Russia will always remember the success of the March 2014 referendum in Crimea and Sevastopol on reunification, Russian President Vladimir Putin said at the events held on Tuesday to mark the 25th anniversary of the country’s electoral system.
The Russian leader drew attention to the words of a member of the Sevastopol election committee that the local residents will never forget the day of the referendum on reunification with Russia.
‘We will also never forget and the whole of Russia will never forget,” Putin said.
“I’m confident that in the future, when years will pass, people will still recall who did this and who organized this,” the Russian president said, expressing his gratitude to representatives of the Crimean electoral system.
The Republic of Crimea and Sevastopol, a city with a special status on the Crimean Peninsula where most residents are Russians, refused to recognize the legitimacy of the authorities that came to power amid riots during the February 2014 coup in Ukraine.
Crimea and Sevastopol adopted declarations of independence on March 11, 2014. They held a referendum on March 16, 2014, in which 96.77% of Crimeans and 95.6% of Sevastopol voters chose to secede from Ukraine and join the Russian Federation. President Vladimir Putin signed the reunification treaty on March 18, 2014.
