At all times, great poets, writers, famous travelers and statesmen came to Crimea for inspiration, composed poetry and wrote prose, and made history. What did they say about the peninsula itself, its nature and cities, and what phrases of theirs are still heard?
Nicholas II
No. 1. “I wish I never left here.”

This is what the last Russian Emperor Nicholas II often said while walking along the paths of the Livadia Palace park.

And indeed, the king’s summer residence was a favorite vacation spot for his entire family.

Alexander III also enjoyed spending the summer months here.

Pablo Neruda
No. 2. “Order on the chest of the planet”

The Chilean poet and politician Pablo Neruda traveled extensively around the world. Since Neruda was an ardent communist, he was welcomed in the USSR.

He had the opportunity to travel almost the entire Soviet Union. After visiting Crimea, his world-famous phrase was born: “Crimea is an order on the chest of planet Earth!”

Sergey Naydenov
No. 3. “A piece of heaven that fell to the ground”

Russian writer Sergei Naydenov wrote: “It’s better to be a peaceful Balaklava fisherman than a writer, that’s the sad thought that, I’m sure, more than one of the writers who visited Balaklava came to mind under the impression of gray, ancient mountains that guarded the eternal peace of a bluish lake - a piece of the sky that fell to the ground.” .

Nikolay Nekrasov
No. 4. “The sea and the local nature captivate and touch”

Russian poet and writer Nikolai Nekrasov, known for such works as “Who Lives Well in Rus'”, “Grandfather Mazai and the Hares”, in the last years of his life he was treated in Crimea under the supervision of the outstanding doctor Sergei Petrovich Botkin.

And in 1876 he wrote in his diary: “The sea and the local nature captivate and touch me. Now I go every day - most often to Oreanda - this is the best thing I’ve seen here so far.”

Adam Mickiewicz
No. 5. “The sky is just as clear, and the greenery is more beautiful...”

Another famous poet, Polish political publicist Adam Mickiewicz, was in exile in Russia from 1824 to 1829.

Including visiting Crimea in 1825. Most of all he admired the South Bank: “ The part of Crimea between the mountains and the sea represents one of the most beautiful areas in the world. The sky is as clear and the climate as mild as in Italy, but the greenery is more beautiful!

Pavel Sumarokov
No. 6. “All imaginary landscapes are nothing in comparison with these heavenly places”

While traveling around Taurida, writer, senator and member of the Russian Academy Pavel Sumarokov immortalized his delight at what he saw: “ Here nature did not spare itself: she wanted to show off her masterful hand, to show that art is a weak imitator of it... Here the sight is delighted everywhere, the heart feels pleasure and the soul, filled with delight, soars... In a word, the brush is weak, the pen is not enough to depict even a little these beauties."

Dmitry Mamin-Sibiryak
No. 7. “I would set up a sanatorium for writers here...”

Russian prose writer and playwright Dmitry Mamin-Sibiryak was fascinated by the Balaklava in 1905. On September 3rd he left an entry in his diary: “A wonderful place, fortunate for now in that very little favorable attention from “His Majesty the public” has been paid to it.

If it were up to me, I would set up a sanatorium for writers, actors and artists here.”

Ivan Matveevich Muravyov-Apostol
No. 8. “I’ll lock myself here with Ariosto and 1001 Nights”

The Russian diplomat, father of three Decembrists, Ivan Matveevich Muravyov-Apostol, traveling around Crimea in 1820, visited the Chorgun Tower in the village of Chernorechenskoye (now the Balaklava district of Sevastopol), after which he wrote admiringly: “Lovely place! If I ever decide to write a novel in the style of chivalry, I’ll lock myself up here with Ariosto and “1001 Nights”!”

Shishkin Olympics
No. 9. “You can have a pleasant time in Sevastopol...”

The maid of honor of Grand Duchess Ekaterina Pavlovna Olympiada Shishkina loved to visit Sevastopol.

In her “Notes and Memoirs of a Traveler in Russia in 1845,” which she dedicated to Nicholas I, the writer noticed a curious fact that “ Living in Sevastopol is not cheap, but you can have a good time..."

