Topic summary
2014 Russian annexation of Crimea
Based in Crimea,
elements of
Navy
- 510th Naval Inf Bde (Feodosiia)
- 810th Naval Inf Bde (Simferopol)
Deployed to Crimea, elements of
Ground Forces
- 18th Mot Rifle Bde (Grozny)
- 291st Artillery Bde (Troitskaya)
(GRU command)
- 3rd Spetsnaz Bde (Tolyatti)
- 10th Spetsnaz Bde (Krasnodar)
- 16th Spetsnaz Bde (Tambov)
- 22nd Spetsnaz Bde (Stepnoy)
- 25th Spetsnaz Rgt (Stavropol)
- 45th Spetsnaz Rgt
(Kubinka, Moscow)
Airborne
- 7th Air Assault Div (Novorossiysk)
- 31st Air Assault Bde
(Ulyanovsk)
Navy
- 382nd Naval Inf Bn (Temryuk)
- 727th Naval Inf Bn (Astrakhan)
Special Operations Forces
- SOF Command (Prokhladny)
Armed forces
Navy
- 36th Coastal Def Bde (at Perevalne)
- 1st Naval Inf Bn (Feodosiia)
- 56th Gds Bn (Sevastopol)
- 501st Naval Inf Bn (Kerch)
- 406th Artillery Bde (Simferopol)
- 37th Comms and Control Rgt (Sevastopol)
- 72nd Psychological and Information Warfare Center
Paramilitary
Interior troops
- 9th Bde (Simferopol)
- 15th Bn (Yevpatoriia)
- 18th Spec Mot Militia Bn (Haspra)
- 42nd Operational Rgt (Sevastopol)
- 47th Bde (Feodosiia)
Border guards
- Special-Purpose Border Guard Bn (Yalta)
Protesters
- 20,000 (Sevastopol)
- 10,000 (Simferopol)
Volunteer units
- 5,000 (Sevastopol)
- 1,700 (Simferopol)
Russian military forces
- 20,000–30,000 troops
Protesters
- 4,000–10,000 (Simferopol)
Ukrainian military forces
- 5,000–22,000 troops
- 40,000 reservists, partly mobilised (outside Crimea)
- 2 soldiers killed
- 60–80 soldiers detained
- 9,268 military servicemen and 7,050 civilian employees defected
In February and March 2014, Russia invaded the Crimean Peninsula, part of Ukraine, and then annexed it. This took place in the relative power vacuum immediately following the Revolution of Dignity. It marked the beginning of the Russo-Ukrainian war.
The events in Kyiv that ousted Ukrainian president Viktor Yanukovych on 22 February 2014 sparked both pro-Russian and anti-separatism demonstrations in Crimea. At the same time, Russian president Vladimir Putin told his security chiefs to begin work on "returning Crimea to Russia". On 27 February, Russian special forces without insignia seized strategic sites across Crimea. Russia at first denied involvement, but Putin later admitted that they were Russian troops. As the armed men occupied Crimea's parliament, it dismissed the Crimean government, installed the pro-Russian Aksyonov government, and announced a referendum on Crimea's status. The referendum was held under Russian occupation and, according to the Russian-installed authorities, the result was overwhelmingly in favor of joining Russia. The next day, 17 March 2014, Crimea's authorities declared independence and requested to join Russia. Russia formally incorporated Crimea on 18 March 2014 as the Republic of Crimea and federal city of Sevastopol. Following the annexation, Russia militarized the peninsula and warned against any outside intervention.
Ukraine and many other countries condemned the annexation and consider it to be a violation of international law and Russian agreements safeguarding the territorial integrity of Ukraine. The annexation led to the other members of the G8 suspending Russia from the group and introducing sanctions. The United Nations General Assembly also rejected the referendum and annexation, adopting a resolution affirming the "territorial integrity of Ukraine within its internationally recognised borders", and referring to the Russian action as a "temporary occupation".
The Russian government opposes the "annexation" label, with Putin defending the referendum as complying with the principle of the self-determination of peoples.