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 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