Given the doubtfulness of the legal justification of Crimea’s declaration of independence on March 11 2014, which was followed by a referendum on March 16 that culminated in the peninsula’s treaty with Moscow to join the Russian Federation, Mr Putin used his speech on March 18 to put historical arguments forward in an effort to legitimise the Russian course of action in front of his own population. The speech counters the international community’s legal assessment, which classified Crimea’s accession to Russia as an annexation, with a historical legitimisation full of symbolism and mysticism that blatantly reinterprets Russian history and delegitimises the territorial integrity of Ukraine. This article analyses Putin’s attempt to justify Russia’s annexation of Crimea and tries to infer the mindset and aims that lie behind his historic-political argumentation.