The 2014 Crimean crisis is a conflict unfolding in the region of Crimea, Ukraine that began in

the aftermath of the 2014 Ukrainian revolution. President Viktor Yanukovychwas deposed in
the 2014 Ukrainian revolution. Russia sent in soldiers on February 27, 2014 and seized control
of Crimea. Crimea held a referendum. According to Russian and Crimean sources 95% voted
to reunite with Russia. The legitimacy of the referendum has been questioned by the
international community on both legal and procedural grounds.
February 23[edit]
In Simferopol, on February 23, 2014 a pro-Euromaidan rally was held in support of the new
Ukrainian authorities.
[1]
The protesters also demanded the resignation of the Crimean
parliament; attendees waved Ukrainian, Tatar and European Union flags.
[2]

Meanwhile in Sevastopol, tens of thousands protested against the new authorities and voted to
establish a parallel administration and civil defense squads created with the support of
Russian Night Wolves bikers.
[clarification needed]
Same were created on 22 February in Simferopol,
where about 5,000 had joined such squads. Protesters waved Russian flags and chanted
"Putin is our president" and claimed they would refuse to pay further taxes to the
state.
[3][4]
Russian military convoys were also alleged to be seen in the area.
[4]
In Kerch, pro-
Russian protesters attempted to remove the Ukrainian flag from atop city hall and replace it
with the flag of Russia. Over 200 attended waving flags of Russia, orange-and-black St.
George and the Russian Unity party. Mayor Oleh Osadchy attempted to disperse the crowd
and police eventually arrived to keep the protesters at bay. Osadchy said: "This is the territory
of Ukraine, Crimea. Here's a flag of Crimea" but was accused of treason and a fight ensued
over the flagpole.
[5]

February 24[edit]
On February 24, 2014, the Prime Minister of Crimea Anatolii Mohyliov declared that the region
would carry out all laws passed by the Ukrainian parliament.
[6]
That same day, more protesters
rallied outside the Sevastopol administration offices.
[7]
Pro-Russian demonstrators
accompanied by neo-Cossacks
[8]
demanded the selection of a Russian citizen as mayor (which
was refused by the city council) and planted Russian flags at city hall; they also handed out
leaflets calling for volunteers to a militia and warning that the "Blue-Brown Europlague is
knocking."
[9]

On February 24, Sevastopol chose Aleksei Chalyi, a Russian citizen, as mayor.
[10]
This was
controversial because Sevastopol has no mayor
[nb 1]
as the Chairman of the Sevastopol City
State Administration who is appointed by thePresident of Ukraine by statute fulfils this role.
[13]
A
thousand protesters present chanted "a Russian mayor for a Russian city." Crowds gathered
again outside Sevastopol's city hall again as rumours spread that security forces could
arrest Aleksei Chalyi, but police chief Alexander Goncharov said that his officers would refuse
to carry out "criminal orders" issued by the central government. Viktor Neganov, a Sevastopol-
based adviser to the interior minister, condemned the events in the city as a coup. "Chalyi
represents the interests of the Kremlin which likely gave its tacit approval." The Chairman of
the Sevastopol City State Administration, appointed by the President of Ukraine, Vladimir
Yatsuba, was booed and whistled on February 23, when he told a pro-Russian rally that
Crimea was a part of Ukraine. He resigned the next day.
[14]

February 25[edit]
On February 25, 2014 several hundred pro-Russian protesters blocked the Crimean parliament
demanding a referendum on Crimea's independence.
[15]
The rally was organized by
the Crimean Front.
[16]
Another big property of fugitive president Yanukovych was discovered
close to Sevastopol four times the size of that in the capital Kyiv.
[17]

February 26[edit]
On February 26, thousands of protesters clashed in Simferopol.
[18]
Near theSupreme Council
of Crimea building between 4,000 and 5,000 Crimean Tatars and supporters of the
Euromaidan-Crimea movement faced 600700 supporters of pro-Russian organisations and
the Russian Unity Party.
[19]
Chairman of the Supreme Council of Crimea Volodymyr
Konstantinov said that the Crimean parliament will not discuss the issue of separation from
Ukraine and that earlier reports that parliament would discuss the motion were
provocations.
[20]
During the clashes, one man died of a heart attack and a woman died from
being trampled.
[21]
Crimean Tatars created self-defense groups and called on activists to unite
with Russian, Ukrainian and people of other nationalities to avoid provocations and to protect
churches, mosques, synagogues and other important sites.
[22]
By nightfall, the Crimean
Tatars had left,
[23]
while the pro-Russian rally had grown to 5,000 as protesters arrived from
Sevastopol later in the day.
[24]
The new Ukrainian establishment's acting Interior Minister Arsen
Avakov tasked Crimean law enforcement agencies not to provoke conflicts and to do whatever
necessary to prevent clashes with pro-Russian forces and added that "I think, that way
through a dialogue we shall achieve much more than with standoffs "
[25]
The new head of
the Security Service of Ukraine (SBU) Valentyn Nalyvaichenko requested United
Nations round-the-clock monitoring of the security situation on the peninsula.
[26]

