Political status of Crimea declared their independence from Ukraine as a single united state under the name of "Republic of Crimea". These two entities (Crimea and Sevastopol) were then annexed by Russia, where the Crimean Autonomous Republic became the "Republic of Crimea" as a Russian republic and Sevastopol became a Russian federal city. However, Ukraine and the majority of the international community do not consider the merge, the independence, the referendum, nor the annexation legitimate and still consider both entities as parts of Ukraine. Despite international opinion however, the currency, tax and legal system are all operational under Russian jurisdiction. Ukraine has applied for
Timeline of the annexation of Crimea by the Russian Federation "security [in Crimea] on a temporary basis", he said. All commanders are to obey his orders or "resign". Akysonov also announced that the date of the self-sovereignty referendum was moved up to 30 March. Protests against the new authorities in Kiev and in support of Russians in Crimea occurred throughout Eastern and Southern Ukraine on March 1. On March 1, the interim president of Ukraine, Turchynov, signed a decree declaring the appointment of Sergei Aksyonov as the head of the government of Crimea to be unconstitutional. Russian President Vladimir Putin formally asked the Federation Council for permission to "use the