Putin hails the 'return' of Crimea to Russia

 SEVASTOPOL, Crimea (AP) — Presiding over a triumphant spectacle of warships and fighter jets, President Vladimir Putin hailed the return of Crimea to Russia as the restoration of “historic justice” before a jubilant, welcoming crowd Friday on the holiday that Russians hold dearest.

In Ukraine’s east, where pro-Russia insurgents have seized government buildings and fought with Ukrainian forces, fatal fighting broke out in the city of Mariupol as a police station was set ablaze. The Associated Press saw at least three dead and Ukraine’s Interior Minister said around 20 “terrorists” and one policeman were killed.

Russia’s annexation of Crimea in March, a few weeks after Ukraine’s president was toppled and fled to Russia, was a key event in Ukrainian’s months-long crisis, which has now descended into violence.

Putin’s visit to the Crimean port of Sevastopol, where Russia’s Black Sea Fleet is based, was strongly criticized by both NATO and Ukraine’s Foreign Ministry, which said it trampled on Ukraine’s sovereignty and international law.

Ukraine is struggling with its most serious crisis in decades as insurgents in the east are grabbing buildings and territory, fighting the central government and preparing to hold a referendum Sunday on secession.

Putin’s two Victory Day celebrations, which included a massive show of military muscle in the annual Red Square parade in Moscow and then the extravaganza in Sevastopol, rubbed salt in the wounds of the interim government in Kiev without ever once mentioning its name.

In Sevastopol, Putin rode a cabin-cruiser type boat past hulking warships, issuing greetings to their crews, as warplanes and helicopters swooped over the vast harbor. He then stepped onto land for a short address to the tens of thousands on the shore who came to watch the spectacle.

Victory Day is Russia’s most important secular holiday and a key element of the country’s national identity, honoring the armed forces and the millions who died in World War II. This year it comes as Russia is locked in the worst crisis with the West since the end of the Cold War.

In his speech, Putin hailed the incorporation of Crimea’s 2 million people into Russia as “return to the Motherland” and a tribute to the “historical justice and the memory of our ancestors.”

He expanded on the theme in a later address at a commemorative concert, saying Russia respected other countries’ interests and “we ask that all of them show regard for our legal interests, including the restoration of historical justice and the right to self-determination.”

Crimea had been transferred to Ukraine in 1954 during Soviet times and remained under Ukrainian control until the March annexation, which has not been acknowledged by the West or Kiev. The annexation followed a hastily arranged referendum.  

Fighting exploded Friday in Mariupol, a city of 500,000 on the Sea of Azov that is on the main road between Russia proper and Crimea.

An Associated Press journalist saw three dead bodies near the police station, including one man in civilian clothes but with a police helmet. The Donetsk regional administration said three people were killed and 25 wounded during the fighting.

But Ukraine’s Interior Minister Arsen Avakov said in a statement that 20 “terrorists” and one police officer were killed as 60 insurgent gunmen tried to capture the police station and were rebuffed by police and the military.

Avakov said the government was ready to negotiate with those in the east who want to sit down for talks but vowed to destroy those who take up arms. He promised not to let Ukraine “turn into a burning buffer zone, where death will become the norm.”

NATO Secretary General Anders Fogh Rasmussen, meanwhile, repeated his stance that Crimea was not part of Russia.

“We consider the Russian annexation of Crimea to be illegal, illegitimate and we don’t recognize it,” Fogh Rasmussen said.