The affluent region in northern Spain declared independence in late October, sending shock waves across the country and the continent.

As with many political divisions emerging across Europe and the West, some analysts have mused about, and others even pointed to, Russia's hand in pushing Catalonia over the edge.

"The Catalan conflict could help legitimate pro-Russian secession in Crimea and Donbass," wrote Spanish journalist Enric Juliana in the Barcelona-based newspaper La Vanguardia on Wednesday.

Read more: Beyond Catalonia: Separatist movements in western Europe

For Juliana, it was clear: an article by Russian state broadcaster RT en Espanol claiming to show European parliaments recognizing Catalonia was evidence of Moscow's meddling in Spain's territorial integrity.

But does Russia really stand to gain anything from an independent Catalonia?

'Russia's position is known'

Days after Catalonia held a controversial independence referendum on October 1, Russian President Vladimir Putin told foreign policy experts in Sochi that the region's breakaway bid amounted to a domestic issue.

"Russia's position is known here," Putin said. "All that is happening is Spain's internal business and must be resolved according to Spanish law and on the basis of democratic traditions."

Read more: In Catalonia, language and identity go hand in hand

However, the outbreak of violence during the referendum provided Russian officials with ample ammunition to criticize the European Union, a position often taken by pro-Kremlin allies to showcase the bloc's fault lines.

While foreign ministry spokeswoman Maria Zakharova reiterated the official Kremlin response that Catalonia's bid was an "internal matter of Spain," she was more candid on her Facebook account.

"Is this the Europe that wants to talk to us about the Crimea referendum and upholding rights?" she asked in a post on the social media platform.

Catalonia declares independence from Spain The declaration As the world watched, Catalonia's parliament voted 70 to 10 for the region to declare its independence from Spain. "Our legitimate parliament has taken a very important step. This is the people's mandate," Puigdemont said after the decision. Dozens of opposition lawmakers from the Socialist Party, Citizens Party and Popular Party had walked out of the parliament chamber to boycott the vote.

Catalonia declares independence from Spain The despair Within an hour of the Catalan vote, the Spanish Senate in Madrid passed a bill to trigger Article 155 of the Spanish constitution. The measure will allow the central government to suspend Catalonia's autonomy. Spanish Prime Minister Mariano Rajoy said he would sack Catalonia’s government and set new regional elections for December 21.

Catalonia declares independence from Spain The dismissal European leaders were quick to condemn the independence declaration. EU Commission President Jean-Claude Juncker said the Union "doesn't need any more cracks," while EU Council President Donald Tusk said Madrid "remains our only interlocutor." Leaders in Germany, France, Italy and the UK voiced their support for Madrid. The US also chimed in, saying "Catalonia is an integral part of Spain."

Catalonia declares independence from Spain The dispute Barcelona and Madrid had been in a standoff since 93 percent of voters opted for Catalan independence in an October 1 referendum marred by police violence. Spain said the poll was illegal and stressed the low voter turnout of 43 percent. It subsequently threatened to suspend the region's autonomy if Catalan leaders did not stop their drive for independence.

Catalonia declares independence from Spain The defiance Many had expected tensions to ease on October 26 when Catalan President Carles Puigdemont was expected to call snap elections to bow to a key Spanish government demand. But Puigdemont refused, saying that he did not have enough "guarantees" from Madrid. Instead, he called on the Catalan parliament to decide on how to respond to Spain's threat to suspend the region's autonomy.

Catalonia declares independence from Spain The dream Tens of thousands of pro-independence protesters had taken to the streets of Barcelona ahead of the independence declaration to demand the region's secession and the release of two leaders of pro-independence organizations, Jordi Cuixart and Jordi Sanchez. Independence has divided Catalonia. Many who supported continued unity with Spain refused to vote in the October 1 referendum.

Catalonia declares independence from Spain The delight The pro-independence crowds outside the Catalan parliament immediately rejoiced after hearing the independence declaration. Many people were draped in the "Estelada" flag associated with Catalan independence. Some reportedly called for the Spanish flag to be removed from the Catalan government palace as regional lawmakers arrived from the parliament. (Author: Alexander Pearson) Author: Alexander Pearson



The Ukraine 'paradox'

In 2014, Russia illegally annexed the Crimean Peninsula in an internationally-condemned referendum after pro-European protests led to the ousting of Ukraine's pro-Kremlin president, Viktor Yanukovych.

For pro-Kremlin observers, Madrid's violent actions against voters who took part in the independence referendum resembled Yanukovych's deadly crackdown on the pro-European protests of 2013 and 2014.

Political commentator Alexey Martinov, who monitored the Catalan independence vote, called it a "paradox" that EU representatives had slammed Yanukovych for using what he described as the same brutal methods the Spanish police used against voters in Catalonia.

Read more: Could sending lethal weapons to Ukraine bring peace?

"If they told Yanukovych four years ago that he could use the same methods that are being used in Barcelona, that such methods are 'European,' I believe that there would be none of the horrible events that later took place in Ukraine," Martinov told the Russian news agency Interfax, in an apparent reference to a separatist insurgency that erupted in eastern Ukraine.

