Ten years of occupation of Crimea: how Russia seized the peninsula
20 February 2024 15:20
Ten years ago, on 20 February 2014, Russia occupied the Autonomous Republic of Crimea and the city of Sevastopol. This date is officially recorded in Ukrainian legislation as the beginning of the annexation of the peninsula, which is still under the enemy’s flag. On the anniversary of the occupation of Ukrainian Crimea 
recalled the chronology of the intervention a decade ago.
The events in the south of Ukraine were preceded by the Revolution of Dignity in Kyiv, the struggle of Ukrainian citizens for their rights, which was at its final stage at the time. According to the National Memorial Complex of the Heavenly Hundred Heroes, 107 Ukrainians are officially considered to have died on the capital’s Independence Square. Most of them died of gunshot wounds on 20 February 2014.
It is worth noting that before the open invasion of the peninsula, there was also a covert phase of the Russian occupation of Crimea, which began in January 2014. It was then that the first unmarked trucks appeared on the peninsula, as well as the so-called “little green men” – armed soldiers without insignia. Also, armed mercenary groups of local residents were created and armed, led by officers of the special services and the armed forces of the Russian Federation.
on20 February 2014 , the armed forces of the Russian Federation invaded the territory of the Crimean peninsula. Ukrainian intelligence reported that Russia had deployed air assault units of the 810th Brigade. At the same time, a group of pro-Russian members of the Crimean parliament flew to the State Duma. The then chairman of the Supreme Council of the Crimean peninsula, Vladimir Konstantinov, said that the separation of Crimea should be discussed if “Ukraine disintegrates, which is quite likely”.
The head of the Mejlis of the Crimean Tatar people, Refat Chubarov, reacted to the statement. He stressed that the invasion of the peninsula by Russian security forces is a direct incitement and violation of international law.
According to the Russian authorities, the reason for the occupation of the peninsula was the de facto removal of Viktor Yanukovych from the post of President of Ukraine, who fled the country on the night of 22 February 2014 and left Ukraine for good. Although the Russian authorities claim that the seizure of the peninsula dates back to 22 February 2014, the fact that the occupation began is confirmed by the Russian medal “For the Return of Crimea”, which states that the date of the annexation was 20 February 2014.
on21 February, a rally was held near the Crimean parliament, organised by the Russian Unity party led by Sergei Aksyonov. On the instructions of the Russian leadership, the leader created an armed formation of Russian Cossacks, which called itself the ‘Self-Defence of Crimea’. Its members attacked Crimeans who had come to the parliament building to support the Euromaidan in Kyiv. “The ‘self-defence’ group stated that they would ‘leave only when Crimea secedes from Ukraine’.
At the same time, Crimeans who had participated in the Anti-Maidan (a pro-government movement and a series of rallies in Ukraine in support of the Party of Regions – ed.) “The Crimean branch of the Party of Regions spread information that not all of them had made it to the peninsula. The Russian media, with the assistance of the Party of Regions, reported on seven men killed and “brutal torture suffered by Crimeans” near Korsun-Shevchenkivske in Cherkasy region. The police issued a denial, stating that there were no Crimeans among the dead. However, the media disseminated this information despite the fact that no deaths were recorded as a result of these events, and the names of those killed or missing were not published.
on22 February, the Crimean Berkut returned from Kyiv. There were three dead among the soldiers: one Berkut officer and two internal troops. Crimeans took to the streets of their cities to support Euromaidan. For example, in Kerch, the protesters were attacked, one of the men was kicked by the attackers. On that day, Viktor Yanukovych secretly arrived in Crimea. At the same time, the Verkhovna Rada of Ukraine removed him from power.
on23 February , anti-Ukrainian rallies broke out with renewed vigour. Several thousand people took to the streets of Sevastopol. The protesters expressed their distrust of the city administration and elected a ‘new people’s mayor’, a Russian citizen, Alexei Chaly. After that, there was a demand for a referendum on the secession of the Autonomous Republic from Ukraine, and the first checkpoints and Russian armoured personnel carriers appeared at the entrances to Sevastopol. Military intelligence received reports that a large number of planes with military personnel had landed at the Anapa airfield.
