DISINFO: Crimeans made a conscious choice to return to Russia in 2014
SUMMARY
In March 2014, Crimeans made a conscious choice in favour of exercising the right to return to their homeland, speak their native language, develop their own culture, and respect their history and traditions.
The dramatic events in Ukraine shows that reunification with Russia is the only correct and possible step for the Crimeans, fully corresponding to the historical process' logic and the fundamental interests of the peninsula's inhabitants.
RESPONSE
Recurring pro-Kremlin disinformation narrative about the illegal annexation of Crimea.
In 2014, Russian troops obliged the parliament of Crimea to organise a referendum, which was illegitimate under international law, and then illegally annexed the peninsula and brought it under Russian territorial control. The annexation has been condemned by the UN, stating that the referendum in Crimea was not valid and could not serve as a basis for any change in the status of the peninsula.
Following the covert invasion by “little green men,” the referendum in Crimea was conducted hastily and at gunpoint, barring impartial observers from entering the peninsula.
A year after the illegal annexation, Russian President Vladimir 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 cases claiming that Crimea rejoined Russia as a result of a popular referendum, that Ukraine, USA and the EU recognised the reunification of Crimea with Russia, and that Crimea voted to secede after the coup in Kyiv.