Meanwhile, Russia continues to be instrumental in a rebel insurgency it fomented with its military intervention and subsequent referendum on the Crimean Peninsula.

Ukraine: Living on the front lines Caught in the crossfire Every evening, the shelling begins around sunset. The front lines near Donetsk see nightly mortar and machine gun fire as the conflict between the Ukrainian military and pro-Russian separatists’ rages on. Caught in the crossfire are many elderly civilians who are too impoverished to go elsewhere. Ivan Polansky, above, surveys the damage on his home in Zhovanka.

Ukraine: Living on the front lines ‘Waiting for a shell’ Residents of Zhovanka in the so-called ‘gray zone,’ a thin strip of land separating warring militaries, line up to see a visiting doctor. Medics hold pop-up clinics in the town once a week. "Each day, you are waiting for the shell to land on your house and you never know when it’s going to come," said local resident Ludmila Studerikove.

Ukraine: Living on the front lines Without electricity and heating Zhovanka was once home to 1,000 people, but the number has dwindled to about 200 since the war began in mid-2014. It has been three months since residents have had electricity and gas. "Sometimes I’m so scared that I lay in bed at night and just shake,” Studerikove said. “My husband stays by my side and holds my hand."

Ukraine: Living on the front lines Nowhere else to go Olexander Voroshkov, program coordinator for the regional charity SOS Kramatorsk, said residents continue to live in half-destroyed homes with leaky roofs, even through the winters, because rent in nearby Ukrainian cities has skyrocketed since the beginning of the conflict. "Rents in Kramatorsk are now similar to those in Kiev, but the salaries are much lower than in Kiev," Voroshkov said.

Ukraine: Living on the front lines Reliance on humanitarian aid Women line up to receive medicine and multivitamins in Zhovanka. Food and humanitarian supplies are delivered to the town by charity organizations, as crossing checkpoints sometimes requires people to wait more than a day in line. "We had everything; we had fresh air, nature. It was very nice here. Now we just have the cold," said local resident Vera Sharovarova.

Ukraine: Living on the front lines Adapting to DNR frontlines Vera Anoshyna, left, speaks with neighbors in Spartak, a town in what is now the Donetsk People’s Republic (DNR). Anoshyna said she has done her best to adapt to the conflict. "If you don’t have water, you find it," she said. "If you don’t have electricity, you find a solution. But you never know where the next bomb will land."

Ukraine: Living on the front lines Six broken ribs Svetlana Zavadenko stands before her home in Spartak. She was injured when the walls collapsed after several mortars exploded in her yard. Neighbors had to dig Zavadenko out of the rubble and she was sent to the hospital with six broken ribs and a ruptured liver. She smokes “Minsk” brand cigarettes and laughs when asked what she thinks about the war.

Ukraine: Living on the front lines 'We lost hope' Zavadenko recovered from her injuries and lives alone with several pets. Spartak has not had electricity, gas, or water services since 2014, so she uses a grill to cook her food. For firewood, she goes to an abandoned furniture factory nearby and collects plywood. "Last winter we thought [the war] would finish, but now, honestly, we lost hope," she said.

Ukraine: Living on the front lines Possibility of a drawdown Damage from shelling on the outskirts of Donetsk. Despite past failures in deescalating the war, a new ceasefire may be in sight after an October peace summit in Berlin, where Ukrainian President Petro Poroshenko said he was ready to end hostilities in eastern Ukraine and would withdraw troops from the region.

Ukraine: Living on the front lines 'We lost too many soldiers to stop now' Even if both sides agree on a ceasefire, they will face opposition from their militaries, who claim their sacrifices were too heavy to simply put down their weapons. "We lost too many soldiers to stop now," said Vladimir Parkhamovich, colonel of the 81st Airmobile Brigade in the Ukrainian military. "If they give us an order [to stop] we’ll consider them traitors." Author: Diego Cupolo



'Double standards'

Although the Kremlin does not openly support Catalonia's independence bid, what the region's political upheaval offers Moscow is an opportunity to illustrate "double standards" within the EU's borders.

For Putin in particular, the case of Kosovo is momentous and telling. In February 2008, several western European countries, including Germany, the UK and France, recognized Kosovo, which was an Albanian-majority breakaway region that comprised part of Serbia, as an independent state.

"What we see is that, in our partners' view, there are worthy fighters for independence and there are separatists who cannot defend their rights," Putin said. "Such double standards — this is a very striking example of double standards — are fraught with serious danger for the stable development of Europe and other continents."

Read more: With new Wall of Grief, Russia grapples with Soviet crimes

While Spain refused to recognize Kosovo as an independent state, the majority of the EU's 28 member states followed suit.

"Why were they so unthinking, driven by fleeting political considerations and their desire to please — I will put it bluntly — their big brother in Washington, in providing their unconditional support to the secession of Kosovo, thus provoking similar processes in other regions of Europe and the world?"

If anything, the view from Moscow shows that for Russia, Catalonia is not an isolated political issue but forms part of a fate the EU sealed over a decade ago – and one that serves its interest only insomuch as it exposes the bloc's weaknesses.