Permanent Representative of the Russian Federation: Russia deployed 9,000 soldiers to the Crimea in 2014
During the 2014 annexation of Crimea, Russia deployed 9,000 soldiers to the peninsula. This was in addition to the 16,000 Russian soldiers that were already in Crimea at the time. This was reported by Russia's Permanent Representative to the EU, Vladimir Chizhov, during an interview with Deutsche Welle.
Chizhov says that all Russian troops were in Crimea “legally and in accordance with formal agreements with Ukraine”.
“According to the 1997 bilateral agreement between Russia and Ukraine, the Russian Federation obtained the right to have a military presence in Crimea and Sevastopol, the latter being the main base of the Black Sea Fleet of the Russian Federation. The agreement stated that this presence should not exceed 25,000 military personnel,” he explained.
Chizhov is of the opinion that “the key role of the Russian military in Crimea was to provide security for the referendum and for the expression of political will by the local population”.
Crimea was illegally annexed by Russia in March 2014 after a referendum into its political future was held. This referendum was later deemed invalid by the rest of the world.