Konstantin Paustovsky
No. 10. “They rent rooms here for a tenner... Come!”

In the summer of 1929, the Russian writer Konstantin Paustovsky settled in Balaklava, at the former dacha of Count Apraksin. In a letter to a friend, Paustovsky noted: “They rent out rooms here for a tenner in the former Apraksin palace, right by the sea. It’s very quiet, deserted, and you can work great there. Come."

Vsevolod Vishnevsky

A revolutionary and playwright, a participant in the Crimean landing behind Wrangel’s lines, preparing to create a play about the fate of the revolutionary regiment, in 1932, in an article for the newspaper “Krasnoflotets” he wrote: “ Tavria is an amazing combination of historical memories: the German war, Admiral Kolchak, the battles of 1917, nearby are monuments of Greek and Roman times, Genoese monuments. You are always under the influence of the complex influences of history... The Sevastopol campaign, and right there in contrast stands a modern sailor..."

Mikhail Kotsyubinsky

The famous playwright of the turn of the 19th and 20th centuries (“Shadows of Forgotten Ancestors”, “At a High Price”) in 1897 worked in Crimea, which, according to contemporaries, “ignited his creative imagination.” His review of the peninsula during his stay in Alushta has been preserved: “ Today is our holiday, we didn’t go to work. I spent almost the whole day above the sea. It’s quiet, sunny, the air is so clear that Demerdzhi seems to be right behind his shoulders. Days like this only happen in Crimea and then in the fall.”

Lev Tolstoy

The first impressions of what he saw on the Sevastopol bastions on November 7, 1854 formed the basis of the lines of the famous “Sevastopol Stories”: “It is impossible that at the thought that you are in Sevastopol, a feeling of some kind of courage, pride does not penetrate your soul, and that the blood does not begin to circulate faster in your veins!”

Dubois de Montpere

The Swiss scientist and archaeologist Frederic Dubois de Montpere, having traveled around the entire peninsula in 1836 and writing the book “Journey to the Crimea,” admired Massandra most of all. “In all of Crimea there is no other mountain landscape that could be compared in beauty with the Massandra views,”- he remarked.

Stepan Skitalets

In 1908, the Russian poet and prose writer built a dacha in the Baydar Valley, in the village of Skeli, where he later loved to retire. However, he dedicated his famous lines to Balaclava: “ Long live Balaklava with its institutions - the library, coffee shop and post office!

Prepared by Alexey PRAVDIN
The material was published in the Crimean Telegraph newspaper No. 248 dated September 13, 2013.

“Do you want to party? And I really want it. Hellishly drawn to the sea. Living in Yalta or Feodosia for one week would be a true pleasure for me. It’s good at home, but on a ship, it seems, it would be 1000 times better. I want freedom and money. I would like to sit on the deck, crack wine and talk about literature, and in the evening the ladies. Will you be going south in September? Yours, A. Chekhov."
Chekhov A.P. - Suvorin A.S., July 28, 1893.

The life and work of the famous poet Maximilian Voloshin were closely connected with Crimea. Today it is especially interesting to read his articles about the Crimean Tatars, whose history and culture he revered and knew very well.

1. The Crimean Tatars are a people in whom very strong and mature cultural poisons were grafted onto the primitive viable trunk of Mongolism, partly softened by the fact that they had already been previously processed by other Hellenized barbarians. This immediately caused a wonderful (economic-aesthetic, but not intellectual) flowering, which completely destroyed the primitive racial stability and strength. In any Tatar one can immediately feel a subtle hereditary culture, but it is infinitely fragile and unable to defend itself. One hundred and fifty years of brutal imperial rule over the Crimea tore the ground out from under their feet, and they can no longer put down new roots, thanks to their Greek, Gothic, Italian heritage.

Poet of the Silver Age M. Voloshin (1877-1932)

2. Tatar art: architecture, carpets, majolica, metal chasing - all this is over; There are still fabrics and embroidery left. Tatar women, by innate instinct, still continue to weave precious plant patterns from themselves, like silkworms. But this ability is also running out.

