DISINFO: Crimea became part of Russia after a referendum on the basis of self-determination of its people

Recurring pro-Kremlin disinformation narrative about the illegal annexation of Crimea by Russia.

Crimea is an internationally recognised part of Ukraine. Іn 1997, by signing the Friendship Agreement with Ukraine, Russia also recognised that Crimea belongs to Ukraine.

In the 1991 Crimea sovereignty referendum, there was no mention of an option to return to Russia. Voters were asked whether they wanted to re-establish the Crimean Autonomous Soviet Socialist Republic or not.

94% of voters supported the proposal by favouring being part of a newly independent Ukraine, and the Supreme Council of Ukrainian SSR established the autonomous Crimean Republic within the territory of Ukraine. On May 6 1996, the newly adopted (in Crimea) Crimean Constitution was amended to identify Crimea as part of Ukraine (albeit a highly autonomous part). After Ukraine adopted a new constitution in 1996, Crimea maintained its autonomy. Crimea has its own parliament and government.

It is true, that by Article 138 of the Ukrainian constitution - "The competence of the Autonomous Republic of Crimea comprises: 1) designating elections of deputies to the Verkhovna Rada of the Autonomous Republic of Crimea... 2) organising and conducting local referendums.

Regarding the so-called 2014 referendum, it was organised hastily and at gunpoint following the Russian covert invasion of “little green men” and barring impartial observers from entering the peninsula".

The referendum offered two choices: join Russia or return to Crimea’s 1992 constitution, which gave the peninsula significant autonomy. Those who favoured Crimea remaining part of Ukraine under the current constitution had no box to check.

Local authorities reported a turnout of 83%, with 96.7% voting to join Russia. The numbers seemed implausible, given that ethnic Ukrainians and Crimean Tatars accounted for almost 40% of the peninsula’s population. (Two months later, a leaked report from the Russian president’s Human Rights Council put turnout at only 30%, with about half of those voting to join Russia.)

Vladimir Putin, the President of Russia, recognised on 17 April 2015 that "our soldiers were deployed in Crimea to help the inhabitants express their opinion." Putin admitted that the plan to annex Crimea was ordered weeks before the so-called referendum.

No international body has recognised the so-called referendum, which was organised by a self-proclaimed Crimean leadership lacking democratic legitimacy and installed by armed Russian military personnel following the seizure of public buildings. The Office of the Prosecutor of the International Criminal Court has stated that “the situation within the territory of Crimea and Sevastopol amounts to an international armed conflict between Ukraine and the Russian Federation. This international armed conflict began at the latest on 26 February 2014 when the Russian Federation deployed members of its armed forces to gain control over parts of the Ukrainian territory without the consent of the Ukrainian Government."

On 17 December 2018, the UN General Assembly confirmed its non-recognition of the illegal annexation of Crimea. The EU's policy of non-recognition of the illegal annexation of Crimea and Sevastopol includes a set of restrictive measures against entities and individuals responsible for actions against Ukraine's territorial integrity.

Read similar disinformation cases alleging that the EU has accepted Crimea's incorporation into Russia and that The Crimean people chose to be with Russia through the democratic procedure, that Crimea never belonged to Ukraine, that Crimea’s reunification with Russia was legal that Crimea is a Russian sovereign regionand that Crimean referendum and secession from Ukraine fully complied with Article 138 of the Constitution of Ukraine.

See also our infographic that summarises numerous pro-Kremlin disinformation narratives covering the illegal annexation.