That is beside the point. The region is under occupation; the referendum does not offer an option to stay in Ukraine. Under these conditions there is no need to coerce anyone at the polls.
The referendum is a sham. It did not allow Ukrainians to vote in Ukraine; it was called up in one week; the region is under military occupation; there is an edict by the powers currently in the Crimean Rada for secession regardless of the referendum; the pro-Ukrainian campaigning was forbidden.
That the majority of Crimea would like to join Russia or to secede is likely; that Crimea historically and culturally is more Russian than it is Ukrainian is true, but this referendum is not a way to find out. It is all the more puzzling why Putin needed to set up this farce while at the same time amassing an invasion force along the mainland border.
” It did not allow Ukrainians to vote in Ukraine”.
Are you hanging on fat drunk Khrusthev’s straws?
Falklands referendum didn’t allow the Brits to vote in UK.
Kosovo referendum didn’t allow Serbs to vote in Serbia.
Scotland referendum won’t allow the Brits to vote in UK.
Catalonia referendum won’t allow Spaniards to vote in Spain.
Get over it. Crimea is back to Russia where it has belonged since 1774 , after the Russian-Ottoman war under Catherine the Great. The Russian people of Crimea are happy. Why would you grudge them that?