Support The Moscow Times!

Crimea to Adopt Moscow Time at End of March

Crimea's parliament has announced that the region will move its clocks forward by two hours on March 30, bringing it into line with Moscow.

As is the case with the rest of Ukraine, Crimea is two hours behind Moscow time in winter and one hour behind in summer.

The parliament's speaker, Volodymyr Konstantinov, said earlier that the change would be implemented if the Ukrainian region's people voted in favor of becoming part of Russia and said that a working group would be set up to gauge local resident's opinions on the subject.

The peninsula was part of Russia before Khrushchev handed it over to Ukraine in 1954, and it kept the same time as Moscow as recently as the first half of the 1990s.

More than 80 percent of Crimea's electorate turned out on Sunday to take part in a referendum to decide whether they want the region to become part of Russia. In the end, 96.77 percent voted to secede from Ukraine and join Russia, though the West and the interim government in Ukraine have refused to recognize the result.

On Monday, Crimea's parliament declared the region independent and requested that it be integrated into Russia.

President Vladimir Putin will make an announcement about Crimea's request in front of the Federal Assembly on Tuesday, the Kremlin's press office said.

… we have a small favor to ask.

As you may have heard, The Moscow Times, an independent news source for over 30 years, has been unjustly branded as a "foreign agent" by the Russian government. This blatant attempt to silence our voice is a direct assault on the integrity of journalism and the values we hold dear.

We, the journalists of The Moscow Times, refuse to be silenced. Our commitment to providing accurate and unbiased reporting on Russia remains unshaken. But we need your help to continue our critical mission.

Your support, no matter how small, makes a world of difference. If you can, please support us monthly starting from just 2. It's quick to set up, and you can be confident that you're making a significant impact every month by supporting open, independent journalism. Thank you.

Continue

Read more