''Crimea. The Way Home'' (russian: «Крым. Путь на Родину») is a Russian

propaganda Propaganda is communication that is primarily used to influence or persuade an audience to further an agenda, which may not be objective and may be selectively presenting facts to encourage a particular synthesis or perception, or using loa ...

television Television, sometimes shortened to TV, is a telecommunication Media (communication), medium for transmitting moving images and sound. The term can refer to a television set, or the medium of Transmission (telecommunications), television tra ...

documentary about the

annexation of Crimea by the Russian Federation In February and March 2014, Russia invaded and subsequently annexed the Crimean Peninsula from Ukraine Ukraine ( uk, Україна, Ukraïna, ) is a country in Eastern Europe. It is the second-largest European country after Russia ...

in 2014. The film premiered both on Russian channel

Rossiya 1 Russia-1 (russian: Россия-1) is a state-owned Russian television channel, first aired on 14 February 1956 as Programme Two in the Soviet Union. It was relaunched as RTR on 13 May 1991, and is known today as Russia-1. It is the flagship ch ...

and on

YouTube YouTube is a global online video sharing and social media platform headquartered in San Bruno, California. It was launched on February 14, 2005, by Steve Chen, Chad Hurley, and Jawed Karim. It is owned by Google, and is the second most ...

on March 15, 2015.

Synopsis

The film features an interview with Russian President

Vladimir Putin Vladimir Vladimirovich Putin; (born 7 October 1952) is a Russian politician and former intelligence officer who holds the office of president of Russia. Putin has served continuously as president or prime minister since 1999: as prime m ...

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.Vladimir Putin’s new faux documentary is trying to rewrite the history of his own aggression.

Slate Slate is a fine-grained, foliated, homogeneous metamorphic rock derived from an original shale-type sedimentary rock composed of clay or volcanic ash through low-grade regional metamorphism. It is the finest grained foliated metamorphic ro ...

(March 19, 2015)From 'Not Us' To 'Why Hide It?': How Russia Denied Its Crimea Invasion, Then Admitted It

Radio Free Europe Radio Free Europe/Radio Liberty (RFE/RL) is a United States government funded organization that broadcasts and reports news, information, and analysis to countries in Eastern Europe, Central Asia, Caucasus, and the Middle East where it says th ...

(February 26, 2019) 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 Ukrainian nationalism refers to the promotion of the unity of Ukrainians as a people and it also refers to the promotion of the identity of Ukraine as a nation state. The nation building that arose as nationalism grew following the French Revol ...

Production

The film was produced over the course of eight months in

Sevastopol Sevastopol (; uk, Севасто́поль, Sevastópolʹ, ; gkm, Σεβαστούπολις, Sevastoúpolis, ; crh, Акъя́р, Aqyár, ), sometimes written Sebastopol, is the largest city in Crimea, and a major port on the Black Sea ...

Simferopol Simferopol () is the second-largest city in the Crimean Peninsula. The city, along with the rest of Crimea, is internationally recognised as part of Ukraine, and is considered the capital of the Autonomous Republic of Crimea. However, it is u ...

Kerch Kerch ( uk, Керч; russian: Керчь, ; Old East Slavic: Кърчевъ; Ancient Greek: , ''Pantikápaion''; Medieval Greek: ''Bosporos''; crh, , ; tr, Kerç) is a city of regional significance on the Kerch Peninsula in the east of ...

Yalta Yalta (: Я́лта) is a resort city on the south coast of the Crimean Peninsula surrounded by the Black Sea. It serves as the administrative center of Yalta Municipality, one of the regions within Crimea. Yalta, along with the rest of Cri ...

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.

Reception

Before the film's release the Prime Minister of Ukraine

Arseniy Yatsenyuk Arseniy Petrovych Yatsenyuk ( uk, Арсеній Петрович Яценюк ; born 22 May 1974) is a Ukrainian politician, economist and lawyer who served as Prime Minister of Ukraine twice – from 27 February 2014 to 27 November 2014 and f ...

asked the Ukrainian Ministry of Justice to send the film to the

International Criminal Court The International Criminal Court (ICC or ICCt) is an intergovernmental organization and international tribunal seated in The Hague, Netherlands. It is the first and only permanent international court with jurisdiction to prosecute individua ...

. According to TNS Gallup Media, on the next day after the premiere the film had a TV rating of 40.6%. In

Moscow Moscow ( , US chiefly ; rus, links=no, Москва, r=Moskva, p=mɐskˈva, a=Москва.ogg) is the capital and largest city of Russia. The city stands on the Moskva River in Central Russia, with a population estimated at 13.0 million ...

, the film was watched by over 3 million people. The film was not without its critics in Russia, such as

Liya Akhedzhakova Liya Medzhidovna Akhedzhakova (russian: link=no, Лия Меджидовна Ахеджакова; born 9 July 1938) is a Soviet and Russian film, stage and voice actress who received the title of People's Artist of Russia in 1994. She received tw ...

and Victor Shenderovich.

Awards and nominations

On 25 July 2015, the film was a nominee in the category "TV Event of the Season" at Russia's 19th annual

TEFI TEFI (russian: ТЭФИ) is an annual award given in the Russian television industry, presented by the Russian Academy of Television. It has been awarded since 1994. TEFI is presented in various sectors (up to 50 nominations in 2008), such as telev ...

awards, and won a special jury prize "For the comprehension of contemporary history". On 25 August 2015, it received the Grand Prix of the 16th International TV & Cinema Forum "Together" in Yalta.

References

{{2014 Crimean crisis, state=collapsed Annexation of Crimea by the Russian Federation 2015 television films 2015 films Documentary television films Russian documentary films Russian television films Documentary films about Ukraine Annexation of Crimea films Russian propaganda films Documentary films about Russian politics