Crimea residents polled about militarization of peninsula / Screenshot

Residents of the Russia-occupied city of Simferopol have been polled about their attitude to the militarization of Crimea and their fear of an armed conflict.

That's according to the RFE/RL's Krym.Realii media outlet.

One of the pollees said she was against "militarization."

Read alsoRussia releases footage of troop withdrawal from Crimea after military build-up"The more weapons, the worse... [Yet] there is no fear of a military threat," she said.

Another Crimean resident said he is calm about the militarization of the peninsula and does not believe in "conflicts with Ukraine."

Another woman said that she had heard about the transfer of weapons to Crimea. "It's not we who should be asked, but we should ask," she said.

"I think our politicians will resolve this issue peacefully. Nobody wants war," another woman said.

Russian occupation of Crimea

  • Russia occupied Ukraine's Crimea in March 2014 after its troops had invaded the peninsula. An illegal referendum was held for Crimeans to decide on accession to Russia. De-facto Crimean authorities reported that allegedly 96.77% of the Crimean population had voted for joining Russia.
  • On March 18, 2014, the so-called agreement on the accession of Crimea and the city of Sevastopol to Russia was signed in the Kremlin.
  • The West did not recognize the annexation in response to which sanctions against Russia were introduced.
  • Ukraine's parliament voted to designate February 20, 2014, as the official date when the temporary occupation of Crimea began.