The Ukraine Crisis
The Crimean crisis resulted in the aftermath of the Ukrainian Revolution. Crimea is a peninsula in the Black Sea, and considered to be a region of Ukraine under Russian occupation by most of the world. On Feb. 21, President Viktor Yanukovych of Ukraine abandoned Kiev, the capital. The following day, Parliament appointed a new President, Oleksandr Turchynov. The new government was accepted by the US and the European Union. However, Russia rejected it and deemed it illegal. Over the course of the next few days, pro-Russian protests were held in Crimean city of Sevastopol. On Feb. 26, pro-Russian forces began to strategize and take over various buildings in Ukraine, with the presence of military personnel and weapons. Citizens began to riot and voiced their desire to secede from Ukraine and re-join Russia. Parliament then voted and dismissed the Crimean government, along with replacing the Prime Minister.
On March 16, there was a referendum held on whether to join Russia, where an overwhelming number of Crimean’s voted for their region to become a part of Russia. The turnout yielded an affirmative vote with 96.77% from Crimea and 95.6% from Sevastopol, but it was condemned by the US, European Union, and Ukraine, as it seemed to violate Ukraine’s international law and constitution, as well as being illegal since it was held under Russian military occupation with reports of intimidation. The next day, the Crimean Parliament declared independence from Ukraine and on March 18 Russia issued a treaty accepting the Republic of Crimea and Sevastopol as a part of Russia. As of today, there aren’t any signs that Crimea will return to Ukraine. The European Union and US have both inflicted economic permits on Russia to show their disapproval.