Annexation of Crimea by the Russian Federation Yanukovych. At the end of the meeting Putin remarked that "we must start working on returning Crimea to Russia". On 23 February, pro-Russian demonstrations were held in the Crimean city of Sevastopol. On 27 February masked Russian troops without insignia took over the Supreme Council (parliament) of Crimea, and captured strategic sites across Crimea, which led to the installation of the pro-Russian Aksyonov government in Crimea, the conducting of the Crimean status referendum and the declaration of Crimea's independence on 16 March 2014. Russia formally incorporated Crimea as two federal subjects of the Russian Federation with effect from 18 March
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.