DISINFO: Crimea became Russian after a 95% “in favour” referendum
SUMMARY
Ukraine's Crimea became a Russian territory after a popular referendum was held there in March 2014, and more than 95% of the region's population voted in favour of entering under Russia's sovereignty, while Kyiv still claims that Crimea is part of its "temporarily occupied" territory.
Moscow has repeatedly said that the reunification between Russia and the peninsula (which entered the formation of the Ukrainian Soviet Republic in 1954, according to a decision taken by then-Soviet leader Nikita Khrushchev, for economic and administrative considerations) took place in strict accordance with international law and the Charter of the United Nations. The issue of Crimea had been permanently resolved.
RESPONSE
Recurring pro-Kremlin disinformation narratives about the illegal annexation of Crimea, claiming that it voted to rejoin Russia through a legal referendum.
Crimea is an internationally recognised part of Ukraine. Іn 1997, by signing the Friendship Agreement with Ukraine, Russia also recognised that Crimea belongs to Ukraine.
The so-called referendum that was organised hastily and at gunpoint following the covert invasion of “little green men” and barring impartial observers from entering the peninsula can hardly be called "reunification in strict accordance with all the norms of international law".
The referendum offered two choices: join Russia or return to Crimea’s 1992 constitution, which gave the peninsula significant autonomy. Those who favoured Crimea remaining part of Ukraine under the current constitution had no box to check.
Local authorities reported a turnout of 83%, with 96.7% voting to join Russia. The numbers seemed implausible, given that ethnic Ukrainians and Crimean Tatars accounted for almost 40% of the peninsula’s population. (Two months later, a leaked report from the Russian president’s Human Rights Council put turnout at only 30%, with about half of those voting to join Russia.)
No international body recognises the so-called referendum in Crimea. The UN General Assembly adopted a resolution entitled “Territorial integrity of Ukraine”, stating that the referendum in Crimea was not valid and could not serve as a basis for any change in the status of the peninsula. On 17 December 2018, the UN General Assembly confirmed its non-recognition of the illegal annexation of Crimea.
Even Vladimir Putin, the President of Russia, recognised on 17 April 2015 that "our soldiers were deployed in Crimea to help the inhabitants express their opinion." Vladimir Putin admitted (and was proud of) that the plan to annex Crimea was ordered weeks before the so-called referendum.
The European Union does not recognise and continues to strongly condemn this violation of international law, which remains a challenge to the international security order. In response to the illegal annexation of Crimea, the EU has imposed restrictive measures against the Russian Federation. In June 2021, the European Council decided to renew the sanctions introduced in response to the illegal annexation of Crimea and Sevastopol by the Russian Federation until 23 June 2022.
Check previous disinformation narratives in our database alleging that the EU has accepted Crimea's incorporation into Russia and that the Crimean people chose to be with Russia through the democratic procedure; or that annexing of Crimea didn’t really happen, it was a reunification; or that Crimea never belonged to Ukraine; or that it is impossible to recognize the annexation of Crimea because it never happened.