Also on February 26, media claimed that Russian troops or (as they themselves claimed) local
volunteers took control of the main route of access to Sevastopol.
[27]
A military checkpoint, with
military vehicles under a Russian flag, was set up on the main highway between the city
and Simferopol.
[27]
CNN described them as a "pro-Russian militia checkpoint".
[28]

February 27[edit]
On February 27, at 4:20 local time, sixty pro-Russian gunmen seized Crimea's
parliament building and Council of Ministersbuilding. They were said to be professionals and
heavily armed.
[29]
Thirty broke into the building initially, with a bus carrying another thirty and
additional weapons arriving later.
[30]
The gunmen were unmarked but raised Russian flags.
[31]

While the gunmen occupied Crimea's parliament building, the parliament held an emergency
session.
[32][33]
It voted to terminate the Crimean government, and replace Prime
Minister Anatolii Mohyliov with Sergey Aksyonov.
[34]
Aksyonov belonged to the Russian
Unity party, which received 4% of the vote in the last election.
[33]
It also voted to hold a
referendum on greater autonomy on 25 May. The gunmen had cut all of the building's
communications and took MPs' phones as they entered.
[32][33]
No independent journalists were
allowed inside the building while the votes were taking place.
[33]
Some MPs claimed they were
being threatened and that votes were cast for them and other MPs, even though they were not
in the chamber.
[33]

Interfax-Ukraine reported "it is impossible to find out whether all the 64 members of the 100-
member legislature who were registered as present at when the two decisions were voted on
or whether someone else used the plastic voting cards of some of them" because due to the
armed occupation of parliament it was unclear how many MPs were present.
[35]
The head of
parliament's information and analysis department, Olha Sulnikova, had phoned from inside
the parliamentary building to journalists and had told them 61 of the registered 64 deputies had
voted for the referendum resolution and 55 for the resolution to dismiss the
government.
[35]
They also installed a new Prime Minister. According to the Constitution of
Ukraine, the Prime Minister of Crimea is appointed by the Supreme Council of Crimea in
consultation with the President of Ukraine.
[36][37]

The chairman of the Supreme Council of Crimea, Volodymyr Konstantinov, as well as de facto
prime minister Aksyonov, refused to recognize the dismissal of Viktor Yanukovych from
presidential office, and view him as legitimate.
[38][39]
Aksyonov added "we will follow his
directions".
[40]

The new Prime Minister of Ukraine, Arseniy Yatsenyuk, warned "We must immediately declare
that anyone who is on the streets with guns these people are prosecuted by law".
[41]

On the morning of February 27, Berkut units from Crimea and other regions of Ukraine
(dissolved by the decree of 25 February) seized checkpoints on the Isthmus of
Perekop and Chonhar peninsula.
[42][43][44]
According to MP Hennadiy Moskal, former Chief of
Crimean police, they had armoured personnel carriers, grenade launchers, assault
rifles, machine guns and other weapons.
[42]
Since then they control all traffic by land between
Crimea and continental Ukraine.
[42]

On February 27, 2014 the Ukrainian organization Right Sector officially announced that it does
not intend to participate in any conflict on the territory of Crimea.
[45]

February 28[edit]
In the early hours of February 28, a group of 50119
[46]
armed men in military uniform without
signs of identification seizedSimferopol International Airport.
[47]
Airport authorities later denied
that it had been "captured" and said that it was still operating normally despite the continuing
armed presence.
[48][49]
Later in the day, Sevastopol International Airport was occupied in a
similar manner as Simferopol's airport.
[50]
According to the Minister of Internal Affairs, Arsen
Avakov, soldiers without identification are Russian Black Sea Fleet troops.
[46]
Later some
television channels reported that airports are guarded by Russian forces.
[51]
It was then
claimed that militants in Simferopol airport are soldiers of the Russian MI whose plane was
noticed at the Hvardiyske Airport at Hvardiiske near Simferopol.
[52]

