RUSSIA: Thousands of Russians come to Red Square to celebrate annexation of Crimea

Record ID: 214443

  • Title: RUSSIA: Thousands of Russians come to Red Square to celebrate annexation of Crimea
  • Date: 18th March 2014
  • Summary: VARIOUS OF PEOPLE SINGING RUSSIAN NATIONAL ANTHEM ON RED SQUARE, THEN CHEERING
  • Embargoed: 2nd April 2014 13:00
  • Keywords:
  • Location: Russian Federation
  • Country: Russia
  • Topics: General,Politics
  • Reuters ID: LVA6XHW42JE5F00VE0YTTS5CLSKF
  • Story Text: Thousands of Muscovites gathered under the Kremlin walls on Red Square on Tuesday (March 18) for a concert celebrating the signing of a treaty that makes the Ukrainian region of Crimea part of Russia.
    Earlier on Tuesday, Russian President Vladimir Putin signed a treaty with Crimean authorities making Crimea part of Russia again.
    To celebrate the historical event of Crimea's return to "home port", as Putin put it speaking on the Red Square stage, the authorities kicked a flag-waving rally in Red Square beneath the walls of the Kremlin, near where Soviet politburo leaders once took the salute at Communist May Day parades.
    Thousands of people - according to the Interior Ministry, there were 110,000, but much less according to other independent reports - came with pro-Putin banners and chanted slogans, repeating "Sevastopol, Crimea, Russia."
    Putin ?ame on stage to tell the crowd that the Ukrainian region of Crimea was finally returning home, after the Sunday (March 16) referendum, held under Russian military occupation, showed a 97-percent of its residents voted to secede from Ukraine. He concluded his speech on Red Square by shouting "Glory to Russia".
    Although the process of annexing is not formally complete yet, and the parliament is expected to begin ratifying the treaty within days, people took it as a done deal.
    "We are rallying, we are so happy that Crimea is ours, we are very very very very happy. We came here, we love everyone!" said Kesniya.
    Another Moscow resident, Tatyana, born in Sevastopol, came to the rally just to confirm Putin's words.
    "I'm overwhelmed now because my birthplace as listed in my passport is Sevastopol. My mother and father are there now, all my relatives are there now, they are so happy, and starting from the 16th of March there was nothing but celebration. Everybody is celebrating! Crimea is celebrating, Russia is celebrating. Big thanks to Putin! The history has been returned on the track it should be following," she said.
    Sevastopol, in Crimea, is home to Russia's Black Sea Fleet, which Russian forces took control of in late February following the toppling of Moscow-backed Ukrainian President Viktor Yanukovich by a protest movement sparked by his decision to spurn a far-reaching trade deal with the European Union last November and seek closer ties with Russia.
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