On April, 8th 1783 the empress Catherine II Great published the manifesto on acceptance "peninsulas Crimean" and some territories of Kuban into the Russian Empire/ That was the decision which had a huge strategic importance. On February 19th 1954 the Crimea became part of the Ukrainian Soviet Socialist Republic. This important political step was taken by a few Soviet leaders without considering the opinion of the Crimea inhabitants. Sixty years later - on March 16th, 2014 on a referendum the people of the Crimea made a historically crucial step to be a part of Russia.
Meetings in support of the Crimea swept across Russia. On March 18th the meeting was held in Ulan-Ude and the Historical Faculty students took part in the event.
On March 19th 2014 the Historical Faculty of the BSU held a discussion "The Russian-Ukrainian relations in the light of the Crimean question: history and present". The participants discussed questions of cultural historical links of the Russian and Ukrainian people, history of diplomatic relations between Russia and Ukraine, the Crimean question in a historical and political context. Special attention was paid to the results of the March referendum which is more legitimate form of the status change in the Autonomous Republic of Crimea than a spontaneous Maidan. The Russian President V. V. Putin introduced to the Federal Assembly the law on acceptance of two subjects – the Republic of Crimea and the cities of Sevastopol into the structure of the Russian Federation.