Crimea Back in ‘Home Port,’ Putin Tells Crowd in Red Square

2014/03/18

MOSCOW, March 18 (RIA Novosti) – Crimea is back in its “home port” after a long and difficult journey, the Russian president told a crowd of about 120,000 people, who gathered in Moscow’s Red Square to show their support for the breakaway peninsula.


The Black Sea peninsula with a Russian ethnic majority signed a reunification treaty with Moscow after a referendum in which some 96.7 percent of voters backed joining Russia after 60 years as part of Ukraine.


“After a difficult, long and exhausting journey, Crimea and Sevastopol have returned to Russia – to their home harbor, their home shores, their home port,” Vladimir Putin said.


He thanked Crimean residents for their “clearly expressed will to be a part of Russia.”


The “We Are Together” rally and concert began at 18:30 Moscow time [2:30 p.m. GMT] and ended an hour and a half later.


The Moscow city police department said in a statement that it gathered about 120,000 people, including activists of various political parties and public organizations.



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