Support from Russian President Vladimir Putin in 2014 saved the lives of residents of Crimea, the head of republic Sergei Aksenov said.
“It would not have happened if our President Vladimir Vladimirovich Putin did not personally manage this operation and did not take personal decisions on which the fate of the Crimean people and Sevastopol residents depended,” Aksenov said, adding that in five years there had been enormous changes in the region.
"We did not set the conditions, did not require anything, we just believed that this should be done, because this is our only chance to save peace, respect, friendship on the Crimean peninsula," RIA Novosti quotes the governor of Crimea as saying.
