You're reading: Putin signs decree officially recognizing Crimea’s independence

Russian President Vladimir Putin wasted no time in recognizing the March 16 secession vote in Crimea, signing a decree 24 hours after polling stations closed in the Black Sea peninsula officially acknowledging the breakaway region as an independent state, the Kremlin press service reported on March 17.

The move laid the groundwork for the possible annexation of Crimea, which Putin is scheduled to address in front of an assembly of both houses of parliament in Moscow on March 18.

“Taking into consideration the will of Crimea’s people on the nationwide referendum, which took place on March 16, 2014, to recognize the Republic of Crimea, where Sevastopol city has a special status, as a sovereign and independent state,” reads the official decree. 

As mentioned, the statement also says that Russia recognizes Sevastopol, a warm-water Crimean port that houses Russia’s Black Sea Fleet base, as a city with a “special autonomous status” within independent Crimea.

The presidential decree comes into force immediately after being signed.

The final results of the referendum in Crimea showed that 97 percent of voters supported splitting from Ukraine to join Russia, Mikhail Malyshev, head of the referendum election commission said on March 17, adding that the commission has not registered a single complaint about the vote. 

Ukraine’s new government said the referendum was a “circus” masterminded by the Kremlin and conducted at gunpoint.

Putin’s move to recognize Crimea as independent comes as the U.S. and the EU, which condemned the referendum and called it “illegal”, slapped sanctions on several individuals who they say pushed for the secession of the autonomous republic.

On March 17, the U.S. froze the assets and banned travel for 11 Russian and Ukrainian political figures, including Kremlin-backed Crimean Prime Minister Sergiy Aksyonov, Crimean parliament speaker Vladimir Konstantinov, Russian Deputy Prime Minister Dmitry Rogozin, Russian Presidential Adviser Sergey Glazyev and former Ukrainian President Viktor Yanukovych, among several others. 

The European Union followed suit hours later with sanctions against 21 Russians and Ukrainians, but none as prominent as those on the U.S. list.

“We’re making it clear there are consequences for these actions,” U.S. President Barack Obama said in a televised statement in the White House briefing room on March 17 to announce the sanctions. “The international community will continue to stand together to oppose any violations of Ukrainian sovereignty and territorial integrity.”

The American president warned that he stands ready “to impose further sanctions” if necessary.

Kyiv Post editor Christopher J. Miller can be reached at [email protected], and on Twitter at @ChristopherJM.