Annexation of Crimea by the Russian Federation Annexation of Crimea by the Russian Federation The Crimean peninsula was annexed from Ukraine by the Russian Federation in February–March 2014 and since then has been administered as two Russian federal subjects—the Republic of Crimea and the federal city of Sevastopol. The annexation was accompanied by a military intervention by Russia in Crimea that took place in the aftermath of the 2014 Ukrainian revolution and was part of wider unrest across southern and eastern Ukraine. On 22–23 February 2014, Russian President Vladimir Putin convened an all-night meeting with security service chiefs to discuss the extrication of deposed Ukrainian President, Viktor
Timeline of the annexation of Crimea by the Russian Federation help of the EW (electronic warfare) complex Avtobaza," and as a result, "the device made an emergency landing and passed into the possession of the [Crimean] self-defense forces almost unbroken." The company further claimed that this is the second U.S. drone to be intercepted over Crimea since the crisis began. The Pentagon subsequently denied Rostec's claims, saying that "there is zero truth" to the reports. A day before the Crimean referendum, tens of thousands of Russian demonstrators held anti-war protests in Moscow opposing Russian military intervention in Ukraine. It was the largest protest in Russia since the 2011–13 Russian protests.