Medal "For the Return of Crimea" its "homing" to Russia two days before Yanukovych's removal from power and his resignation from the post of the President of Ukraine can be considered as an indirect proof that Russia launched its operation against Ukraine of seizing Crimean peninsula on February 20, 2014. Medal "For the Return of Crimea" The Medal "For the Return of Crimea" () is a Russian campaign medal of the Ministry of Defense of the Russian Federation. The existence of the awards was also confirmed by Yaroslav Roshchupkin, an employee of the Central Military press service. The medal was awarded to military and civilian personnel
Timeline of the annexation of Crimea by the Russian Federation Crimean parliament officially declared its independence from Ukraine and requested full accession to the Russian Federation, thus ending Crimea's 60 years as a Ukrainian territory. Obama declared sanctions on 11 Ukrainian and Russian official considered responsible for the crisis. Markets surged as investor worries faded after the referendum passed without violence. The Dow Jones Industrial Average increased by nearly 1%. Abkhazia, Nagorno-Karabakh, Russia, and South Ossetia officially recognize the independence of Crimea. The dead body of Reşat Ametovyaky, an ethnic Crimean Tartar, was found in the Belogorskiy Region of Crimea. He disappeared on his way to the recruitment office on