At the same time, a rally was held in Simferopol in honour of the memory of the first Mufti Noman Chelebidzhikhan and in support of pro-European Ukraine, which gathered a much larger number of people than the opponents: about 15,000 Crimeans gathered on the square. At this time, acting Interior Minister Arsen Avakov and MP Valentyn Nalyvaichenko arrived in Simferopol. They found out that Yanukovych had fled.
on24 February, the head of the Sevastopol administration, Vladimir Yatsuba, and the mayor of Yalta, Sergey Ilash, announced their resignations. The entrance to Sevastopol was blocked by Russian armoured personnel carriers. Deputies of the Russian Duma, led by the head of the Committee on CIS Affairs Leonid Slutsky, arrived on the peninsula. The representative of the Russian Federation spoke about Russian passports for Crimeans and emphasised the accelerated accession of Crimea to Russia after the referendum.
on25 February, a separatist rally gathered near the Crimean parliament. The protesters demanded a referendum, refusing to recognise the Ukrainian government. Also, so-called ‘volunteers’ were arriving in Kerch from Russia posing as Crimeans. Fakes about a “train with armed Banderites” were spread during the rally. At the same time, bloggers recorded the Russian military entering one of the Yalta sanatoriums.
The Crimean authorities scheduled an extraordinary session for 26 February. The head of the Mejlis Refat Chubarov said that a number of separatist decisions were planned to be adopted during the session. The Mejlis decided to hold a rally on 26 February to prevent the session from taking place, which could be used to try to legitimise the annexation of the peninsula. On the same day, Russian dictator Vladimir Putin announced an unscheduled inspection of the combat readiness of troops on the border with Ukraine.
on26 February , at the call of the Mejlis, more than 10,000 pro-Ukrainian Crimeans gathered near the Crimean parliament. Participants in the rally included representatives of the Crimean Tatar community, activists of the Euromaidan Crimea movement, members of the Salvation Army NGO, representatives of the Congress of Ukrainian Nationalists, and ultras of the Tavria football club. The activists succeeded in postponing the parliamentary session, which was scheduled to consider the political future of Crimea. However, pro-Russian forces led by Sergei Aksyonov also took to the square. Thus, the two sides clashed on the same platform. Clashes broke out between the participants, during which 30 people were injured. Some of them sustained craniocerebral injuries. Two more people died during the confrontations – a man suffered a heart attack and another woman was trampled by the crowd. On the same day, military units of a separate GRU brigade of the Russian Ministry of Defence arrived in Crimea from the Russian city of Togliatti. Also, Russian military trucks with conscripts serving in the Black Sea Fleet arrived at the Yalta military sanatorium of the Russian Black Sea Fleet.
On the night of 27 February, armed Russian special forces from Russia’s Main Intelligence Directorate seized the Verkhovna Rada and the Crimean government in Simferopol. They were armed with assault rifles, machine guns and grenade launchers. Since 27 February 2014, the Russian flag has been flying over the buildings of the structures. The centre of Simferopol was blocked by law enforcement officers, and public transport was restricted.
Under pressure from the Russian military, the Crimean parliament held a meeting. After that, the government of Anatoly Mogilev, the head of the Council of Ministers of the Autonomous Republic of Crimea, was dismissed. The leader of the Russian Unity party, Sergei Aksyonov, was appointed as the new ‘prime minister’. The new so-called parliament announced that it plans to hold a referendum on the status of Crimea. Aksyonov took control of the security forces and turned to Putin for help. The Russian military occupied block posts on the Perekop Isthmus and Chongar, blocked entrances and exits to Crimea by land, seized the Belbek airport in Sevastopol and stopped the ferry service in Kerch.
on28 February , the occupiers blocked Ukrainian military units on the peninsula without insignia. In early March, military units and strategic enterprises were seized.
on11 March 2014, the illegally formed Verkhovna Rada of Crimea and the Sevastopol City Council adopted an illegal declaration of “independence” of the Autonomous Republic of Crimea and the city of Sevastopol. The declaration stipulated that the Crimean peninsula would become part of the Russian Federation following a “referendum”.
on16 March , the so-called “referendum” on the status of Crimea was held in violation of the Constitution of Ukraine, .
on18 March, the Kremlin signed an illegal “Treaty on the Accession of Crimea to Russia”. It was signed by President Vladimir Putin, the occupying Prime Minister of Crimea Aksyonov, the head of the occupying “State Council” of Crimea Konstantinov and a representative of the occupying leadership of Sevastopol, Oleg Chaly.
Russia’s occupation of the Crimean peninsula has provoked a worldwide reaction. Thus, Russia was stripped of its membership in the Group of Eight (G8). The United States and the European Union also introduced a plan of sanctions against Russia. NATO suspended any practical military cooperation with Russia and stopped planning a joint mission.
on 27 March 2014, the 68th session of the UN General Assembly adopted a resolution in support of Ukraine’s territorial integrity. 100 countries voted in favour, 11 against, and 58 abstained.
on 26 February 2020, President Volodymyr Zelenskyy signed a decree establishing 26 February as the Day of Resistance to the Occupation of the Autonomous Republic of Crimea and the City of Sevastopol as an annual commemorative date in Ukraine.
Author: Yelyzaveta Nesvit
