— Ten years ago, Crimea and Sevastopol became part of the Russian Federation. What significance do you think this event had for our country? How did you personally react to it then and how do you evaluate it today?
Director, film actor, People's Artist of the RSFSR, Hero of Labor of the Russian Federation Nikita Mikhalkov:
— I never considered Crimea to be non-Russian.
And for me, in principle, the transfer of Crimea to Ukraine did not matter at all.
It was like moving a handkerchief from one pocket to another.
An absolutely symbolic action.
As they say, changing the places of the terms does not change the sum.
Crimea remained mine, just as the Far East was mine, as the Baltic states or any of the republics where I visited: Kazakhstan, Uzbekistan, Georgia were mine.
In 1954 I was nine years old.
I had no understanding or awareness that Crimea was leaving my country.
I think that no one in the Soviet Union had this awareness.
The fact that you came to Crimea and saw inscriptions in Ukrainian did not bother you at all either.
In Georgia there were inscriptions in the Georgian language, but still it all remained a single whole.
For me, the departure of Crimea began with the collapse of the Union.
I am absolutely sure that in Belovezhskaya Pushcha all issues could have been resolved, and not only those related to Crimea.
But the then leadership decided differently.
They were in a hurry to report to the American president that the country was collapsed.
Crimea has always been Russian.
And, of course, in light of what happened after 1991, I consider the return of Crimea to be the greatest event in the history of our country and in the series of Putin’s actions.
The tenth anniversary of reunification with Russia is a significant event, although Crimea’s ownership of Russia and Crimea’s connection with Russia go back a thousand years.
Referendum on the status of Crimea, March 16, 2014
AP
© Vadim Ghirda
Head of the “A Just Russia” faction in the State Duma of the Russian Federation Sergei Mironov:
“The scale of this event is, without exaggeration, historical; this was clear ten years ago.
The reunification of Crimea with Russia did not simply reflect the will of a single people divided by artificial borders, it reflected the beginning of the revival of our country - a country with a glorious past, enormous potential in the present and a great future.
It is no coincidence that it was then that the West officially adopted a strategy to contain Russia - it was a recognition of our growing power.
They couldn’t and won’t be able to contain us!
I am proud to have become one of the participants in those events and a witness to the historical choice of the people of Crimea and Sevastopol.
At the end of February 2014, on behalf of Russian President Vladimir Putin, I visited these regions.
I met with our military, with the head of Sevastopol Alexei Chaly and the current leader of the Republic of Crimea Sergei Aksenov.
What struck me most then was the reaction of people.
When I left the Sevastopol administration building early in the morning, a crowd of about 300 people was waiting for me. People were waiting for news: what will Russia do?
Will she take Crimeans and Sevastopol residents under protection after neo-Nazis come to power in Kyiv?
And I told them what I already knew: “Russia is with you!
Russia will not leave you!”
I will never forget the tears of joy and happiness on people’s faces.
I no longer had any doubts about the outcome of the referendum.
This year, at the beginning of March, that is, ten years after those events, I visited Crimea and Sevastopol again.
Everyone is grateful, everyone remembers these years that passed in one breath.
And, of course, people are convinced that the decision they made then was correct.
I heard a lot of words of gratitude, appreciation and pride for how the Crimean land is changing, how beautiful, comfortable and cozy it is becoming in Crimea, Sevastopol and in Russia in general.
I'm sure this is just the beginning.
Russia is being reborn, there will be Russia!
Sevastopol, March 16, 2014
AP
© Andrew Lubimov
People's Artist of Russia, poet Ilya Reznik:
— I reacted to the annexation of Crimea to Russia, like our entire country, with great joy.
The huge percentage of those who voted in the referendum for returning to Russia speaks of the triumph of historical justice.
The event was long-awaited.
It became a great holiday both for Crimea and for all of Russia.
Everything fell into place.
Deputy of the State Duma of the Russian Federation, Deputy Chairman of the Central Committee of the Communist Party of the Russian Federation Dmitry Novikov:
“It’s no coincidence that they say: “Russians don’t abandon their own.”
Although Crimea found itself outside of Russia in 1991, it was Russian in its mentality, culture, and language—people found themselves in a strange situation.
But in the 1990s and early 2000s it was still tolerable: the border was easily crossed, it was perceived as a kind of formality.
But when outright neo-Nazis came to power, and Banderaism turned into state policy, anti-fascist people, of course, could not tolerate this.
The fact that the Crimeans were able to find unity with their real Motherland Russia is an outstanding historical fact.
On behalf of the Communist Party faction, I welcomed him.
Previously, we did everything we could to make this possible.
Even before the reunification of Crimea with Russia, a common team of Russian and Ukrainian communists came to Feodosia and held protests, pushing out American paratroopers who had come for training.
They had to go home.
TASS General Director and TV presenter Andrey Kondrashov:
— It is not Crimea that has returned to Russia, as is commonly said, it is Russia that has returned to its roots and its origins.
