Crimea. The Way Home

Crimea. The Way Home is a Russian propaganda television documentary about the annexation of Crimea by the Russian Federation in 2014. The film premiered both on Russian channel Rossiya 1 and on YouTube on March 15, 2015. Synopsis The film features an interview with Russian President Vladimir Putin disclosing various aspects of Crimean crisis. Putin, in particular, revealed that he had taken personal charge of Crimean annexation and that in case of "unfavorable scenario on the peninsula" Russia could have placed its nuclear weapons on combat readiness. In the documentary Putin tells he informed Russian top security officials of his intent to annex Crimea on 24 February 2014. Putin claims his decision to deploy Russian troops in Crimea was necessary to protect the population of Crimea "from violence and repression by Ukrainian nationalists." Production The film was produced over the course of eight months in Sevastopol, Simferopol, Kerch, Yalta and other Crimean localities. Aside from Putin's interview, other interviews with participants and witnesses of Crimean crisis were recorded. A total of 398 hours were shot, of which roughly 2.5 hours were chosen for the film.