According to the official website of the Night Wolves bikers club, they are guarding the state
administration in Sevastopol.
[53]

On February 28, 2014, a missile boat of the Russian Federation blocked the Balaklava Harbor,
where ships of the Ukrainian Sea Guard are stationed.
[54]
Eight Russian military helicopters
were moved to Sevastopol from Anapa.
[55]
On 28 February 2014, at the UN Security Council, it
was announced that the helicopters were not transportation crafts, but rather an assaultMi-
24. Serhiy Kunitsyn informed journalists that Crimea is to be visited by the Russian delegation
of Vladimir Zhirinovsky andKonstantin Zatulin.
[56]

Serhiy Kunitsyn informed journalists that 13 Russian planes IL-76 with Russian Airborne
Troops landed in the Hvardiyske military airport (Hvardiiske).
[57]
Kunitsyn stated that each
plane may hold about 150 people.
[57]

The Ukrainian parliamentarian, Petro Poroshenko, who arrived in Simferopol, was attacked by
an angry mob, but managed to get away unharmed.
[58]
Chairman of the Supreme Council of
Crimea Volodymyr Konstantinov was booed by a gathered crowd of protesters who were
yelling "Crimea Russia".
[59]

On February 28, The Ministry of Defense of Ukraine acknowledged the threat of possible
takeovers of military units in Crimea during the night on Saturday by radical forces.
[60]
On
February 28, facing possible Russian intervention, U.S. President Barack Obama stated that
any military action would "Come at a cost," following his denunciation of Russian aggression in
the region.
Ousted President Yanukovych insisted that military action was "unacceptable" and that he
would not request Russian military intervention at a press conference.
[61]
According to
Yanukovych Crimea must remain part of Ukraine.
[62][63]

March[edit]
March 1[edit]
On March 1, 2014 the de facto Crimean Prime Minister Sergey Aksyonov appealed directly to
Russian President Vladimir Putin in a signed statement calling for Russia to "provide
assistance in ensuring peace and tranquility on the territory" of Crimea.
[64]
Meanwhile,
Aksyonov took control of "security [in Crimea] on a temporary basis", he said. All commanders
are to obey his orders or "resign".
[64]
Akysonov also announced that the date of the self-
sovereignty referendum was moved up to 30 March.
[64]

Protests against the new authorities in Kiev and in support of Russians in Crimea occurred
throughout Eastern andSouthern Ukraine on March 1.
[65]

On March 1, the interim president of Ukraine, Turchynov, signed a decree declaring the
appointment of Sergei Aksyonov as the head of the government of Crimea to be
unconstitutional.
[66]

Russian President Vladimir Putin formally asked the Federation Council for permission to "use
the armed forces of the Russian Federation on the territory of Ukraine until the normalization of
the socio-political situation in the that country."
[67]
Hours later, the Federation Council voted
unanimously to grant permission.
[68][69]

The Consulate of the Russian Federation in Simferopol started to issue Russian passports to
residents of Ukraine.
[70]
Members of the former Ukrainian riot police, Berkut, were among the
first in Crimea to be granted Russian citizenship.
[70]

The Ukrainian Navy was forced to leave its base in Sevastopol,
[71][72]
as was the Ukrainian Sea
Guard.
[71][72]
Some journalists later claimed that this was disinformation posted by RIA News.
[71]

Beginning March 1, Ukrainian journalists were prohibited from entering the Crimean
region,
[73]
reportedly on the orders of members of the Supreme Council.
[clarification needed][citation
needed]

Ukrainian media reported that decisions to replace the government and hold a referendum in
Crimea were falsified.
[74][75][76]

According to Damon Wilson, vice president of the Atlantic Council, the United States
Congress was "considering authorizing [a] defense arms package to Ukraine".
[77][78]

March 2[edit]
On March 2, 2014 a Ukrainian marine infantry detachment stationed aroundFeodosiya was
surrounded by armed men demanding surrender by 9:00AM EET. InSudak, radar station
personnel were forced to give up their arms.
[79]
The Ukrainian Navy building in Sevastopol was
under siege and land-based assault by the Russian Army according to Ukrainska Pravda.
[80]

On March 2, acting President Olexander Turchynov ordered all Ukrainian military reservists to
be called up.
[81]

At a Ukrainian military base near the village of Perevalne, there is an ongoing standoff between
a handful of Ukrainian marines loyal to Kiev and the surrounding Russian/Crimean forces.
[82][83]

