KIEV (Sputnik) — Ukrainian Foreign Ministry voiced its protest over the trip of Russian Prime Minister Dmitry Medvedev to Crimea, a statement on the ministry’s website said Monday.
"Ukrainian Foreign Ministry expressed protest over Russian Prime Minister Dmitry Medvedev’s visit to the Autonomous Republic of Crimea, the territory temporarily occupied by the Russian Federation," the statement read.
Medvedev’s presence in Crimea was qualified by Kiev as "a blatant disregard of Ukraine’s sovereignty by the Russian authorities," according to the ministry’s statement.
Crimea seceded from Ukraine and reunified with Russia in March 2014 following a referendum, in which more than 96 percent, of the peninsula's electorate who voted in favor of joining Russia.