappeared when, in April 2014, during the “direct line”, Putin admitted that the Russian military “provided conditions for free expression” in the referendum on the status of Crimea.
Later, in an interview, the President of Russia confirmed that Russian troops blockaded Ukrainian military units. “We never hid,” Putin said on the air of the ARD channel.
On the video: Vladimir Putin about "polite people"
"Polite people" in art
Literally in the first hours after the appearance of the term “Polite people”, a poem of the same name by the Estonian blogger E-xanax appeared in LiveJournal:
“Polite people in polite Crimea
Ask politely in a polite manner.
Somehow I do not want to quarrel with them
After all, even weapons are politely carried.
Polite helmets, under face masks
Polite even, believe me, cars
Here, admire this, the capital
Polite is, in our opinion, peaceful.
Turntables fly in the polite sky.
Politely the blades chirp in the sky.
A polite boat does not want a war
He's on patrol. Very polite."
When the secret ceased to be a secret, and the story of the annexation of Crimea, on the contrary, became a matter of pride, the Alexandrov Academic Song and Dance Ensemble of the Russian Army performed the anthem “Polite People”, using a poem by an Estonian blogger. At the same time, the authors of the work deny that the poems are, in fact, borrowed from the Internet.
Later, a more "canonical" song about "polite people" appeared in the ensemble's repertoire.
We will not talk about the number of souvenirs, jokes, toys and similar masterpieces of mass culture on the topic of “polite people” that have become fashionable overnight, this is already clear. But the main thing is that “polite people”, together with the Crimeans themselves and their bright leaders, became the real heroes of the Crimean spring.