The newly appointed chief of the Ukrainian Navy, Denis Berezovsky, in televised statement
announced that he refuses to follow orders from the self-declared government in Kiev and
declared loyalty to Crimean authorities and people.
[84]
He was replaced by Serhiy Hayduk.
The same day in Sevastopol, the crew of the command ship Slavutych thwarted an attempt to
hijack the vessel by a boat manned by unidentified armed personnel.
[85]

The government of Crimea announced the formation of its own Defence Ministry.
[86]

Ukrainian oligarchs, including Igor Kolomoisky and Serhiy Taruta (partner of Rinat Akhmetov),
throw weight behind revolutionary government in Kiev; get appointments as governors of
eastern provinces.
[87]

The head of the Security Service of Crimea Petyor Zima, Chief of Department of Internal
Affairs in the Crimea Sergey Abisov, the head of Service for Emergency Situations Sergei
Shakhov and acting Chief of the Border Guards of Crimea Victor Melnichenko each took an
oath of allegiance to the people of the so-called "Putin-backed" Crimea. The ceremony took
place in the Council of Ministers chamber in the presence of regional government officials,
mayors of different cities and regions.
[88]

March 3[edit]
According to Ukrainian officials, Ukrainian troops stationed in Crimea were urged to surrender
by March 3 at 5 a.m. (0300 GMT) or face an armed confrontation via an ultimatum issued by
Alexander Vitko, the commander of the Russian Black Sea Fleet.
[89]
This ultimatum was
however denied by Russian officials.
[90]

On the same day, Russian soldiers seized a Kerch Strait ferry terminal in the city of Kerch, the
easternmost point of Crimea.
[91]

Crimea's State Television and Radio Transmitting Center forced the independent broadcaster
Chernomorskaya Teleradiokompaniya (Black Sea TV) off the air. Chernomorskaya
Teleradiokompaniya, which has covered the political tension in the region, was one of two local
broadcasters available to Crimean residents.
[92]

March 4[edit]
On March 4, Putin ended the military exercises and pulled troops back from Ukrainian
borders.
[93]
Putin stated in a press conference that the soldiers occupying military bases were
not Russian soldiers, but local forces of self-defence. He said that there was no need to send
forces into Ukraine at the time being, but that Russia reserved the right to use "all means" as a
last resort to threats of anarchy.
[94]

There was a confrontation at the Belbek Airbase (at the Belbek Airport) between the guarding
Russian/Crimean forcesand unarmed Ukrainian soldiers who had surrendered the base the
previous day.
[95]
lasting some hours.
[96]
Around 200 unarmed Ukrainian soldiers of the 240th
Tactical Air Brigade
[96]
marched towards the base, demanding their jobs back, when the pro-
Russian forces fired warning shots in the air.
[95]
After hours of negotiations, the pro-Russian
forces agreed to allow joint patrols of the basewith the Ukrainians remaining
unarmed,
[95]
followed by the Ukranian detachment marching away.
[96]

March 5[edit]
On March 5, the Crimean government (ARC) announced that "more than 700 soldiers and
officers" from the 50th, 55th and 147th antiaircraft missile regiments, stationed
in Yalta, Feodosia and Fiolente respectively, defected to the ARC side by "declaring their
readiness to defend the population of Crimea".
[97]
This is in addition to the 204th Fighter Unit of
theUkrainian Air Force, which defected on March 3.
[97]
Altogether, as of March 5, the Crimeans
claim to have 6000 defectors from the Ukrainian Armed Forces on their side.
[97]

Thirty-five Russian soldiers were said to have attacked the border checkpoint in Kerch and
threatening an armed assault on Ukrainian service personnel.
[98]
The same day, the State
Border Guard Service of Ukraine informed that unknown persons took hostage
Ukrainian Colonel General Mykhailo Koval.
[99]
One witness claims that he was taken by
Russian bikers who attacked the personal car of Koval in Yalta.
[99]
The Ukrainian soldiers
detained one of the "Green Men" Aleksei Sergeievich Medvedev from Yoshkar Ola according
to his military ticket (military identification document).
[100]

Unknown gunmen took hostage the UN special envoy to Ukraine Robert
Serry in Simferopol.
[101][102][103][104]
U.N. Deputy Secretary General Jan Eliasson said Robert
Serry had been threatened but had not been kidnapped.
[105][106]
Serry is expected to continue
his work in Kiev due to situation in Crimea.
[107]