Ten years ago, we turned into a completely different country, which took a completely new look at its future.
Member of the Federation Council Committee on Constitutional Legislation and State Building, representative in the Federation Council from the executive body of state power of the Republic of Crimea Olga Kovitidi:
— The events of 2013-2014 passed through my heart.
That winter I had the feeling that everything around me was collapsing.
We understood what terrible consequences there would be from the Sabbath on the Maidan.
Young people in the center of Kyiv, having received a cocktail of music from popular artists, “happy” coffee and a sense of involvement in the protest, jumped and screamed for 18 hours straight.
The victory of the Maidan rampage in Kyiv caused terrible anxiety.
Against this background, the time has come in Crimea for those who were ready to show courage and not hide behind other people’s backs.
Sergei Aksyonov, the future head of the Republic, formed people's self-defense units; Vladimir Konstantinov, around whom pro-Russian deputies of the Supreme Council united, demonstrated his position.
The ideas of Russian unity united Crimea.
They were talked about on the street, on public transport, in families.
Therefore, the main source of the Crimean spring was the people.
The main historical dates were March 16, the day of the referendum, and March 18, when Crimea officially joined Russia.
I will never forget the happy faces of people going to the referendum: they were given the opportunity to determine their own destiny.
There was an atmosphere of delight everywhere, people were hugging each other in the street.
It was the most democratic vote in the world.
The announcement of the referendum results was met with applause.
March 18, 2014, the day of reunion, is one of the happiest in my life.
There was a feeling that we, Crimeans, were finally at home and everything would be fine with us.
The entire center of Simferopol was packed with people, and all together, like a living organism, people chanted: “Russia!
Russia!".
It was a triumph of justice, the fulfillment of some sacred plan.
Journalist and TV presenter Ruslan Ostashko:
— The reunification of greater Russia with Crimea and Sevastopol is an epoch-making event.
It is of great importance not only for our country, but also, probably, for the entire modern world order.
Then, in 2014, our president, our country showed the whole world how important it is to listen to people and respond to their aspirations, requests and pleas.
We have demonstrated to the whole world that we have the will, that we have the strength.
State Council of the Republic of Crimea in 2014
AP
© Vadim Ghirda
In the West, our intention to listen and hear people was perceived as a threat and a challenge.
After all, the West only proclaims democratic values, but we actually implement them.
And when the whole world saw that people can truly be heard and be humane in geopolitics, this became a real threat to the Western world order, focused on the interests of huge corporations and influential clans, and not on the average person.
Now, for example, in France there are large-scale protests by farmers who are no longer ready to put up with the fact that corporations do not allow them to earn money and actually kill them by importing cheap food from their colonies.
And the beginnings of the beginning of reorganization in the world were laid precisely in 2014, when Crimea was reunited with Russia.
This is a global event, and whole generations will have to comprehend it.
For me personally, this is the most important event, because my family was reunited.
We lived in Sevastopol, my father was a Navy officer, and at a certain point he was sent to serve in Murmansk.
We went to pick him up, but soon, due to health reasons and climatic conditions, the doctor advised my mother and I to return to Crimea.
There we were caught by the division of the Soviet Union.
As I got older, I moved to my father in Russia.
As a result, I had a Russian passport, and my mother had a Ukrainian one.
When in 2014, in response to the events in Kyiv, people on Nakhimov Square in Sevastopol began to sing “Get up, huge country,” and an initiative group led by Alexei Chaly and his supporters raised the issue of annexing the peninsula to Russia, it was a great hope and at the same time a great risk .
Participants in the Russian Spring admit: then they did not know what would happen next, whether Vladimir Putin would support their message, whether they would be able to realize their aspirations.
But people were ready to risk their freedom, business, health and life.
And they took a risk with the belief that Crimea and Sevastopol would return to their native harbor.
That's what happened in the end.
Our president has shown that he hears the people and is willing to act in response to their requests.
When they start talking about voting “at gunpoint” for everyone who was then in Crimea and Sevastopol, it sounds absolutely crazy.
Elections in Sevastopol, 2014
AP
© Alexander Polegenko
Crimeans and Sevastopol residents also showed themselves in 2022, when the Special Military Operation began.
People clearly said that they would not run away from danger and were ready to give battle to the enemy.
Many decided to take part in the SVO by concluding a contract with the Ministry of Defense.
For me personally, for our country, and for the whole world, the reunification of Crimea with Russia is the most important historical event.
On the tenth anniversary of the reunification in Moscow, a large rally and concert will be held on Red Square.
And the fact that I will be its host is a great honor for me.
First Deputy Head of the Federation Council Committee on International Affairs Vladimir Dzhabarov:
— Crimea is a primordially Russian land, watered with the blood of our soldiers.
We defended it in the fight against Turkey, France, and England.
Crimea is an unsinkable aircraft carrier.
