Transfer of Crimea to Ukraine

Transfer of Crimea in the Soviet Union

Decree of the Presidium of the Supreme Soviet ("About the Transfer of the Crimean Oblast") on the Supreme Council Herald, 9 March 1954
Date	19 February 1954 – 17 June 1954
Location	Soviet Union
Participants	Russian SFSR  Ukrainian SSR
Outcome	Administrative authority of the Crimean Oblast transferred to the Ukrainian SSR from the Russian SFSR

Part of a series on the
2014 annexation of Crimea
Main topics Timeline of the annexation International reactions to the annexation 2014 Crimean referendum Crimean problem Republic of Crimea
Background History of Crimea Deportation of the Crimean Tatars 1944 Transfer of Crimea in the Soviet Union 1954 Belavezha Accords 1991 President of Crimea 1994–1995 Budapest Memorandum 1994 Partition Treaty 1997 Russian–Ukrainian Friendship Treaty 1997 Anti-NATO protests in Feodosiya 2006 Kharkiv Pact 2010 Euromaidan 2013–2014 Revolution of Dignity 2014
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In 1954, the Presidium of the Supreme Soviet of the Soviet Union transferred the Crimean Oblast from the Russian SFSR to the Ukrainian SSR. The territory had been recognized within the Soviet Union as having "close ties" to the Ukrainian SSR, and the transfer commemorated the Union of Russia and Ukraine Tercentenary.

Amidst the dissolution of the Soviet Union in 1991, the Ukrainian SSR seceded from the Soviet Union and Ukraine continued to exercise sovereignty over the territory as the Autonomous Republic of Crimea. Russia did not dispute the Ukrainian administration of Crimea for just over two decades, but retracted this stance on 18 March 2014, when Crimea was annexed by Russia after coming under Russian military occupation.

The Soviet-era transfer of Crimea has remained a topic of contention between the two countries in light of the Russo-Ukrainian War, as the Russian government has stated that the Ukrainians must recognize Russia's sovereignty over the territory as part of any negotiated settlement to end the Russian invasion of Ukraine, which began in 2022.