The Shevchenko district court of Kiev, meanwhile, ruled on the detention of the self-proclaimed
leaders Sergei Aksyonovand Volodymyr Konstantinov.
[108]
The Security Service of Ukraine was
charged to bring them to court.
[108]
The General Prosecutor of Ukraine opened criminal
proceedings against the commander of Black Sea Fleet Aleksandr Vitko on the facts of
incitement to treason and sabotage organization.
[109]

Three deputies of the Batkivshchyna party submitted a bill in the Verkhovna Rada on March 5
that would abolish the country's official neutrality, and make "Euro-Atlantic integration
and NATO membership" a foreign policy priority for Ukraine.
[110][111]

On March 5, a wiretapped telephone conversation was leaked on YouTube of Estonian Foreign
Minister Urmas Paet and European Union foreign affairs chief Catherine Ashton discussing the
issue of sniper-rifle fire during the 2014 Ukrainian revolution.
[112]
Speaking about a doctor
named Olga who was on the scene, Paet told Ashton, "The same Olga told that, well, all the
evidence shows that people who were killed by snipers from both sides among policemen and
then people from the street [sic]. So that there is now stronger and stronger understanding that
behind the snipers it was not Yanukovich, but it was somebody from the new
coalition."
[112]
The Estonian Ministry of Foreign Affairs later issued a statement confirming the
tape's authenticity, but denied that "the new coalition" refers to the protesters who later
overthrew Yanukovich and installed a new government in Kiev.
[112]
Olga Bogomolets, the
doctor who allegedly told Paet about the snipers, denied claiming that protesters and Berkut
troops came under fire from one single source and stated that she only saw the protesters'
wounds, and that the government assured her that an investigation would be opened.
[113]

March 6[edit]
The Supreme Council of Crimea voted on 6 March to formally accede as part of the Russian
Federation after 6 decades as part of the Ukrainian state.
[114]
The Supreme Council's decision
will be put to the Crimean people via referendum if the request is granted by Russia. The
previously announced referendum scheduled for 30 March, will be moved up to 16 March
2014, and its question will be altered to reflect the Supreme Council's 6 March vote of
accepting full accession.
[114]
The Ukrainian government immediately condemned the measure
and argued that any unilateral referendum initiated by the current Crimean authorities would be
unconstitutional.
[114]
They were joined in their condemnation of the referendum by theUnited
States and European Union.
[114]
Refat Chubarov, leader of the Mejlis of the Crimean Tatar
People, announced that his organization will not take part in the referendum, and that they
deem it illegitimate.
[115]
According to Council member Pilunsky the decision was taken without
meeting the quorum.
[116]

Armed men seized the Simferopol Radio and Television Transmitting Station, and discontinued
the broadcast of Kiev-basedChannel 5 and 1+1 television channels, replacing their frequencies
with the Moscow-based Rossiya 24 news channel.
[117][118]

On March 6 Russian sailors scuttled the decommissioned cruiser Ochakov at the entrance
to Donuzlav Bay in western Crimea as a blockship, in an attempt to prevent Ukrainian navy
ships from gaining access to the Black Sea.
[119]

Crimean Tatars report that their homes are marked with X by unidentified gangs.
[120]

A mission of observers from the Organisation for Security and Cooperation in Europe has been
stopped from entering Ukraine's Crimean Peninsula by unidentified men in military fatigues for
the third time.
[121]

March 7[edit]
According to the Ukrainian State Border Guard Service Russia raised the number of their
soldiers in Crimea to 30,000.
[122]

Two journalists were beaten while taking photos outside the missile defence base A2355
outside the Crimean city of Sevastopol.
[123]
A Bulgarian media team of two were beaten in
Simferopol.
[124]
Armed men confiscated the equipment of the Associated Press team in
Simferopol.
[125]

Another blockship, the former Black Sea Fleet rescue/diving support vessel BM-416 (VM-416)
was scuttled near theOchakov.
[126]

PACE's Standing Committee expressed its full support for the territorial integrity and national
unity of Ukraine.
[127]

Ukraine decided not to boycott the Paralympic games as long as Russia did not start a war.
During the opening only Ukrainian athlete Mykailo Tkachenko of 31 Ukrainian Paralympians
attended the ceremony parade in protest at Russia's incursion into Crimea.
[128]

March 8[edit]
The Russian military entered the territory of Chonhar village in Henichesk Raion of Kherson
Oblast and blocked the second entrance to Crimea.
[129]

The Border Guard Service Department Sholkino was taken over by Russian forces. The
personnel and their families had to leave the post and the apartments.
[130]

