Putin praises Russian patriotism and claims: Ukrainians and Russians are one

 Putin praises Russian patriotism and claims: Ukrainians and Russians are one

Russia celebrates the one year anniversary of the annexation of Crimea as the Russian president claims Crimea has returned to its "native shores" 

By Roland Oliphant 3:33 PM EDT 18 March 2015

Vladimir Putin praised Russians for their patriotism on Thursday as the country celebrated the first anniversary of the seizure of Crimea from Ukraine.

Tens of thousands of people joined the president at a concert on Red Square to mark the annexation, which was announced in the Kremlin a year ago.

Mr Putin said Russians had demonstrated “composure and patriotism in support of the people of Crimea and Sevastopol returning to their native shores”.

The takeover was not about grabbing strategic territory, but about the fate of “millions of Russians, millions of our compatriots” and “the historic cradle of our spirituality and statehood”, he added.

In a dig at Kiev, the Russian leader also cast doubt on the very foundations of Ukrainian nationality, saying he was certain that “Russian and Ukrainians are one people”.

In Crimea itself concerts, motor rallies and parades celebrating the anniversary have been going on all week.

Russia formally annexed the Black Sea peninsula on March 18, 2014, after a mostly bloodless military takeover and a hastily-organised referendum.

The region has a largely Russophone population and was under Russian control until 1954, when Nikita Khrushchev, the Communist leader, made it part of Ukraine inside the Soviet Union.

The annexation last year proved wildly popular in Russia, but plunged relations with the West to a post-Cold War low, sparked Europe’s worst geopolitical crisis in a generation, and set the scene for a bloody war in eastern Ukraine that has killed more than 5,400 people.

The festivities came as Amnesty international said Crimea’s government had carried out a “catalogue of human rights abuses” against pro-Ukrainian critics since the annexation a year ago.

In a report, the human rights group accused the pro-Moscow regional authorities of presiding over an “unrelenting campaign of intimidation to silence dissent”.

“Since Russia annexed Crimea, the de facto authorities are using a vast array of bully boy tactics to crack down on dissent; a spate of abductions between March and September have prompted many vocal critics to leave the region,” said John Dalhuisen, Amnesty International’s director for Europe and Central Asia.

At least seven people abducted since the annexation last year are still missing, while an eighth abductee was later found dead with signs of torture on his body, the report said.