page_title: Crimea
section_title: Russian Federation (de facto since 2014)
hierarchical_section_title: Crimea / History / Russian Federation (de facto since 2014)
caption_attribution_description: Русский: Орджоникидзе
context_page_description: Crimea is a peninsula located on the northern coast of the Black Sea in Eastern Europe that is almost completely surrounded by both the Black Sea and the smaller Sea of Azov to the northeast. The status of Crimea is disputed. It is claimed by Ukraine and recognized as Ukrainian by most other countries, although it is administered by Russia following its annexation in 2014. Crimea is located south of the Ukrainian region of Kherson, to which it is connected by the Isthmus of Perekop, and west of the Russian region of Kuban, from which it is separated by the Strait of Kerch though linked by the Crimean Bridge since 2018. The Arabat Spit is located to the northeast, a narrow strip of land that separates a system of lagoons named Sivash from the Sea of Azov. Across the Black Sea to its west is Romania, and to its south, Turkey.
  Crimea has historically been at the boundary between the classical world and the Pontic–Caspian steppe.
context_section_description: After the 2014 Ukrainian revolution and the flight of Ukrainian President Viktor Yanukovych from Kiev on 21 February 2014, Russian President, Vladimir Putin stated to colleagues that "we must start working on returning Crimea to Russia." Within days, unmarked forces with local militias took over the Autonomous Republic of Crimea and Sevastopol, as well as occupying several localities in Kherson Oblast on the Arabat Spit, which is geographically a part of Crimea. A 2014 referendum on joining Crimea with Russia was supported by a majority of voters according to official counts; it was boycotted by many loyal to Ukraine, and denounced as illegitimate by Western governments. The UN General Assembly approved a resolution declaring the vote illegal and invalid. Putin signed a treaty of accession with the self-declared Republic of Crimea, annexing it into the Russian Federation as two federal subjects: the Republic of Crimea and the federal city of Sevastopol. Though Russia had control over the peninsula, sovereignty was disputed as Ukraine and the majority of the international community consider the annexation illegal, as was shown by the United Nations General Assembly adopting a non-binding resolution calling upon states not to recognise changes to the integrity of Ukraine. A range of international sanctions have remained in place against Russia and a number of named individuals as a result of the events of 2014.
  Russia withdrew its forces from southern Kherson in December 2014 Since Russian control over Crimea was established in 2014, the peninsula has been administered as part of the Russian Federation except for the northern areas of the Arabat Spit and the Syvash which are still controlled by Ukraine.
  Within days of the signing of the accession treaty, the process of integrating Crimea into the Russian federation began: in March the Russian ruble went into official circulation and clocks were moved forward to Moscow time, in April a new revision of the Russian Constitution was officially released with the Republic of Crimea and the federal city of Sevastopol included in the list of federal subjects of the Russian Federation, and in June the Russian ruble became the only form of legal tender. In July 2015, Russian Prime Minister Dmitry Medvedev stated that Crimea had been fully integrated into Russia.
  Since 2014 the Russian government has invested heavily in the peninsula's infrastructure—repairing roads, modernizing hospitals and building the Crimean Bridge that links the peninsula to the Russian mainland. New sources of water are trying to be developed, with huge difficulties, to replace closed Ukrainian sources.
  In 2017 the Russian government also began modernising the Simferopol International Airport, which opened its new terminal in April 2018.
  Russia provides electricity to Crimea via a cable beneath the Kerch Strait. In June 2018 there was a full electrical outage for all of Crimea, but the power grid company Rosseti reported to have fixed the outage in approximately one hour.
  On 28 December 2018, Russia completed a high-tech security fence marking the de facto border between Crimea and Ukraine.
caption: June 2015: Tourists in Crimea with Russian flag flying
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