A border guard plane flying over Crimea was attacked with firearms.
[131]

March 9[edit]
At Massandra a mobile, rapid reaction border guard post has been unblocked after several
days of occupation.
[132]
Head of Euromaidan Krym Andriy Shchekun has been kidnapped in
Simferopol.
[133]

More than 200 scholars of Ukrainian and Russian affairs have undersigned an appeal for a
peaceful, sustainable, and fair resolution to the current conflict.
[134]

March 10[edit]
Two Ukrainian journalists (Olena Maksymenko and Oles Kromplyas) disappeared and are
feared kidnapped at the border to Crimea.
[135]

Several hundred residents of Crimea, mainly Crimean Tatars, have left Crimea for security
reasons according to the State Border Guard Service of Ukraine.
[136][137]

Russian forces have seized the main military hospital in Simferopol.
[138]

Prominent Russian dissident Mikhail Khodorkovsky said that Crimea should stay within Ukraine
with broader autonomy.
[139]

Posters and leaflets campaigning for the referendum do not show who is behind.
[140][141][142]

March 11[edit]
The Crimean Government made clear that they did not officially invite the OSCE to observe the
referendum.
[143]
The OSCE chair, Switzerland's Foreign Minister Didier Burkhalter, declared the
referendum as illegal and because of that the OSCE will not send observers.
[144]

Unidentified forces started controlling passport and luggages of domestic travellers at the
Simferopol railway station.
[145]

Russian forces took over the control tower at Simferopol International Airport and closed
Crimean airspace until the end of week. Ukraine International Airlines flight PS 65 had to return
to Kyiv shortly before landing.
[146][147]

Party of Regions MP Yuriy Miroshnychenko urged the Crimean government to stop the
referendum.
[148]
Another Party of Regions MP, Hanna Herman, commented the same day
about Yanukovych's press conference, "He needs to ... prevent the illegal referendum".
[149]

March 12[edit]
A set of press regulations was issued by the Crimean parliament concerning the referendum
on March 16, stating, among other things, that authorized journalists covering the elections are
obliged "not to spread material with negative content"
[150]

The multinational OSCE observation mission published a report about their observations while
trying to enter Crimea. Their entrance was refused at gunpoint. Their observation "produced
significant evidence of equipment consistent with the presence of Russian Federation military
personnel in the vicinity of the various roadblocks encountered".
[151]

The UN Human Rights Envoy Ivan Simonovic had to cancel his trip to Crimea as the current
situation does not permit his travel. He intended to observe the human rights situation which
was Russia's explanation for its engagement in Crimea.
[152]

The European Parliament rejected the upcoming referendum on independence in Crimea,
which they saw as manipulated and contrary to international and Ukrainian law.
[153]

Group of 7 world leaders said that they would not recognize the results of a referendum for
Ukraine's Crimea region. The leaders called on Russia to "immediately" halt actions supporting
the referendum on Crimea regarding its status.
[154]

March 13[edit]
Russia has voiced support for the deployment of an OSCE monitoring mission in Ukraine,
including Crimea, the chairman of the European security group said on Thursday, calling this a
possible "big step forward."
[155]

The National Guard of Ukraine is reconstituted, on the basis of a law passed the previous day
(Law of Ukraine "On the National Guard of Ukraine" dated March 12, 2014
[156]
). Note: The
legislation reforming the National Guard was signed into law on this date by the acting
president, but not returned to the parliament until the next day (14 March).
The Russian Armed Forces announced a new set of sudden military exercises in the border
regions of Rostov, Belgorod, and Kursk on 13 March, involving "artillery batteries, assault
helicopters, and at least 10,000 soldiers".
[157]
Amateur footage has shown columns of trucks
and armored vehicles amassing at the border town of Lopan, just 30 miles outside
ofKharkiv.
[157]
The United States Department of State has said that the Russian military
exercises have "certainly created an environment of intimidation [in Ukraine]".
[157]

March 14[edit]
The United States and Russia found no middle ground on the Ukrainian crisis, after six hours
of talks in London.
[158]

Rostec, a Russian-state arms agency, announced that it had intercepted a surveillance
drone flying over the skies of Crimea on 14 March, which belonged to the Bavaria-based 66th
Military Intelligence Brigade of the United States Army.
[159]
It disabled the drone "with the help of
the EW (electronic warfare) complex Avtobaza," and as a result, "the device made an
emergency landing and passed into the possession of the [Crimean] self-defense forces almost
unbroken."
[159]
The company further claimed that this is the second U.S. drone to be
intercepted over Crimea since the crisis began.
[159]
The Pentagon subsequently denied
Rostec's claims, saying that "there is zero truth" to the reports.
[160]

