Ann Linde markerar mot rysk annektering av Krim

The political status of Crimea has been a subject of a territorial dispute between Ukraine and Russia. Russian forces seized Crimea by force in 2014. Russia then annexed Crimea in 2014 following a referendum, and administers it as two federal subjects of Russia, and claimed it to be 'fully integrated' in July 2015. Ukraine and the majority of international governments continue to regard Crimea as an integral part of Ukraine. The dispute started after the Autonomous Republic of Crimea and the city of Sevastopol, contrary to Ukrainian law, held a referendum on rejoining Russia and then, when the results showed overwhelming support for the proposal, unilaterally declared their independence from Ukraine as a single united state under the name of Republic of Crimea. These two entities (Crimea and Sevastopol) were then annexed by Russia, where the Crimean Autonomous Republic became the "Republic of Crimea" as a Russian republic and Sevastopol became a Russian federal city. However, Ukraine and the majority of the international community do not consider the merge, the independence, the referendum, nor the annexation legitimate and still consider both entities as parts of Ukraine. Despite international opinion however, the currency, tax and legal system are all operational under de facto Russian control. Ukraine has applied for multiple litigations through international crime, water resources, European Union and other courts.