During the February–March 2014 Crimean crisis, Ukraine lost control of its government buildings, airports and military bases in Crimea to unmarked soldiers and local pro-Russian militias. This started on February 27th when unmarked armed men seized the Crimean parliamentary building. The same day the Crimean parliament replaced the local government with one that wanted Crimean unification with Russia. This government organized the 2014 Crimean status referendum on March 14th in which the voters voted overwhelmingly to join Russia. On March 17th, Crimea declared its independence. On March 18th, a treaty on incorporating Crimea and Sevastopol into Russia was signed in Moscow and in five days the "Constitutional Law on admitting to the Russian Federation the Republic of Crimea and establishing within the Russian Federation the New Constituent Entities the Republic of Crimea and the City of Federal Importance Sevastopol" was quickly pushed through the Russian parliament, signed by the Russian President, and entered into force.&lt;ref name="politics/11209502"&gt;&lt;/ref&gt; By March 19th, all Armed Forces of Ukraine were withdrawn from Crimea. On April 17th, President Putin stated that the Russian military had backed Crimean separatist militias, stating that Russia's intervention was necessary "to ensure proper conditions for the people of Crimea to be able to freely express their will".