March 15[edit]
A day before the Crimean referendum, tens of thousands of Russian demonstrators held anti-
war protests in Moscow opposing Russian military intervention in Ukraine. It was the largest
protest in Russia since the 201113 Russian protests.
[161]

March 16[edit]
Crimeans vote in a referendum to rejoin Russia or return to its status under the 1992
constitution.
[162]

On March 16, 2014, Crimean news agencies are now reporting that the official results of the
referendum are in, and the region overwhelmingly voted to re-join Russia.
[163]
Some 95.5% of
voters in Crimea have supported joining Russia, officials say.
[164]
Election officials said the
turnout was a record high, beating the numbers who vote in local elections.
[164]

The defence ministries of Ukraine and Russia agree on a truce in Crimea until March 21,
according to the acting Ukrainian defence minister.
[165]

March 17[edit]
On March 17, the Crimean parliament officially declared its independence from Ukraine and
requested full accession to theRussian Federation, thus ending Crimea's 60 years as a
Ukrainian territory.
[166]

Obama declared sanctions on 11 Ukrainian and Russian official considered responsible for the
crisis.
[167]

Markets surged as investor worries faded after the referendum passed without violence.
The Dow Jones Industrial Averageincreased by nearly 1%.
[168][169][170][171]

Abkhazia, Nagorno-Karabakh, Russia, and South Ossetia officially recognize the
independence of Crimea.
[172][173]

The dead body of Reat Ametovyaky, an ethnic Crimean Tartar, was found in the Belogorskiy
Region of Crimea. He disappeared on his way to the recruitment office on March 3 after the
announcement of partial military mobilization in Ukraine and is believed to have been
abducted. He was found dead with signs of torture; his hands were handcuffed and his head
was covered in duct tape.
[174]

March 18[edit]
One Ukrainian soldier and one pro-Russian soldier were killed in the Simferopol Incident.
[citation
needed]

Crimean Deputy Prime Minister Rustam Temirgaliyev said in an interview with RIA Novosti the
new government in Crimea wants to regularize the land unofficially taken over by Crimean
Tatar squatters following the collapse of the Soviet Union. He said part of the land was
required for social needs but the Government of Crimea was ready to allocate and legalize
many other plots of land to ensure a normal life for the Crimean Tatars. He also emphasized
that members of the Tatar community could receive senior political positions in the new
government, in a move to ease ethnic tensions in the region.
[175]

President of Russia Vladimir Putin addressed State Duma deputies, Federation Council
members, heads of Russian regions and civil society representatives in the Kremlin, calling for
the creation of "two new constituent entities within the Russian Federation: the Republic of
Crimea and the city of Sevastopol".
[176]

March 19[edit]
Russian soldiers storm Ukrainian military bases in Crimea.
March 20[edit]
Verkhovna Rada of Ukraine passes a resolution to adopt a bill on "territorial integrity of the
Ukrainian people", which overlooks the status of granting Ukrainian visas to certain Russian
citizens, notably those living in Eastern Ukraine and having strong ties with Russia. Many
Russian politicians respond to the resolution as "Yatseniyk and Turchynov trying to prevent the
breakaway of more Ukrainian regions into Russia, such as Kharkiv, Donetsk, Zaporizhzhya".
Another statement is made by Turchynov regarding Crimean tatars, in which the incumbent
President says that Ukraine will try to reinforce the rights of Tatars living in Crimea, which so
far have been long neglected.
[citation needed]

March 21[edit]
After the Federation Council approved on final reading the treaty of accession of the Crimea to
the Russian Federation, Vladimir Putin ratifies the inclusion of two new areas into the Russian
Federation: the Republic of Crimea and the City of Federal Importance of Sevastopol.
The Crimean Federal District is created with Oleg Belaventsev being appointed as its
Presidential Envoy.
At the same time Ukraine withdraws military troops from certain previously guarded areas in
the Crimea
[citation needed]
and boycotts the right to travel to Simferopol for some of its airlines
[citation
needed]
.
March 22[edit]
Russian forces storm two Ukrainian air bases in Crimea.
[177]
At 4:00 PM local time, Ukrainian
border patrol guards seal off the northern entrance from Crimea. The same evening, Sergey
Aksyonov addressed the citizens of Southern and Eastern Ukraine via a YouTube video, in
which he urged the population of fend off "the banderians" (referring to the Right Sector Party,
which has the teachings and works of Stepan Bandera as part of its ideology and traditions)
and to protect their lands from attacks from them that may arise. Outside these parts, the video
was seen as an attempt by Crimea to trigger further revolts in these regions against the Kiev
government, so that further separation may ensue.
Prime Minister of Russia Dmitry Medvedev spoke on Russia Today about the nullification of the
documents signed in 2010 concerning Russian gas supply through Crimea, basing his
country's decision on the fact that Crimea is now a part of Russia. Medvedev then denied the
change of Russian stance towards its pacts with Ukraine, only speculating that Russia has
'amended' some of the signed documents in order to remove "Crimea" from the lists.
March 23[edit]

