On 23 December 2015, the Bank of Russia issues a commemorative 100-ruble banknote, depicting famous landmarks of Crimea, commemorating last year's annexation of the peninsula. A total of 20 million pieces of the commemorative banknote will be printed.
The front of the note is devoted to the Republic of Crimea and features the Swallow’s Nest castle.
The back of the note is devoted to the federal city of Sevastopol and features the Sunken Ships Monument in the Sevastopol Bay and a patch of Ivan Aivazovsky’s painting ‘The Russian Squadron on the Sebastopol Roads’.
Both images are oriented vertically.
On a stripe below the Swallow’s Nest image you may find the QR code with the reference to the Bank of Russia website containing an historical background to this commemorative note.
The banknote is printed on light-yellow colored cotton paper. One side of the note is devoted to Sevastopol, the other one – to Crimea. А wide security thread is embedded into the paper. It comes out on the surface on the Sevastopol side of the banknote in the figure shaped window. Multitone combined watermark is located on the unprinted area in the upper part of the banknote.
Russia formally annexed Crimea in March 2014 by a controversial referendum after sending special forces troops there to take over key institutions and military bases.
The events unfolded against political chaos in Kiev, where Ukraine's ex-president Viktor Yanukovych was ousted by pro-Western protest leaders and fled.
Moscow later made Crimea and Sevastopol into two Russian regions, unleashing sanctions by the United States and the European Union over violation of Ukraine's territorial integrity.
Last year the Central Bank also issued a 10-ruble coin with Crimea imagery, dedicated to what Moscow deems a "reunification" of the peninsula with Russia.