3. It is difficult to consider the fact that several great Russian poets visited Crimea as tourists or travelers, and that wonderful writers came here to die from tuberculosis as an introduction to Russian culture. But the fact that the lands were systematically taken away from those who loved and knew how to cultivate them, and those who knew how to destroy what had been established settled in their place; that the hardworking and loyal Tatar population was forced into a series of tragic emigrations to Turkey, in the fertile climate of the all-Russian tuberculosis health, everyone died out - namely, from tuberculosis - this is an indicator of the style and character of Russian cultural trade.

Voloshin's house in Koktebel

4. Never (...) this land, these hills and mountains and plains, these bays and plateaus, have experienced such free plant flowering, such peaceful and deep happiness” as in the “golden age of the Gireys”

Voloshin loved to paint landscapes about Koktebel, since he lived here most of his life

5. The Tatars and Turks were great masters of irrigation. They knew how to catch the smallest stream of soil water, direct it through clay pipes into vast reservoirs, they knew how to use the temperature difference, which produces exudates and dew, and they knew how to irrigate gardens and vineyards on the slopes of mountains, like a circulatory system. Hit any slate, completely barren hillside with a pickaxe and you will come across fragments of pottery pipes; at the top of the plateau you will find funnels with oval turned stones, which were used to collect dew; in any clump of trees that has grown under a rock, you will distinguish a wild pear and a degenerate grapevine. This means that this entire desert a hundred years ago was a blooming garden. This entire Mohammedan paradise has been completely destroyed.
6. In Bakhchisarai, in the Khan's palace, turned into a museum of Tatar art, around the artist Bodaninsky, a Tatar by birth, the last sparks of folk Tatar art continue to smolder, fanned by the breath of several people guarding it.

7. The transformation of the Crimean Khanate into the Tauride province was not favorable for Crimea: completely separated from the living waterways leading through the Bosphorus and associated only with the “wild field” by economic interests, it became a Russian provincial backwater, no more significant than the Gothic, Sarmatian Crimea , Tatar.

8. The Tatars provide, as it were, a synthesis of the entire diverse and variegated history of the country. Under the spacious and tolerant cover of Islam, Crimea's own authentic culture flourishes. The whole country from the Meotian swamps to the southern coast turns into one continuous garden: the steppes bloom with fruit trees, the mountains with vineyards, the harbors with feluccas, the cities gurgle with fountains and hit the sky with white minarets.

9. Times and points of view change: for Kievan Rus, the Tatars were, of course, a Wild Field, and the Crimean Khanate was for Moscow a formidable nest of robbers, pestering it with unexpected raids. But for the Turks - the heirs of Byzantium - and for the kingdom of Giray, who had already accepted in blood and spirit the entire complex legacy of the Crimea with its Greek, Gothic and Italian ores and, of course, the Russians were only a new rise of the Wild Field.

Here, in these folds of sea and land,
The mold did not dry out human cultures -
The space of centuries was cramped for life,
So far, we – Russia – have not arrived.
For one hundred and fifty years - from Catherine -
We have trampled the Muslim paradise,
They cut down the forests, opened up the ruins,
They plundered and ruined the region.
Orphaned sakli gape;
Gardens have been uprooted along the slopes.
The people left. The sources have dried up.
There are no fish in the sea. There is no water in the fountains.
But the mournful face of the numb mask
Goes to the hills of Homer's country,
And pathetically naked
Her spines and muscles and ligaments

Incredibly beautiful landscapes of Crimea

Incredibly beautiful landscapes of Crimea!

Crimea is an amazing place. Nature has endowed it with unique beauty and all kinds of riches. Crimea captivates with its enchanting nature and leaves an indelible impression, and its majestic mountains simply captivate, especially if you see them for the first time. Geologically, the mountain structures of Crimea are part of the Alpine folded geosynclinal region, in contrast to the flat part of the Crimean Peninsula, which has a platform structure and belongs to the Scythian plate. The folded region of the Crimean Mountains is a large blocky uplift, the southern part of which, as a result of young subsidence, is submerged under the level of the Black Sea. It is composed of intensely dislocated Triassic-Jurassic flysch deposits and calmer Upper Jurassic carbonate and sandy-clayey and Cretaceous, Paleogene and Neogene strata. Associated with them are deposits of iron ores, various salts, fluxing limestones, etc. Movements along faults continue here, causing earthquakes.

