MOSCOW, March 18 (NNN-AGENCIES) – Russia on Monday will mark the fifth anniversary of Moscow’s annexation of Crimea from Ukraine, condemned by the West but celebrated by most Russians.
President Vladimir Putin will take part in celebrations in the Black Sea
peninsula, where he is also due to launch a new power station, the Kremlin
said.
Moscow’s 2014 takeover of Crimea was denounced by Kiev and the West as an annexation and led to sanctions against Russia, but it resulted in a major
boost of Putin’s popularity at the time.
In Russia, March 18 has been officially proclaimed as the “Day of Crimea’s
Reunification with Russia”.
In Moscow, city authorities have thrown a street festival called “Crimean
Spring” that hosts jazz concerts, cooking workshops and a photography
exhibition a stone’s throw from the Kremlin.
Up to 10,000 people are expected to take part in a flash mob in the Moscow
region Monday, dancing to the Soviet-era song “Waltz of Sevastopol” — the
Crimean city home to Russia’s Black Sea fleet.
Hundreds are expected to participate in another flash mob recreating the
Russian flag in the Crimean seaside resort Yalta.
“For us, the question of Crimea is decided forever,” Russian foreign
ministry spokeswoman Maria Zakharova said several days before the
anniversary.
“This is because its reunification with Russia was the result of the free
will of the peninsula’s people in a referendum,” she added.
The March 2014 referendum, held by Crimean authorities, was not recognised internationally.
Putin signed a treaty with representatives from Crimea to make it part of
Russia two days after the unrecognised vote, on March 18, 2014.
Ukraine and much of the international community condemned the move as a violation of international law.
Last week, the United States, Canada and the European Union slapped new
sanctions on more than a dozen Russian officials and businesses in response to Moscow’s “continued aggression in Ukraine”.
“All these five years there has been an atmosphere of both open and hidden
terror against the people of Crimea and international law,” Ukrainian Foreign Minister Pavlo Klimkin said. — NNN-AGENCIES