Russian President Vladimir Putin has admitted for the first time that the plan to annex Crimea was ordered weeks before the referendum on self-determination.

Mr Putin said in a documentary called Crimea: The Road to Motherland, to be shown on state-run TV channel Rossiya-1, that he had ordered work on "returning Crimea" to begin at an all-night meeting on 22 February.

The meeting was called to plan the rescue of Ukraine's deposed president, Viktor Yanukovych.

The trailer for the documentary was broadcast on Sunday night with no release date announced.