Putin signs decree recognizing Crimean independence

Russian President Vladimr Putin signed a decree on March 17 recognizing the independence of the Crimea Autonomous Republic. Earlier that day, the Crimean parliament approved a resolution declaring Crimea to be an independent sovereign state called the Crimean Republic, in which Sevastopol has a unique status. The resolution also requested that the Russian Federation include the Crimean Republic as a subject. Putin will address the Russian Duma deputies this afternoon to address the inclusion of Crimea into the Russian Federation.

More evidence of fraud surfaced from the Crimean referendum held on March 16. Crimean Parliament Referendum Commission Chair Mikhail Malyshev reported more than 474,000 Sebastopol residents participated in the referendum, while officials statistics reported that the city has more than 383,000 residents as of Nov. 1 2013, reported the Ukrayinska Pravda news site on March 17. Malyshev also stated that 2.2 million voting ballots were prepared, though Crimea has 1.8 million residents. Moreover, only about 0.54 percent of the Crimean Tatar population participated, estimated their leader Refat Cubarov on March 17, who alleged mass falsifications. Such a low turnout makes the official claim of 83 percent participation impossible, Ukrainian election observing organizations said.

The Russian Foreign Ministry released a statement on March 17 calling for the creation of an international group to help Ukraine in adopting a federal constitution that ensures Ukraine’s federative status, its military neutrality, state status for the Russian language, protection of human rights and all minorities and the neutrality of the church. Once a referendum is held to approve the new constitution, elections should be held for the “legislative and executive organs in each subject of the federation,” the statement said. The Russian government guarantees to defend the new territorial integrity and sovereignty of Ukraine.

Zenon Zawada: We can expect the Russian government to pursue its plan for federalizing Ukraine. With the likelihood that the military will be involved in this plan, we can expect some military conflicts in the next week, which will worsen economic and political conditions in the country.