Seizure of power in Crimea

Crimea, Simferopol, February 2014.

The video shows massive clashes and the russian-occupied Verkhovna Rada of the Autonomous Republic of Crimea. Pro-Ukrainian activists with Ukrainian and Crimean Tatar flags under the walls of the Verkhovna Rada, riots with pro-Russian representatives, activists and law enforcement officers on the sidelines of the Verkhovna Rada, talking to deputies, a pro-Russian rally, Russian flags, chanting “russia” and “Fascism will not pass”.

Reference: On February 26, 2014, more than ten thousand people took part in a rally in support of the territorial integrity of Ukraine in Simferopol. It was held near the building of the Verkhovna Rada of the Autonomous Republic of Crimea. At the same time, an extraordinary meeting was to be held in the building itself, where Crimean deputies were to address the russian authorities on the peninsula's secession from Ukraine. Protesters were waiting for the Rada, including members of the Russian Unity movement. Clashes broke out. At night, russian special forces seized the Verkhovna Rada building. The next day, a closed extraordinary meeting of the Crimean parliament was held. It was then that the decision to hold a referendum on Crimea's accession to the russian federation was approved.