Russia releases coin commemorating annexation of Crimea

Five years after annexing Crimea, Russia's central bank celebrated with a new five-ruble coin. The Kerch Strait Bridge, finished last year, has been a scene of division.

Russia’s central bank has issued a new coin featuring the Crimea, or Kerch Strait, Bridge to commemorate Crimea’s “reunification with Russia,” according to the bank.

Two million new five ruble (about $0.08, €0.07) coins were pressed which also show an outline of the peninsula annexed by Russia in 2014.

It is not the first tender depicting Crimea after the schism. Only one year after Russian separatists took over, the bank released a 200 ruble note in 2015 to reflect “the desire of the people of Russia to see these symbols on notes,” according to the bank’s chief, Elvira Nabiullina. The topic of Crimea was chosen by popular demand online.

The annexation of the peninsula was condemned by Kyiv and the West as illegal.