Editing Politics of Ukraine (section)

==Autonomous Republic of Crimea==
{{main|Politics of Crimea}}
In 1992, a number of pro-Russian political organizations in [[Crimea]] advocated the secession of Crimea and annexation into [[Russia]]. During [[Soviet Union|USSR]] times Crimea was ceded from Russia to Ukraine in 1954 by First Secretary [[Nikita Khrushchev]] to mark the 300th anniversary of the [[Treaty of Pereyaslav]]. In July 1992, the Crimean and Ukrainian parliaments determined that Crimea would remain under Ukrainian jurisdiction while retaining significant cultural and economic autonomy, thus creating the [[Autonomous Republic of Crimea]].

The Crimean peninsula—while under Ukrainian sovereignty, served as a site for major military bases of both Ukrainian and Russian forces, and was heavily populated by ethnic Russians.

In early 2014, Ukraine's pro-Russian president, [[Viktor Yanukovich|Viktor Yanukovych]], was ousted by Ukrainians over his refusal to ally Ukraine with the European Union, rather than Russia. In response, Russia invaded Crimea in February 2014 and occupied it.

In March 2014,<ref>{{cite news|url=https://news.vice.com/video/russian-roulette-the-invasion-of-ukraine-dispatch-one|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20140505141515/https://news.vice.com/video/russian-roulette-the-invasion-of-ukraine-dispatch-one|url-status=dead|archive-date=5 May 2014|title=Russian Roulette: The Invasion of Ukraine (Dispatch One)|publisher=vicenews.com|date=5 March 2014|access-date=20 October 2015}}</ref> during occupation a controversial [[Crimean referendum, 2014|referendum]] was held in Crimea with 97% of voters backing joining Russia.<ref>{{cite news|url=http://www.cbsnews.com/news/official-results-97-of-crimea-voters-back-joining-russia/|title=Official results: 97 percent of Crimea voters back joining Russia|publisher=cbsnews.com|date=17 March 2014|access-date=20 October 2015}}</ref>

On 18 March 2014, Russia and the new, self-proclaimed [[Republic of Crimea (Russia)|Republic of Crimea]] signed a [[Annexation of Crimea by the Russian Federation#Accession treaty and aftermath|treaty of accession of the Republic of Crimea and Sevastopol]] in the Russian Federation. In response, the UN General Assembly passed non-binding [[United Nations General Assembly Resolution 68/262|resolution 68/262]] declaring the referendum invalid and officially supporting Ukraine's claim to Crimea. Although Russia administers the peninsula as two federal subjects, Ukraine and the majority of countries do not recognise Russia's annexation.<ref>{{cite news|author1=Alex Felton|author2=Marie-Louise Gumuchian|url=http://www.cnn.com/2014/03/27/world/europe/ukraine-crisis/|title=U.N. General Assembly resolution calls Crimean referendum invalid|publisher=cnn.com|date=27 March 2014|access-date=20 October 2015}}</ref><ref name="crime_of_century_2015_03_04_new_republic">Michel, Casey, [one-year-after-russias-annexation-world-has-forgotten-crimea "The Crime of the Century,"], 4 March 2015, ''The New Republic''</ref>