About 30% of Crimea and almost half of Simferopol dwellings and buildings met a power
outage as Ukrainian electric company UkrEnergo shut off its supply of electricity to those
regions. Belarusian President Aleksandr Lukashenko described the blackout as "ridiculous"
and urged for both nations to remember their Slavic roots, as does Belarus.
So far 189 out of roughly 4000 Ukrainian military outposts personnel located in Crimea joined
the Russian forces in the area post-accession. The 13th Outpost, located in Feodosiya,
became famous for its marginal resistance to the Russian forces and repetitive denial to give
up. The speaker of Crimean Tatar people warned the Russian government that should their
national integrity be compromised (as is the case with Ukraine), they will form an insurgency
movement and will "defend" the lands they live on. Russia did not respond to the warning in
any way.
March 24[edit]
Canada, France, Germany, Italy, Japan, the United Kingdom, and the United States voted to
suspend Russia from theGroup of 8.
[178][179]
Gregor Gysi, chairman of the German "Left" Party,
has expressed his discontent with this decision (which was primarily brought by Angela Merkel)
and responded by giving the February coup in Ukraine as example of what would be "not less
unconstitutional" than the Crimean referendum. "The fascists who came to power in Ukraine,
have their own understanding of what is constitutional, and the small percent of democrats
sitting in the Rada cannot seem to influence it", he said.
March 25[edit]
Russia awards a medal to former Ukrainians who assisted in the annexation of Crimea.
Controversy erupts over the reverse of the medallion, which dates "the return of Crimea" as
February 20 March 18. This implies that Russia was awarding those involved with
the February 20 killing of Maidan protesters.
[180]

March 27[edit]
The UN General Assembly approved a resolution describing the Crimean referendum on 16
March as illegal. One hundred countries voted in favour of approving a UN General Assembly
resolution declaring the Crimean referendum illegal and affirming Ukraine's territorial integrity.
Eleven nations voted against, with 58 abstentions.
[181]

March 28[edit]
Russian state media agency ITAR-TASS reported that the Ministry of Foreign Affairs contacted
the Ukrainian Embassy inMoscow to inform it of Russia's unilateral termination of a number
of Black Sea Fleet agreements, as well as Russia's willingness to repatriate Ukrainian military
equipment left in Crimea.
[182]

March 29[edit]
Crimea and Sevastopol switched to Moscow Time at 22:00 (10:00 PM) Eastern European
Time.
[183][184]

April[edit]
April 7 - Novofedorivka incident[edit]
In Novofedorivka Junior Sergeant of the Russian Naval Infantry E.Zaitsev fired two shots at
close distance from an AK-74, killing Ukranian officer Major Stanislav Karachevsky who was
getting ready to be relocated.
[185]

April 17[edit]
During the 12th 'Direct Line with Vladimir Putin' the use of Russian armed forces along with
Crimean self-defence troops was avowed by the Russian president,
[186][187]
but Vladimir Putin
denied the claims by Ukraine and the West that Russian special forces were
fomenting ongoing unrest in eastern Ukraine.
[188]

April 24[edit]
Ukraine erupts into new violence as Ukranian troops kill as many as five Pro-Russian fighters.
Russian president Vladimir Putin says that Ukraine's actions will have consequences.
May 2014[edit]
May 5[edit]
The Russian President's Human Rights Council "posted a blog that was quickly taken down as
if it were toxic radioactive waste" estimating that a "vast majority of the citizens of Sevastopol
voted in favor of unification with Russia in the referendum (50-80%); in Crimea, various data
show that 50-60% voted for unification with Russia, with a turnout of 30-50%," suggesting that
only 15-30% of Crimeans actually voted for annexation.
[189][190]
The document is still on the
Russian website.
[191]