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Russia celebrates 9th anniversary of Crimean Spring

President Vladimir Putin is to take part in celebrations marking the reunification of Crimea with Russia

March 18. /TASS/. The ninth anniversary of the reunification of Crimea and Sevastopol with Russia will be celebrated on Saturday on the peninsula and in other regions of the country. On this occasion festive concerts, patriotic and charity events will be held in support of participants in the special military operation in Ukraine.

President Vladimir Putin is to take part in celebrations marking the reunification of Crimea with Russia. As his press secretary Dmitry Peskov told reporters, an important cultural and historical object will be opened on the peninsula that day. The head of state is expected to join the ceremony via video link.

The day before, the President's work schedule was partly devoted to the same topic. On Friday, Putin held a meeting on the socio-economic development of Crimea and Sevastopol.

The head of state traditionally takes part in festive events on March 18. In previous years, he attended concerts dedicated to this date in the Luzhniki stadium in Moscow, chaired meetings related to the development of the region and visited the Crimea.

About Crimean Spring

Nine years ago, the republic of Crimea and the city of Sevastopol returned to Russia after a referendum was held on March 16, 2014 amid a coup in Ukraine.

In the end, 96.77% of the voters (1.233 million) in Crimea and 95.6% (262,000 in Sevastopol) backed reunification with Russia. In Crimea, the turnout reached 83.1% and in Sevastopol, 89.5%. The referendum was monitored by a group of 50 observers from 21 countries, including Israel, France and Italy. Most of the UN member-states refused to recognize the plebiscite.

On March 17, Russian President Vladimir Putin signed a decree to recognize Crimea as a sovereign and independent state.

On March 18, 2014 Russian President Vladimir Putin, Crimea’s Prime Minister Sergey Aksyonov, chairman of Crimea’s State Council Vladimir Konstantinov and Mayor of Sevastopol Aleksey Chaly, put their signatures to the treaty on the accession of the new territorial entities to the Russian Federation. On March 21, 2014, the document was ratified by the Federal Assembly.

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