Today, February 26, all citizens of Ukraine join the Day of Resistance to the Russian Occupation of Crimea. The event was launched by a presidential decree in 2020, UNN reports.
On February 20, the most tragic day of the Revolution of Dignity, the Russian Black Sea Fleet units stationed in the Autonomous Republic of Crimea were put on high alert.
On February 24, Russian special forces without insignia were deployed to Crimea.
On February 25, a pro-Russian rally demanding the separation of the peninsula from Ukraine was held near the Verkhovna Rada of the Autonomous Republic of Crimea.
In response, the Mejlis of the Crimean Tatar people called on all supporters of Ukraine's territorial integrity to come to the Crimean parliament.
The next day, on February 26, about ten thousand people gathered in the center of Simferopol, advocating for Crimea to remain part of Ukraine.
Due to the criminal inaction of law enforcement officers, clashes erupted as a result of provocations by pro-Russian forces, killing two people.
The session of the Verkhovna Rada of Crimea, which was scheduled for that day and was supposed to consider the status of the peninsula, was canceled.
However, the next day, Russian special forces seized the building of the Crimean parliament. On February 28, the Verkhovna Rada of the Autonomous Republic of Crimea partly at gunpoint and partly on its own initiative decides to hold a referendum on the status of the peninsula.
On March 16, a pseudo-referendum on the status of Crimea was held, which was not recognized by the entire civilized world. The next day, the illegitimate "parliament" of Crimea proclaimed the "independence" of the peninsula, and the very next day, Crimea "joined" the Russian Federation.
In 2016, a resolution of the Verkhovna Rada of Ukraine established the Day of Crimean Resistance to Russian Occupation, which was transformed into the Day of Resistance to the Russian Occupation of Crimea in 2020.