Aksyonov: Crimea has become an unassailable fortress after its reunification with Russia
In an interview with National Public Radio, the Head of the Crimea, Sergey Aksyonov, stated that after the Crimea’s accession to Russia, the peninsula became “an unassailable fortress”.
“The Crimea will never return to Ukraine and it is useless to impose any conditions to achieve this,” Aksyonov said.
He noted that the Crimea has become “an unassailable fortress” and faces no military threats.
The Crimea peninsula was annexed by the Russian Federation in March 2014 by the deployment of camouflage-clad “green men” who did not wear any insignia or other marks on their uniforms but later were recognized as Russian troops. In the same month, there was a ‘referendum’ held in the peninsula, the results of which lead to the annexation of the Crimea by Russia. Ukraine does not recognize the results of the referendum and considers the peninsula "a temporarily occupied territory".
The Kremlin has faced international condemnation for its annexation of the Peninsula, leading many western countries to impose economic sanctions against Russia. In the United Nations, only Afghanistan, North Korea, Cuba, Nicaragua, Venezuela, and Syria recognize Crimea as a legitimate federal subject of Russia.