On 16 March, over 93% of Crimea’s citizens voted in favour of joining the Russian Federation.  Just two days later, Crimea's Prime Minister, the parliamentary speaker and Russian President Vladimir Putin signed a treaty annexing Crimea to the Federation.

Ukraine’s military bases were promptly occupied by Russian or pro-Russian forces. The takeover was mostly peaceful, except for the storming of the Belbek airbase, where gunfire and explosions erupted between Russian and Ukrainian troops. Kiev acknowledged defeat and evacuated its forces and their families from Crimea on 24 March.  

While Putin defended the voting of Ukraine’s southern province, the European Union and the United States of America condemned the referendum and the repatriation as illegal. The US responded by prohibiting the entry of about 40 Ukrainian and Russian officials and freezing their assets. Similar sanctions were imposed by the EU but focusing on some 33 persons.

Japan and a number of western countries agreed on cancelling this year’s G-8 summit in Sochi and suspended the G-8 format as long as Russia further continued its current political actions. The G-7 leaders met already on 24 March and scheduled a common summit for summer, to be held in Brussels.

Meanwhile, the Ukrainian capital is preparing for the general presidential elections on 25 May.