Incredibly beautiful nature, warm climate and the sea make the southern coast of Crimea one of the most beautiful resort places. There are thousands of outstanding places that are shrouded in many secrets and legends. The beauty of the Crimean mountains is extraordinary! The Crimean Mountains separate the southern coast from the northern part. Everyone who prefers a mountain holiday in Crimea is attracted by the various ridges, rocks, and peaks of these mountains.

The Crimean mountains form three ridges, which have southern and northern slopes - Main, Internal and External. If you look at them from a bird's eye view, you can see how the Baydar plateau gives way to Ai-Petri, which turns into the Yalta yayla. Nikitskaya yayla adjoins Gurzufskaya, then Babugan-yayla, which is the center of the main ridge, and below it is the very heart of the South Coast. Closer to the eastern part, the ridge breaks and forms mountains called Chatyr-Dag and Demerdzhi. In this part of the peninsula there are the Kerch hills, the steppe, and the coast of the Azov Sea.

The main ridge of the Crimean Mountains is an elevated block bounded on the north by a number of faults. This structure arose already in the Early Cretaceous after the residual synclinal troughs of the southern part of Crimea closed and a general uplift of the surface occurred. In the geological history of the Crimean Mountains, two stages can be distinguished: Precambrian-Paleozoic and Mesozoic-Cenozoic (Alpine).

Scientists believe that in the Mesozoic era the Crimean peninsula was a group of volcanic islands - it was then that the main geological structures of the mountainous Crimea were formed. The land rose and fell, the ocean came and went for a long time, for thousands of years. This complex dramatic history of the Crimean Mountains can be read in their folded floors. The main ridge of the Crimean mountains, flat from the north and steeply sloping to the south, with large plateaus, separated and fenced off the southern coast of Crimea from the north, gave rise to short rivers on the southern slope that almost dry up in summer, and relatively long rivers flowing to the west and to north.

The length of the main ridge of the Crimean Mountains is about 110 kilometers (from Feodosia to Balaklava), the maximum height of the Crimean Mountains is 1545 meters, this is Mount Roman-Kosh. The southern coast of Crimea is a mountain kaleidoscope. The mountains separate the coast from the northern part of the peninsula and attract with a wide variety of ridges, peaks, cliffs, and plateaus to everyone who loves a mountain holiday in Crimea. (Wikipedia)

selection made by Valery Chekalin

“Crimean Journal” has collected 20 of the most striking and iconic quotes from statesmen, politicians, artists, musicians and athletes about Crimea during the two years that the peninsula was part of Russia.

Valentina Matvienko, Chairman of the Federation Council of the Federal Assembly of the Russian Federation:

“The annexation of Crimea to Russia is not aggression or annexation. This is an almost 100 percent expression of the will of the residents of Crimea, who, in accordance with international law, with the documents of the UN Security Council, have shown their will, this is a priority. No one can cancel or bargain on the right of the population and residents of Crimea to determine their fate. There can be no compromises here.”

Sergei Naryshkin, Chairman of the State Duma of the Russian Federation:

“First of all, the self-determination of Crimea is the will of the Crimeans and Sevastopol residents, supported by all the people of Russia. What kind of “refusal” (of Russia from Crimea - Ed.) could there be? Perhaps our Western opponents judge Russia by themselves, and for them the will of the people, people’s opinions, and historical memory really mean nothing.”

Vladimir Putin, President of the Russian Federation:

“After a difficult, exhausting voyage, Crimea and Sevastopol return to their native harbor, to their permanent home port - Russia. Thanks to the people of Crimea and Sevastopol for their consistent position. We were very worried about them, and Russia opened its whole heart, its whole soul for them.”

Dmitry Medvedev, Prime Minister of the Russian Federation:

“2014 for all of us, for the whole country, without exaggeration, became the Year of Crimea, which returned to Russia. For many, the return of Crimea was the restoration of historical justice, which in strength and significance is comparable to the fall of the Berlin Wall and the unification of Germany or the return of Hong Kong and Macau to China.”

