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Putin to visit Crimea, Sevastopol on March 18

In Sevastopol, the president will visit the 1854-1855 city memorial complex and the 1944 Malakhov Kurgan

Russian President Vladimir Putin Alexey Nikolsky/Russia's presidential press-service/TASS

Russian President Vladimir Putin

© Alexey Nikolsky/Russia's presidential press-service/TASS

MOSCOW, March 17. /TASS/. Russian President Vladimir Putin will visit Crimea and Sevastopol on March 18, the Kremlin press service said on Sunday.

"The head of state will take part in a ceremony of commissioning the Balaklavskya thermal power station and also the Tavricheskaya thermal power station and the Port substation in Taman through a video link-up," the Kremlin press service said.

In Sevastopol, the president will visit the 1854-1855 city memorial complex and the 1944 Malakhov Kurgan.

On the same day, Putin is due to meet in Simferopol with members of the public of Crimea and Sevastopol and attend festive events dedicated to celebrating the fifth anniversary of the 2014 Crimean referendum and its reunification with Russia.

The Republic of Crimea and Sevastopol, a city with a special status on the Crimean Peninsula where most residents are ethnic Russians, refused to recognize the legitimacy of the authorities that came to power amid riots during the February 2014 coup in Ukraine.

Crimea and Sevastopol adopted declarations of independence on March 11, 2014. They held a referendum on March 16, 2014, in which 96.7% of Crimeans and 95.6% of Sevastopol voters chose to secede from Ukraine and join the Russian Federation. President Vladimir Putin signed the reunification treaty on March 18, 2014.

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