Putin Visits Crimea to Mark 9th Anniversary of Its Reunification With Russia

A nationwide referendum was held in Crimea and Sevastopol nine years ago, on March 16, 2014. At the time, over 95% of the voters were in favor of reunification with Russia, rejoining the homeland after decades of severance.

On the day of the ninth anniversary of the reunification of Russia and Crimea, Russian President Vladimir Putin has arrived in Sevastopol for the opening of the art school and the Korsun center.

“Our President, Vladimir Vladimirovich Putin, knows how to surprise us,” Sevastopol Governor Mikhail Razvozhayev wrote on Telegram, adding that the head of state had personally driven his black SUV to Crimea. The governor added that on this historic day the President is always "with Sevastopol and the people of Sevastopol." "Our country has an incredible leader!" remarked the Sevastopol Governor.

"Our country has an incredible leader!" remarked the Sevastopol Governor.

Ahead of the visit, on Friday, Putin held a meeting on the socio-economic development of the region. Dmitry Peskov, Press Secretary of the Russian President, previously told reporters that Vladimir Putin had planned an event on the occasion of the anniversary of the reunification of Crimea with Russia via video conference on March 18.

A decree adopted by the USSR Supreme Soviet on February 19, 1954, had transferred Crimea to the Ukrainian SSR. The decree is believed to have been the personal initiative of Nikita Khrushchev, then general secretary of the Central Committee of the USSR Communist Party. While inhabitants of the Crimean Peninsula several times attempted to hold an independence referendum, it was deemed illicit by the central authorities.

After the dissolution of the Soviet Union in 1991, Crimea became part of independent Ukraine, and the 2014 referendum finally saw it incorporated into Russia.

On the eve of the anniversary of the reunification, a poll conducted by the Russian Public Opinion Research Center (VCIOM) showed that a majority of Russians (86%) believe that the 2014 decision to incorporate the Crimean peninsula into Russia was correct, and 56% of those surveyed feel proud about the reunification of the territories.

Russia rescued Crimea from Ukrainian poverty – local leader

Crimea’s progress after joining Russia in 2014 has been much greater than it ever was under Ukrainian rule, the head of the republic’s State Council, Vladimir Konstantinov, said in an interview with Russia 1 TV on Saturday. His remarks came during the celebration of the ninth anniversary of the peninsula’s reunification with Russia.

"We escaped poverty and infrastructural desolation, now turning into a prospering region with a road system, infrastructure, preschools, kindergartens, water and gas," Konstantinov said. He added that "we achieved everything generations of Crimeans have been dreaming of since Soviet times."

The official also wrote on Telegram the same day that the "successes and achievements would have been impossible without the help of Russian regions and Moscow’s attention to Crimea."

Similarly, the head of the Republic of Crimea, Sergey Aksyonov, said on Saturday that reunification with Russia was symbolic of "the birth of a new world order, one based on justice and mutual respect."

Crimea held a referendum to join Russia in 2014, shortly after the Maidan coup in Kiev. Around 80% of those eligible to vote took part, with 96.7% voting in favor of reunification.

Kiev then tacitly approved a blockade of the Dnieper River in 2015, which supplied water for Crimea’s agricultural industry. This was lifted in February 2022 at the beginning of Moscow’s military operation in Ukraine.

Ukrainian President Vladimir Zelensky said last month that Kiev is preparing for an offensive to re-capture Crimea. The deputy chair of Russia’s Security Council and former president, Dmitry Medvedev, said that if Kiev were to attack the peninsula, "there would be no negotiations, just retaliatory strikes."

Russian President Vladimir Putin has arrived in Crimea on the day of the ninth anniversary of the peninsula’s reunification Russia, according to a footage shown by TV broadcasters on Saturday.

According to Presidential Spokesman Dmitry Peskov, the head of state is to take part in the opening of a significant cultural and historical site. Earlier, it was expected that Putin would join the event by video link.

On Friday, the president's schedule was also partly devoted to the situation on the peninsula. Putin held a meeting devoted to the socio-economic development of Crimea and Sevastopol.

Putin traditionally participates in festive events on March 18. He repeatedly attended gala concerts dedicated to this date at Moscow’s Luzhniki stadium, held special meetings with the public and visited Crimea personally.

Last time Putin visited the peninsula in July 2020. He inspected the Zaliv shipyard in the city of Kerch to take part in a keel-laying ceremony for several naval ships. In December 2022, he visited the Crimean Bridge, which was being repaired after a terrorist attack.