Russia’s permanent representative to the EU Vladimir Chizhov stated, that back in March 2014, Russia urgently sent 9 000 soldiers to Crimea.
According to Chizhov, the military were deployed by air. Moreover, Chizhov claims, that presence of Russia’s military in Crimea was legal under the 1997 agreement between Russia and Ukraine, under which Russia received the right for military presence in Sevastopol. Annexation of Crimea by Russia back in March 2014 hasn’t been recognized by most of the world.
