After Moscow seized control of the peninsula and ahead of an illegitimate referendum on whether it should become part of Russia, recruits to the new Crimean Army signed up for duty in a shambolic ceremony in an office car park.
The new Kremlin-backed Crimean Prime Minister Sergey Aksyonov insisted he was not Vladimir Putin's puppet but that it was the beginning of a new independent republic.
Eight years on, in 2022, Russian troops invaded Ukraine from Crimea.
Report by Guinnesse.
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