Crimea referendum - official results

OFFICIAL: Crimea votes to join Russian Federation: 96.77% say YES

RT,

17 March, 2014

96.77 percent of the Crimean population has voted ‘for’ integration of the region into the Russian Federation. The turnout was 83.1 per cent.

The referendum saw a massive turnout, with 81.3 percent of the eligible voting population participating, the head of the Crimean parliament’s commission on the referendum, Mikhail Malyshev, said.

Alexey Yaroshevsky @Yaro_RT

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Final figures of #Crimea vote: 1,2 million (97%) for joining Russia, 32 thousand (2,5%) for staying with Ukraine

8:25 PM - 17 Mar 2014

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There were 1,233,002 votes ‘for’ integration, with the total number of those who voted standing at 1,274,096 people.

The referendum commission has not received any complaints, Malyshev stressed.

On Sunday evening, in Simferopol, the capital of the republic, at least 15,000 people have gathered to celebrate the referendum’s results in the central Lenin square, waving Russian and Crimean flags.

Next week, Crimea will officially introduce the ruble as a second official currency along with Ukrainian hryvna, Crimea's Prime Minister Sergey Aksyonov told Interfax. The dual currency is to be established in about six months.

Overall, the republic’s integration into Russia will take up to a year, the premier said. However, it wants to maintain relations with “economic entities, including Ukraine,” rather than burn bridges.

And in Kiev