Crimea was about to find herself in the center of
one of the most serious European crises since the end of the Cold War.
However, Russia had previously beaten the West in Georgia,
which President Putin considered to be his backyard.
It was once again time to take action.
And the first move on the chess board was made in Crimea.
During the Maidan Protests, the Crimean Parliament constantly made declarations.
GAYANA YUKSEL, Director of Crimean News Agency
Stop the Maidan Protests and punish the perpetrators.
If not, we will unite with Russia.
During the protests, Speaker Konstantinov was frequently traveling to Moscow.
Soon after, soldiers with no insignia began their assault.
In two days, Sevastopol and Simferopol airports were taken over.
Air traffic was halted.
Civilian aircrafts were not allowed to land.
But soldiers continued to pour in.
Ukraine is a very important country for us.
When you  look at a map, its dominance of the Black Sea coast line is clearly visible.
YONET CAN TEZEL, Turkish Ambassador to Ukraine
Consequently, we regard Ukraine as a strategic partner.
Especially the Turkic Crimean Tatars have always helped build a cultural bridge between the two nations.
Ukraine's issues should be resolve d by the nation itself.
A solution can be found with the support of the international community, including Russia.
We encourage Russia and Ukraine to keep the communication channels open.
There can be no other solution.
Any other solutions will not be beneficial to anyone.
The population of Crimea is: 58% Russian, 24% Ukrainian and 12% Tatar.
The Tatars who had been expelled to Siberia by Stalin no longer dominated Crimea.
MURAT BILGINCAN, Reporter
On Feb. 26, the Tatars and the pro-Russian activists faced off.
After that day, most Tatars did not leave their homes.
Rifat Chubarov, Speaker of the Tatar Parliament, recommended that the Tatars remain calm.
We shall see how long this tense wait will last.
On Feb. 27, an armed group raided the Crimean Parliament.
And a Russian flag was raised.
The Prime Minister of Crimea invited the Russian Federation to resolve the conflict in the region.
First 2,000, then 6,000 Russian soldiers entered Crimea.
There was a deluge of soldiers.
We saw them everywhere.
They came in boats and planes.
We lived through surreal scenes.
In the city centre of Simferopol, you could watch a wedding ceremony surrounded by foreign soldiers.
It was dark comedy, but at the same time
it was a text book case in invading a sovereign nation.
It was funny, because the soldiers had taken off all of their insignia.
Russia announced that they were militia and nobody could say anything against it.
On Feb. 23, President Turchinov, a close friend of Former Prime Minister Timoshenko, was inaugurated.
The pro-Russian demonstrators began to protest in Crimea.
On Feb. 27, the parliament building behind me was raided.
However, the most shocking move came from Crimea's most powerful admiral...
When Admiral Berezovsky, Commander of the Ukrainian Navy, defected to Russia, the countdown began.
Crimea was going to discover her destiny under the shadow of arms.
Russian soldiers circled key Ukrainian bases in Crimea.
Ukrainian soldiers were asked to surrender.
Their utilities were cut and they were not allowed to leave their bases.
The Ukrainian soldiers were trapped inside their own home.
On Mar. 2, hundreds of Russian soldiers marched towards Simferopol.
The Ukrainian bases here were under siege.
Right now, we are at Base Perevalne situated half an hour away from the city center.
The base has been surrounded by Russian troops.
Ukrainian soldiers trapped inside their barracks are holding up.
It is difficult to assess the limits of their resistance.
Predicting the end of the Russian invasion is just as challenging.
Pro-Ukrainian demonstrators – whose soldiers had been belittled – were frustrated.
They gathered at Shevchenko Park to voice their anger.
They read declarations and sang marches.
They waved the Ukrainian flag with enthusiasm.
This is Simferopol's Shevchenko Park.
The park is named after a nationalist poet.
Poet Shevchenko would have been proud of what is happening here today.
Because the pro-Ukrainian demonstrators are protesting despite all the risks.
The Tatars and the Ukrainians would like to see Crimea remain as a part of Ukraine.
Most of the demonstrators were ethnically Ukrainian, while some were Russian.
However, for some family was much more important than ethnicity.
They kidnapped my father who was a Euromaidan coordinator in Crimea.