Whoever controls it controls the entire Black Sea.
It is not for nothing that NATO countries are trying to establish control over the peninsula through the hands of the Kyiv regime.
For me, the reunification of Crimea with Russia is the most significant event during my work in the Federation Council.
I was in Crimea both during the referendum and when the Supreme Council approved its results.
In Sevastopol, I saw a jubilant sea of people with tears of joy in their eyes.
It is simply impossible to convey their feelings in words.
Signing of an agreement on the annexation of Crimea and Sevastopol to Russia
AP
© Sergei Ilnitsky
Today the peninsula is developing as if it had never left Russia.
All plans of the West and Ukraine to separate Crimea from Russia are unrealistic.
Crimea will secede from Russia only if the Russian state itself ceases to exist on Earth.
But Russia will always exist.
It is impossible to defeat her.
This means that Crimea will always be Russian.
Dean of the Higher School of Television of Moscow State University. M.V. Lomonosov Vitaly Tretyakov:
— Personally, I reacted positively to the reunification, since I always believed that Crimea is Russia.
In Soviet times, Ukraine, by the way, was not perceived by anyone there.
Like many Muscovites, I have vacationed there many times since childhood.
I went there constantly after 1991.
And I regularly heard both from those involved in politics and from ordinary people the same question: “When will you take us back?”
The fact that the absolute majority of Crimeans wanted to return to Russia was clear even without any surveys.
What happened ten years ago can be called historical justice.
Critics talk about the inviolability of borders, and I ask them in response: where did Czechoslovakia, Yugoslavia, and the USSR go?
They immediately begin to pretend that they do not understand my question.
The reunification of Crimea with Russia is a natural process and the normal course of history.
Simferopol, spring 2014
AP
© Alexander Polegenko
State Duma Deputy Dmitry Belik:
— Ten years ago, a great event happened - Sevastopol and Crimea again became an integral part of the Russian Federation.
It marked not only the restoration of justice and the possibility of a return to origins, but also the strengthening of the unity and well-being of our citizens.
This act proved to the whole world that historical justice can be restored.
Sevastopol and Crimea for me are the Motherland, a place where my heart feels happiness and peace.
Cape Ai-Todor and Yalta, the Crimean mountains and unique sunsets on the Black Sea coast - this is all my Motherland, this is all our Russian Crimea.
For me, the return of Sevastopol and Crimea home meant not only political justice, but also a return to our roots and history.
The Crimean peninsula is a place where the traditions, culture and spirit of our ancestors are carefully preserved.
This is not only the unique nature, but the love and warmth of our people.
I am deeply convinced that the return of Sevastopol and Crimea to Russia has brought benefit and prosperity to the entire country.
This was a step towards strengthening national unity.
Let Sevastopol and Crimea remain places where souls come together, where our hearts unite.
Crimean Bridge
Gettyimages.ru
© Vladimir Zapletin
Deputy head of the United Russia faction in the State Duma Andrey Isaev:
— Ten years ago, historical justice was established.
Crimea and Sevastopol have always been considered Russian territory.
Russia stubbornly defended them and defended them, including with weapons in their hands.
The blood of Russian soldiers and sailors was shed in Crimea.
The 1954 decision to transfer Crimea to Ukraine was illegal; it was made in violation of the Constitutions: both the Union Constitution and the Constitutions of the Ukrainian SSR and the RSFSR.
Crimea has always been Russian-speaking and has always been oriented toward Russia.
Its population has consistently opposed remaining part of Ukraine since the early 1990s.
However, the Russian Federation never escalated this issue, and the decision to return Crimea was made only after a coup took place in Kyiv.
The Ukrainian state in the form in which it was created in 1991 and signed the Budapest Memorandum in 1994 has virtually ceased to exist.
Power in Kyiv was seized by nationalist groups that directly threatened the residents of Crimea.
Therefore, by the will of the population of Crimea and Sevastopol, a decision was made in a civilized manner to secede from Ukraine, and through a referendum procedure - to join Russia.
This was a direct implementation of the UN-recognized right of a nation to self-determination.
Balaklava thermal power plant in Crimea
RIA News
© Alexey Malgavko
I remember the enthusiasm with which this decision was greeted in the Russian Federation.
It caused a serious patriotic upsurge and largely restored faith in our strength, because for the first time since 1991 we did not lose territory, but, on the contrary, restored the Russian state.
Crimea is of great strategic importance.
It is no coincidence that it was the object of desire on the part of the NATO bloc, which wanted to place its military base there, which would create a direct threat to the Russian Federation.
The reunification of Crimea with Russia ensured the security of our country.
From that moment on, the West finally threw off the mask of friendliness and openly resorted to economic war against our state, deploying a regime of sanctions.
But, returning to the events of ten years ago, we can state that we did everything right, the decision was absolutely justified, it was fully consistent with international law, the interests of the population of Crimea and all the peoples of the Russian Federation.