Rallies and concerts kicked off a weeklong celebration marking the one-year anniversary of Russia's annexation of Ukraine's Crimean peninsula. Supporters on Monday unfurled a massive Russian flag during a large rally in Simferopol, where hundreds gathered waving flags and celebrating in the street.
Russia sent troops into Crimea in early 2014. On March 16, Crimeans held a referendum for succession, a move the U.N. and several countries declared illegal.
Oleg Belaventsev, who Russian President Vladimir Putin appointed as Moscow's envoy to Crimea, framed the celebrations as the first anniversary of the Black Sea peninsula's "return to Russia" during a special session of the local legislature.
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