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
Annexation of Crimea by the Russian Federation breakaway republic into Russia. On same day, the "de facto" Supreme Council renamed itself the State Council of Crimea, declared the Russian ruble an official currency alongside the hryvnia, and announced that Crimea would switch to Moscow Time () on 30 March. Putin officially recognised the Republic of Crimea 'as a sovereign and independent state' by decree and approved the admission of the Republic of Crimea and Sevastopol as separate federal subjects of Russia. The Treaty on Accession of the Republic of Crimea to Russia was signed between representatives of the Republic of Crimea (including Sevastopol, with which the rest