Putin's Referendum Farce: Russian soldiers oversee Crimea vote on joining Russia

We are outside the Cabinet of Ministers in Simferopol, the regional capital of Crimea. The new authorities here have decided to hold a referendum over whether Crimea should be a part of Russia. As you can see behind me, the Ukrainian flags which once flew here have been replaced by Russian ones. The rest of Ukraine and most of the international community believe that this referendum is illegal.