Description

This coin celebrates the entering of Republic of Crimea and the Federal City of Sevastopol into the Russian Federation.

The Crimean Peninsula was annexed from Ukraine by the Russian Federation in February–March 2014 and since then has been administered as two Russian federal subjects—the Republic of Crimea and the federal city of Sevastopol. The annexation followed a military intervention by Russia in Crimea that took place in the aftermath of the 2014 Ukrainian revolution.

A referendum on the status of Crimea was held on March 16, 2014, by the legislature of the Autonomous Republic of Crimea and by the local government of Sevastopol. The referendum requested local populations whether they wanted to join Russia as a federal subject, or if they wanted to restore the 1992 Crimean constitution and Crimea's status as a part of Ukraine. The official result was a 96.77% vote for integration of the region into the Russian Federation with an 83.1% voter turnout. Following the referendum, the Supreme Council of Crimea and Sevastopol City Council declared the independence of the Republic of Crimea from Ukraine and requested to join the Russian Federation.

The referendum is not internationally recognized by most countries. The Russian Federation opposes the "annexation" label, with defending the referendum as complying with the principle of self-determination of peoples.