Vladimir Putin has announced that the power change in Crimea that took place in February 2014 was consistent with Ukrainian law. “Of course – you can wag your tongue and interpret all these events however you like, but if you take a look from a legal standpoint, there isn’t even room to split hairs,” stated Putin in an interview for the documentary film Crimea. Path to the Motherland.
Putin claimed that the Crimean parliament was a legitimate governing body that had the authority to appoint Sergei Aksyonov, member of the movement Russian Unity, as the new Crimean Prime Minister. Putin also noted that Ukrainian President Viktor Yanukovich, who had been ousted from Kiev but was still recognized by the Kremlin as the legitimate leader of Ukraine in February 2014, had approved Aksyonov’s appointment.
According to Putin, the takeover of the Crimean parliament building by Russian forces was necessary for ensuring the security of state deputies. “In order to create conditions under which the people wouldn’t fear for themselves or for their families, we had to ensure their security. And we did that,” said Putin. The film claims that the takeover of the parliament took 30 minutes.
Putin also stated that fewer than 20,000 Russian soldiers had been present in Crimea, which is less than the amount of military personnel Russia was permitted to have on its Crimean base. “Strictly speaking, we didn’t even violate anything,” said Putin.
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“We have to give credit to the Ministry of Defense and to our other national security agencies for working so quickly, effectively and in unison; practically no one strayed from procedure. Everything was precise, punctual, concise, on schedule,” stated the president.
The Crimean Peninsula, also known as Crimea, is a territory of about 27 thousand square kilometers (10 thousand square miles) on the northern coast of the Black Sea. In 1954, the Soviet government transferred the territory from the Russian Soviet Federal Socialist Republic to the Ukrainian Soviet Socialist Republic, and it remained a part of independent Ukraine after the collapse of the Soviet Union in 1991. In March 2014 Crimea was annexed by Russia, following a referendum held on the peninsula on March 16.
On March 4, 2014, Russian president Vladimir Putin announced to journalists that Russia’s annexation of Crimea is out of the question.
In April 2014, Putin admitted for the first time that Russian troops began operations on the peninsula before the annexation. During a press conference he stated, “Our troops, of course, had the backs of the Crimea self-defense forces.”
On February 27, 2014, armed men captured two government buildings in Crimea and raised Russian flags over them. At an emergency meeting of the parliament, Sergei Aksyonov was appointed Prime Minister of Crimea. Aksyonov was a member of the political movement Russkoe Edinstvo (Russian Unity).
On March 16, 2014, a referendum was held in Crimea, after which the peninsula became part of the Russian Federation.