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Latest news on the region of Crimea, a peninsula de facto under the control of the Russian Federation, internationally recognised as part of Ukraine.

The Crimean Peninsula, located on the northern coast of the Black Sea in Eastern Europe, is an autonomous republic within the Ukrainian Republic, covering an area of 10,000 square miles (27,000 square km). The capital city of Crimea is Simferopol. The population of Crimea is about 2.4 million people, the majority of whom are ethnic Russians, with significant Ukrainian and Crimean Tatar minorities.

Crimea has a long and complex history. It has been inhabited since the Neolithic period and was a key centre of the Crimean Khanate during the Ottoman Empire. The peninsula was annexed by the Russian Empire in 1783 and remained part of Russia until 1954, when it was transferred to the Ukrainian Soviet Socialist Republic. In 1991, with the dissolution of the Soviet Union, Crimea became part of the newly independent Ukraine.

Since 2014, Crimea has been de facto under the control of the Russian Federation following the Russian military intervention in Ukraine and the subsequent annexation of the peninsula. The Ukrainian government and most of the international community do not recognise the annexation and consider Crimea to be Ukrainian territory.