This article is more than 5 years old

This article is more than 5 years old

Russia celebrated the one-year anniversary of its annexation of the Crimea peninsula from Ukraine on Wednesday with an open-air concert in the centre of Moscow, where crowds were addressed by Vladimir Putin.



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The country’s president said the Russian people had shown “amazing patriotism” by supporting the annexation of Crimea, which Moscow regards as a “historical return”. Putin’s personal approval rating has reached record levels in the past year, despite the Crimea move leading to a worsening of relations with the west and the implementation of sanctions.

“We understood that in terms of Crimea it was not a matter of just some territory, however strategically important it is,” Putin told the crowd on Wednesday. “It was a matter of millions of Russian people, our compatriots, who needed our help and support.”

A year after the annexation, Putin admitted in a documentary aired on Sunday that Russian soldiers were involved in a well-planned operation to take Crimea. At the time, the Kremlin said it merely responded to a local grassroots movement.

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Russian television has been instrumental in promoting the new “patriotic” mood, and Dmitry Kiselev, the head of a major state news agency, said the anniversary should be a “celebration for all Russians”. He said Putin had shown “tremendous sincerity” in the documentary and should serve as an example for all world leaders.

Meanwhile, as Russia celebrated one annexation, it appeared to pave the way for another. South Ossetian leader Leonid Tibilov signed an “alliance and integration” treaty with Russian in the Kremlin on Wednesday. The treaty integrates the security services, the military, the economy and border guards of South Ossetia with those of Russia.

Western leaders condemned the agreement, saying it violated Georgia’s sovereignty and international law. Russia has run both South Ossetia and Abkhazia as protectorates after it recognised them as independent states following the brief war with Georgia in 2008.

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“This so-called treaty is yet another move by the Russian Federation that hampers ongoing efforts by the international community to strengthen security and stability in the region,” said Nato secretary general Jens Stoltenberg in a statement.

In another incident, Nato jets intercepted eight Russian fighter jets and three transport planes in international waters over the Baltic Sea on Wednesday, according to the Lithuanian ministry of defence.

“Civil aviation over the Baltic Sea was endangered because of the secretive way the airplanes flew,” a spokesperson said. Russia has resumed these flights in recent months, including an incident when RAF jets were scrambled to intercept two Russian jets off the coast of Cornwall last month.