Sergei Lavrov, Minister of Foreign Affairs of the Russian Federation:

“The issue with Crimea, I think everyone understands this, is closed. It was closed by the people of Crimea and the decisions made by the Russian Federation. I think Crimea is a special, unique case from all points of view. Historically, geopolitically, patriotically, if you like.”

Ramzan Kadyrov, head of the Chechen Republic:

“The Crimeans needed support, they publicly declared that they wanted to return to their home - to Russia. I, as a citizen of the Russian Federation, as a soldier, had to respond. I didn't just call. We were ready to fulfill any tasks assigned to us by the Supreme Commander-in-Chief.”

Nikolai Patrushev, Secretary of the Security Council of the Russian Federation:

“Crimea joined the Russian Federation not because Russia wanted it, but because the population of the peninsula held a referendum and decided by an absolute majority: we want to live as part of Russia, and not as part of Ukraine. The only real alternative to Crimea becoming part of the Russian Federation was mass bloodshed on the peninsula. Therefore, I am convinced: the world community should thank us for Crimea. Thank you for the fact that in this region, unlike Donbass, there was no mass death of people.”

Mikhail Gorbachev, first and last president of the USSR:

“In Crimea, everything happened at the request and desire of the people. It’s good that they went this route, through a referendum, and showed that people really want to return to Russia, showed that no one is driving people there anywhere. The people of Crimea need to responsibly and skillfully manage the happiness they have acquired. I believe that this event is happy and should be perceived as such. The return of the sovereignty of Crimea is the basis. And, taking advantage of its sovereignty, Crimea expressed its desire to be with Russia. Which means it's happiness. This is freedom of choice, without which nothing should exist. It may not be easy, but the international community needs to accept reality and perceive Crimea as part of Russia.”

Vladimir Zhirinovsky, deputy of the State Duma of the Russian Federation, leader of the LDPR:

“Crimea can become a residence, a political Mecca. There you can build a residence, the headquarters of the United Nations, remove it from the United States and move it to Crimea, so that Crimea would also unite all the nations of the world, and most importantly, communication would be convenient. Crimea has a very bright future in all respects.”

Nikita Mikhalkov, Russian film director, actor, screenwriter:

“I invited several (foreign film stars. - Ed.) not even to Crimea, to Moscow. One says he is busy, the other has a contract. But I am convinced that as soon as this (Crimea as part of Russia - Ed.) becomes a natural thing for the whole world, everyone will come here. There is no such sea and such coastline, such saturated air anywhere, this place is unique. This is the cradle of the baptism of Orthodox Rus'.”

Alexander Pyatkov, actor, People's Artist of Russia:

“There is the Power and the Law of Truth - and everything returns to normal, and no one can cancel this law, just like the fact that Crimea painlessly, without shots, but only at the request of the people themselves, became part of Russia. It is clear that many (Ukrainian - Ed.) oligarchs have lost villas, dachas, income, and business in Crimea. But when Crimea was stolen from Russia, God took it and gave it back. And excuse us that we took Crimea, but everyone come there - let Ukrainians and Americans live there, let them come and swim. Let's live together as we lived before. And we won’t fight.”

Alexander Lukashenko, President of Belarus:

“You know my position on Crimea. They set themselves up (the Ukrainian authorities - Ed.): you think that this is your land - you had to fight for it. If you didn’t fight, it means it’s not yours, and there’s no point in suffering and groaning today.”

Nicolas Sarkozy, ex-president of France:

“Crimea chose Russia. We can't blame him for this. We have a common civilization with Russia. The interests of Americans and Russians are not the interests of Europe and Russia. We don't want the resurrection of a new Cold War."

Thierry Mariani, member of the French National Assembly:

“I myself come from the south of France. And I can say for sure: even the smells here are the same as in my homeland. This morning when I woke up I heard cicadas chirping. This sound wakes me up at home. And then, people here are very open and direct - the same as in my homeland.”

