Annexation of Crimea by the Russian Federation Prime Minister, Dmitry Medvedev, declared that Crimea had been fully integrated into Russia. Until 2016 these new subjects were grouped in the Crimean Federal District. On 8 August 2016, Ukraine reported that Russia had increased its military presence along the demarcation line. In response to this military buildup Ukraine also deployed more troops and resources closer to the border with Crimea. The Pentagon has downplayed a Russian invasion of Ukraine, calling Russian troops along the border a regular military exercise. On 10 August, Russia claimed two servicemen were killed in clashes with Ukrainian commandos, and that Ukrainian servicemen had been
Timeline of the annexation of Crimea by the Russian Federation of secession of Crimea from Ukraine if the situation in the country worsens. The head of Mejlis of the Crimean Tatar People Refat Chubarov criticized the announcement and said that Konstantinov who was in Moscow at the time, openly invited Russian security forces to intervene in Crimean internal politics. The Russian military operation against Ukraine started on this date, according to the inscription on the Medal "For the Return of Crimea", awarded by the Russian Ministry of Defence. A Ukrainian law signed September 2015 designated this as the "date of the start of the temporary occupation". In Simferopol, a pro-Euromaidan