11 years of occupation of Crimea: how Russia captured the Ukrainian peninsula
Kyiv • UNN
On February 20, 2014, the occupation of Crimea by unmarked Russian troops began. Within a month, Russia seized the peninsula and held an illegal referendum at gunpoint.
Today, on February 20, the most tragic day of the Revolution of Dignity, the occupation of the Crimean peninsula by the Russian Federation began. This date was later recorded in Ukrainian legislation as "the beginning of the temporary occupation of the Autonomous Republic of Crimea and the city of Sevastopol," UNN writes.
Details
In fact, the beginning of the seizure of Crimea by "green men," as Russian propagandists called their unmarked military, began in early February. February 4, 2014 - The leader of the Russian Rodina party, Alexei Zhuravlev, arrives in Simferopol. He signs an agreement with the head of the Russian Unity party, Serhiy Aksenov, to create an "Anti-Fascist Slavic Front" to counter the spread of Maidan to the South and East.
In mid-February, Vladislav Surkov, the Russian President's advisor on the occupied territories, arrived in Simferopol to meet with the Crimean leadership.
On February 24, Russian special forces without insignia began deploying to Crimea. The next day, 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.
On February 26, about ten thousand people gathered in the center of Simferopol to support the preservation of Crimea as part of Ukraine. Due to the criminal inaction of law enforcement officers, clashes broke out as a result of provocations by pro-Russian forces, killing two people.
A session of the Crimean Parliament scheduled for that day, which was 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 decided to hold a referendum on the status of the peninsula.
On March 16, at gunpoint, the occupying power held an illegal referendum that contradicts the Constitution of Ukraine and fundamental norms of international law. In this way, Russia tried to give legitimacy to its attempt to annex the territory of the Autonomous Republic of Crimea and Sevastopol.
March 17, 2014 - being no longer legitimate, the Crimean parliament adopted a resolution "On the Independence of Crimea," according to which the "state formation of the Republic of Crimea" was created.
March 18, 2014 - the so-called "Agreement on the Accession of the Territory of the Republic of Crimea and the City of Sevastopol to the Russian Federation" was signed between the Russian Federation, represented by Russian dictator Vladimir Putin, and representatives of the occupation authorities - Sergey Aksenov, Vladimir Konstantinov and Alexei Chaly.