Yesterday at 10:30, pro-Russian militia stopped him.
Two in uniform took him away.
We are waiting for their conditions.
Yes, I am scared.
Pro-Russians are threatening us.
Everybody's afraid of the civilian militia.
I am ethnically Russian.
As a Russian, I would like to save this country.
Because Ukraine is my home.
I am afraid that something will happen.
But it can't go too far.
Nobody can put an end to Crimean democracy.
Nobody can get in the way of Ukrainian democracy.
Only a few kilometres away, the pro-Russians had gathered at Lenin Square.
Their numbers were tenfold.
The young and the old met up at the square.
White, blue and red covered the skies.
We are 800 kilometres away from the capital Kiev.
What we observe here is significantly different from what we had seen at Maidan.
While pro-Westerners dominate Maidan, pro-Russians are in charge of Lenin Square.
Russians constitute %60 of the population in Crimea.
And the Russians here today await the unification with the Russian Federation.
The march of the civilian militia from Lenin Square towards Shevchenko Park spread fear.
There had not been a violent clash between the two groups yet.
However, blood could be spilled any moment.
The pro-Russians has various reasons for their stance.
Some were fed up of economic crisis, while others were afraid of the Ukrainian nationalists in Kiev.
We are mostly afraid of ultra-nationalism.
We do not accept the new government's Western-leaning policies.
VLADIMIR KILICNIKOV, Member of the Crimean Parliament
There has not been an attack on ethnic Russians in Crimea yet.
Because there has never been any ultra-nationalist Ukrainians in Crimea.
Those people are in Western Ukraine and in Kiev.
However, we had to take precautions against the Ukrainian nationalist.
If we hadn't done that, they would have come here.
About 150 Ukrainian nationalists tried to enflame the crowd, on May 27.
We prevented that.
Right now the situation is under our control.
For me, the advantage of unification with Russia is the following...
I want to be able to travel to Russia freely.
I want the borders to be taken down.
The unification will improve our economy.
The two sides said what they had to say.
There was no need for any more words.
Mar. 16 was chosen as the referendum date.
Crimeans are going to vote whether their region should remain as a part of Ukraine.
On the day when the members of parliament decided on the referendum, Vladimir Kilicnikov was at the parliament.
I was there.
That day, there were armed men inside the parliament.
But they were not inside the assembly room.
They were men protecting the building.
Nobody was forced to vote at gunpoint.
What will be the result on Mar. 16?
In 1954, the USSR had given Crimea to Ukraine.
Was it now time for Russia to take it back?
Will Ukraine become a nation divided between the EU and Russia?
Ukraine is an independent country.
Ukraine will never be divided.
Victory has not been reached yet.
You never know what the new government might do.
We will remain at Maidan until the elections.
In 1954, Khrushchev made a big mistake by giving away Crimea to Ukraine.
Previously we were all part of the USSR.
There was no distinction between Ukraine and Russia.
After the collapse of the USSR, Crimea's being a part of Ukraine became noticeable.
Many Russians have died for Crimea.
That is why Russians deserve Crimea to be a part of Russia.
We will certainly participate in the referendum.
And we will vote "yes."
MUSTAFA CEMILOGLU, Member of the Ukrainian Parliament
Russians have been making numerous promises to pull us to their side.
We know the Russian promises.
They make them today, but tomorrow the situation may be very different.
They believe that Crimea is Russian soil.
We cannot accept this.
As far as we are concerned, the result of the referendum is obvious.
75% of Crimea would like to join Russia.
The voting commission has suspended access to any data regarding the electorate.
The lists of eligible voters are being put together locally.
When this is the situation, anybody can write anything on those lists.
Instead of 200 voters, one could register 1,500.
Therefore, the results are clear.
However, the main question is, "What will happen afterwards?"
As the referendum fast approaches, the streets of Simferopol are dead silent.
After March 16, certain groups may not accept the result of the referendum...
And the silence may suddenly give way to a thunderstorm.
If the election process in Kiev is not carefully monitored, Maidan may also experience a similar storm.
And Ukrainians who have been watching their divided country with watery eyes...
may regret the second revolution in the brief history of their nation.
