Putin Signs Order Establishing Russian Government in Crimea

March 23, 2014

President Vladimir Putin signed an order on Sunday saying that Russian government structures must be established in Crimea within a week.

A statement on the Kremlin website, which follows upon the official annexation of Crimea and Sevastopol on Friday, said that the territorial powers in Russia's new subjects must be created by March 29 and was signed by Putin, Prime Minister Dmitry Medvedev and the heads of government ministries.

Putin signed an agreement with Crimean authorities to include the Ukrainian region as part of Russia last week and changes to the Russian constitution were then approved by the State Duma and Federation Council.

The Ukrainian government and many Western countries have condemned the annexation and said that the regional referendum leading up to the move, in which more than 96 percent of Crimean voters cast their ballot for union with Russia, was illegitimate.

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