epa04129199 People hold Russian flags as they gather at Lenin Square after the end of the referendum in Simferopol, Crimea, Ukraine, 16 March 2014.More than 95 per cent of Crimeans voted for the Ukrainian region’s accession to Russia in a controversial referendum on 16 March, according to preliminary results. The Black Sea peninsula’s secession was supported by 95.5 per cent, while just 4.5 per cent voted for Crimea to remain an autonomous republic inside Ukraine, election authorities said after half of the votes were counted, according to Russian media. The referendum was widely condemned as illegal by Western governments. The European Union and the US threatened sanctions against Russia, which they accuse of invading and annexing the Ukrainian territory. EPA/YURI KOCHETKOV
