TIMELINE: Crimea, as Russia marks 10th anniversary of its annexation from Ukraine

Record ID: 1772040

  • Title: TIMELINE: Crimea, as Russia marks 10th anniversary of its annexation from Ukraine
  • Date: 22nd February 2024
  • Summary: Crimea, jutting out into the Black Sea and connected to the European mainland by a slender causeway, was part of Russia within the Soviet Union until 1954, when it was handed to Ukraine, also a Soviet Republic, by Stalin's successor Nikita Khrushchev, a Ukrainian. The Crimean port city of Sevastopol, the strategic base for Russia's Black Sea Fleet for more than 200 years and a city of deep emotional resonance for Russians, also joined Ukraine. After the Soviet break-up, Moscow and Kyiv wrangled first over the ownership of the fleet - of which the Kremlin finally took the lion's share. They then argued over the terms by which Russia could continue to use the base at Sevastopol. The two countries agreed on a 20-year renewable lease in 1997. Ukraine's 2001 census showed around 58 percent of Crimea's population were ethnic Russian, 24 percent ethnic Ukrainian and 12 percent Tatars. FOROS, CRIMEA, UKRAINE (FILE - AUGUST 7, 1992) (REUTERS) (4:3) TRACKING SHOT OF ROAD TO FOROS FORMER SOVIET LEADER MIKHAIL GORBACHEV'S HOLIDAY HOME ON THE BLACK SEA SEVASTOPOL (FILE) (REUTERS) (4:3) VARIOUS OF BLACK SEA FLEET WARSHIPS IN SEVASTOPOL
  • Embargoed: 7th March 2024 18:48
  • Keywords: Crimea Pro-Russian separatists Russia Soviet Union Tartars Ukraine annexation
  • Location: VARIOUS LOCATIONS
  • City: VARIOUS LOCATIONS
  • Country: Ukraine
  • Topics: Conflicts/War/Peace,Europe,Military Conflicts
  • Reuters ID: LVA001368019012024RP1
  • Aspect Ratio: 16:9
  • Story Text: contains profane language
    Moscow's troops seized control of Crimean peninsula in 2014 through a covert invasion, and then used it to help launch its full-scale assault on Ukraine on February 24, 2022.
    Russia marks the annexation on March 18, the day President Vladimir Putin formalised it with a treaty in Moscow.
    Kyiv has said it will fight on until it restores its 1991 borders, which include Crimea, and is leading a diplomatic push to devise a peace plan that envisions a full Russian troop withdrawal.
    (Production: Vanessa Romeo, Vitalii Yalahuzian)
  • Copyright Holder: FILE REUTERS (CAN SELL)
  • Copyright Notice: (c) Copyright Thomson Reuters 2024. Open For Restrictions - http://about.reuters.com/fulllegal.asp
  • Usage Terms/Restrictions: None
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