Russian President Vladimir Putin said Crimea's referendum fully complies with international law despite being roundly condemned by world leaders.
Russian president Vladimir Putin Reuters

Historical Injustice

After the referendum in Crimea, which resulted in an overwhelming majority of 97% voting in favour of seceding from Ukraine and joining Russia, Putin said in a televised statement that Crimeans were no longer prepared to put up with the "historical injustice" of being part of Ukraine.

"When Crimea suddenly became part of another state, Russia felt not only that something had been stolen from her, but that she had been mugged. Crimea has always been and remains an inseparable part of Russia," he said.

Legitimate referendum

Despite the US and EU declaring the referendum illegitimate, Putin said: "The referendum took place in full accordance to the democracy standards and international law.

"The numbers are more than persuasive."

Always part of Russia

"In people's heart of hearts, Crimea has always been part of Russia," Putin told the Russian parliament. He said former Soviet Union leader Nikita Krushchev's decision to transfer Crimea to Ukraine in 1954 was unconstitutional.

Neo-Nazi

In a reference to Ukraine's new leaders, who succeeded ousted president Viktor Yanukovich, Putin said:

"We can all clearly see the intentions of these ideological heirs of Bandera, Hitler's accomplice during World War II."

Stephan Bandera was a nationalist who saw in the Nazi Germany a powerful ally.

Plot

Putin defended Russia's invasion into Crimea as necessary to beat to a Western plot to take Ukraine.

He described the main figures in the Ukrainian uprising as "anti-Semites, Russophobes [who] determined a lot of what's happening in Ukraine".

"Russia could not step back any more. Russia has national interests that need to be respected."

Kosovo Albanians

"For some reason, things that Kosovo Albanians (and we have full respect for them) were permitted to do, Russians, Ukrainians and Crimean Tatars in Crimea are not allowed to do."

Putin was comparing the situation in Crimea to the war in Kosovo, a region disputed by Serbia and Albania, which declared its independence with the agreement of the West in 2008.

Trauma

Speaking of the collapse of the Soviet Union in 1991, Putin said: "The USSR broke up. The events happened so fast that few citizens understood the full scale of the trauma.

"[The USSR collapse] is the greatest geopolitical catastrophe of the 20th century, which left tens of millions of Russians outside the Russian Federation."

USSR Phase 2

In 2011, Putin declared his intention to create the Eurasia Union, "an efficient link between Europe and the dynamic Asia-Pacific region [which] from the geopolitical viewpoint represents an attempt to revive the USSR."