MOSCOW, March 11. /TASS/. The legitimacy of the referendum held in Crimea in March 2014 is impeccable, from the legal point of view it has been verified down to the details, Crimean Deputy Prime Minister and Permanent Representative to the Russian President Georgy Muradov told TASS.

"From the legal point of view, the legitimacy of the referendum was an impeccable act, verified down to the last detail. I would like to remind you that at that time there were illegitimate authorities in Kiev, there was no president, and the constitution of the country was actually trampled. Crimea had every right to vote on its future in accordance with both the Ukrainian Constitution and the Crimean Constitution," he said.

Muradov pointed out that the absence of violations and the legality of the voting process were also beyond doubt. "The arguments of the West that Russian troops were introduced into Crimea at that moment do not correspond to reality. Our Black Sea Fleet base has been there for centuries with the number of troops established under the treaty with Ukraine. <...> All of them confirmed that there were no violations and, moreover, no interference of the Russian servicemen," the senior Crimean official explained.

After Ukrainian President Viktor Yanukovich (in office in 2010-2014 - TASS) was ousted in a violent coup in Kiev in February 2014, mass protests began in Crimea and eastern Ukraine. On March 11, 2014, Crimea’s Supreme Council and the Sevastopol City Council adopted a declaration of independence.

On March 16, 2014, a referendum was held on the peninsula’s reunification with Russia. Over 80% of voters participated in the plebiscite, the overwhelming majority of whom supported reunification (96.7% in Crimea and 95.6% in Sevastopol). On March 18, 2014, Russian President Vladimir Putin signed a treaty on the admission of Crimea and Sevastopol to Russia, and on March 21, the document was ratified by the Federal Assembly (full parliament). Despite the convincing results of the referendum, reflecting the clear will of the local population, Kiev has refused to recognize Crimea as part of Russia.