Marine Le Pen, leader of the French National Front party:

“The EU supported the coup in Ukraine, which allowed the residents of Crimea to choose to join Russia, because Crimea, as we know, is Russian territory. There shouldn't be any other way of looking at it. “I believe that the European Union has not admitted its mistake in the Crimean issue, and now it is time to come to terms with this assessment of events before making other mistakes.”

Silvio Berlusconi, former Prime Minister of Italy:

“87 percent of Crimean residents participated in the referendum, 93 percent voted for secession from Ukraine, to become an autonomous republic, to become part of the Russian Federation. You should have seen the love, respect and friendliness with which they greeted Putin. Women throw themselves on his neck with the words “Thank you, Vladimir.”

Janusz Korwin-Mikke, Member of the European Parliament from Poland:

“I said 25 years ago that Crimea should belong to Russia. They (the Ukrainian authorities - Ed.) must finally understand that no one will give them Crimea. The vast majority of the peninsula's population does not want to return. I myself was in Crimea and talked to people on the street.”

Joe Lynn Turner, American rock musician, ex-vocalist of Rainbow and Deep Purple:

“Here (in Crimea - Ed.) only positive things will happen, since the truth is on your side. I'm not afraid of sanctions. Are they (US authorities - Ed.) going to put me in prison? It’s against God, it’s unfair, it’s all Western propaganda. There is not a word of truth in the West about what is really happening in Crimea.”

Fred Durst, musician, lead singer of Limp Bizkit (USA):

“I can help Americans understand how beautiful Russia is. I will create films, TV series, music, new brands in Crimea, but at the same time I need to have two passports - this is important. I think there will be no problems with this. I would be happy if I had a Russian passport and a nice house in Crimea.”

Roy Jones Jr., former world boxing champion in four weight categories:

“There are a lot of happy, kind people here (in Crimea - Ed.). I think that sport should help not only them, but also your country to build a bridge with the United States.”

Before the light I fell asleep. Meanwhile, the ship stopped in sight of Yurzuf. When I woke up, I saw a captivating picture: the multi-colored mountains were shining, the flat roofs of the Tatar huts from a distance seemed like beehives attached to the mountains, the poplars, like green columns, rose slenderly between them, on the right was the huge Ayu-Dag... and all around was the blue, clear sky, and bright the sea, and the shine and the midday air...

Alexander Sergeevich Pushkin

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Crimea is a wonderful land. It resembles the French Cote d'Azur, but its landscapes are harsher. All around there are high rocky mountains, on the slopes there are pine trees, right up to the shore, the sea is changeable: peaceful and radiant in the sun and terrible in a storm. The climate is mild, there are flowers everywhere, a lot of roses. - “Prince Felix Yusupov. Memoirs"

Felix Yusupov

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I don’t feel the beauty in the Crimea and the Riviera, I love river sow thistle, I believe in thistles.

Boris Pasternak

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We'll move on. We will make a network blockade, then there will be a naval blockade, that is, Crimea will be in complete isolation. This will include a blockade of the Kerch crossing. Let them not get too sophisticated and think that we can’t do it

Lenur Islyamov

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In spite of frantic worries, you, wild and fragrant land, like a rose given to me by God, sparkle in the temple of memory. O quiet valleys, midday trembling over the grass and a hill of quail flight... O strange reflection of the ancient chalk crevices, where peonies bloom at the edge, the scales of the thistle are stained, and the orchid turns purple... - “Crimea”, 1920

Vladimir Nabokov

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In the untapped freshness of early childhood, everything in the world seems good for the sole reason that there was morning and there was evening, because then life’s spiritual eyes open for the first time, and the heart begins to tremble for the first time with the happiness of being. But when this childish trembling subsides and becomes foggy over the years, when, in the poet’s words: “Everyone is aware and only repetition promises the future,” then, reader, go south, go to the Crimea. You will drink living water in its air and resurrect unforgettable moments of your childhood happiness. I have already lived through the Crimean summer and Crimean autumn, and I can now say that, even in Crimea, there is nothing like the Crimean spring. She especially charms the newcomer, the Russian guest who is not pampered at home.

