Russians hold rallies in support of Crimean people

Russians have taken to the streets in several cities to express support for the Crimeans who refuse to recognize the new government in Ukraine.

On Tuesday, some 11,500 people held a rally in Russia’s southern city of Rostov-on-Don, while about 8,000 staged a demonstration to express their solidarity with Crimea in the central city of Voronezh.

Demonstrators waved Russian flags and chanted slogans in support of the people of Crimea, vowing to send volunteers to the neighboring region.

On Monday, the Supreme Council of Ukraine’s Autonomous Republic of Crimea said the region’s administration does not report to the new government in Kiev.

The announcement was made by the council’s chairman, Vladimir Konstantinov.

Konstantinov also spoke about an upcoming referendum on the region’s future, saying, “We will raise the question of changing the autonomous status of Crimea to state status.”

“This land belongs to the Russian world. We are asking everyone to always remember that. It is a thousand years of history. The people of Russia and Ukraine belong to the Russian world,” Konstantinov added.

Crimean Prime Minister Sergey Aksenov has asked Russian President Vladimir Putin to help restore peace and calm in the region amid tension over the region’s resistance against the new pro-Western government in Kiev.

Moscow has declared that its presence in Ukraine’s Crimean peninsula is to protect Russian citizens and the entire Russian-speaking population in the region.

Political crisis erupted in Ukraine in November 2013, after the country’s ousted president refrained from signing an Association Agreement with the European Union in favor of closer ties with Russia.