Medal "For the Return of Crimea" its "homing" to Russia two days before Yanukovych's removal from power and his resignation from the post of the President of Ukraine can be considered as an indirect proof that Russia launched its operation against Ukraine of seizing Crimean peninsula on February 20, 2014. Medal "For the Return of Crimea" The Medal "For the Return of Crimea" () is a Russian campaign medal of the Ministry of Defense of the Russian Federation. The existence of the awards was also confirmed by Yaroslav Roshchupkin, an employee of the Central Military press service. The medal was awarded to military and civilian personnel
Reaction of Russian intelligentsia to the 2014 annexation of Crimea film director Mark Zakharov appeared on a petition opposing Russian accession of Crimea, however, he himself denied ever signing it. He stated in an interview that he opposed Russian soldiers being deployed to Ukraine as it reminded him the start of the Afghanistan conflict, however, he also couldn't imagine Russia without Crimea. He also stated that had he been offered to sign a letter supporting the accession, he would've signed it. Director and actor Vladimir Menshov, winner of the Academy Award for Best Foreign Language Film, expressed support of the annexation by stating, "Finally Russia has moved from words to