Russia: Putin brands culprits behind Crimean energy blockade 'incredible idiots'

Russian President Vladimir Putin called those who were responsible for the Crimean energy blockade last winter "incredible idiots," speaking at the All-Russia People's Front meeting in Yalta on Wednesday.
“But for those who did it, it was so stupid. What did they expect? I simply do not understand. Did they think that all these people would get on their knees and ask for handouts? How quaint! What incredible idiots, the ones who did this," he said.
Moreover, Putin stated that cutting the Crimean population off from water and electricity supplies in the winter period was a "crime against humanity." He continued, "human rights organisations have been silent, they have clammed up. But it is a serious crime. What about hospitals, children, elderly? It is a very serious issue. Everyone keeps silence as if it ought to have been so."
The Russian president also praised the Crimean population for their "composure, courage, willingness to fight for their own interests."
Energy supplies were cut to Crimea after power lines were blown-up on the Ukrainian side of the border in the Kherson Region on November 22, 2015. Russia launched the first energy line from the Krasnodar Territory to support the peninsula in December 2015.