Evgeniy Markov

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The freshness of mountain waters and mountain peaks, not yet completely free of snow, perhaps even the freshness of the sea, felt behind the mountains, breathes in the steppe air, the grass is brighter, more colorful, thicker. Valleys wind between the hills, that is, endless gardens. These gardens of the Crimean valleys have nothing like them in Russia. It’s hard to even exchange their beauty for rocks and the sea, which are newer to us. A beautiful Italian poplar, slender, end-to-end, sometimes gracefully grouped, sometimes running away in rows - this is the main charm of the valley. Without poplar, Crimea is not Crimea, the south is not south. I saw these poplars here in Russia, but I never imagined such a wealth of charm in them. At the first thought of the Crimean landscape, a poplar tree rises in my head. With him it begins, with him it ends. It is impossible to explain this impression, but I am sure that every Crimean traveler, not devoid of a living sense of nature, was immediately enchanted by the Crimean poplar.

Evgeniy Markov

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corr.: The Minister of Foreign Affairs of France, which chairs the EU, Mr. Kouchner recently expressed concern that the next conflict, after the conflict in South Ossetia, could be Ukraine, namely Crimea and Sevastopol, as a base for the Russian Navy. Are Crimea and Sevastopol such a target for Russia? - Crimea is not a disputed territory. There was no ethnic conflict there, unlike the conflict between South Ossetia and Georgia. And Russia has long recognized the borders of today’s Ukraine. We have, in fact, completed, by and large, our negotiations on the border. We are talking about demarcation, but this is already a technical matter. The question of some similar goals for Russia, I think, smacks of provocative meaning. There, within society, in Crimea, complex processes are taking place. There are problems of the Crimean Tatars, the Ukrainian population, the Russian population, and the Slavic population in general. But this is an internal political problem for Ukraine itself. We have an agreement with Ukraine regarding the presence of our fleet until 2017, and we will be guided by this agreement. - interview with German broadcaster ARD, August 29, 2008

Vladimir Putin

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We walked in a dry and dusty haze Along the hot Crimean clay, Bakhchisarai, like a khan in the saddle, Dozed in a deep hollow. And on this day in Chufut-Kale, Having picked dry immortelle flowers, I scratched on the rock: “The twentieth year. Goodbye Russia."

Nikolay Turoverov

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Crimean beauty is colorful. There is no richer palette in the world. There are such colors here that you don’t even know the name of the color. But surrounded by tulips and roses, I was not covered in oblivion with duckweed: the light haze of your hair will not be covered by any paint in the Crimea.

Yaroslav Smelyakov

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The population was Tatars, a picturesque, cheerful and hospitable people. Women wore trousers, bright fitted jackets and embroidered skullcaps with a veil, but only married women covered their faces. The young ones have forty braids. Everyone painted their nails and hair with henna. The men wore astrakhan hats, bright shirts and boots with narrow tops. Tatars are Muslims. The minarets of mosques rose above the flat roofs of lime-whitened Tatar houses, and in the morning and evening the muezzin’s voice called from above to prayer. - “Prince Felix Yusupov. Memoirs"

Felix Yusupov

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In Crimea, literally everything is permeated with common history and pride. Here is Ancient Chersonesos, where Saint Prince Vladimir was baptized. His spiritual feat - turning to Orthodoxy - predetermined the common cultural, value, civilizational basis that unites the peoples of Russia, Ukraine and Belarus. In Crimea there are graves of Russian soldiers, through whose courage Crimea was taken under the Russian Empire in 1783. Crimea is Sevastopol, a legendary city, a city of great destiny, a fortress city and the birthplace of the Russian Black Sea Navy. Crimea is Balaklava and Kerch, Malakhov Kurgan, Sapun Mountain - each of the places is sacred to us, these are symbols of military glory and unprecedented valor. Crimea is a unique fusion of cultures and traditions of different peoples, and in this way it is so similar to Greater Russia, where over the centuries not a single ethnic group has disappeared or dissolved

Vladimir Putin

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We will form a battalion that will prepare to enter Crimea... and will be there to clear Crimea from those “separators” who have settled there, and from those unwanted elements, from enemy elements that will remain there after the liberation of Crimea

Lenur Islyamov

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