About the book: year / Much has been written about the “Crimean spring” of 2014 over the past five years, but Viktor Baranets’ book is the first most complete documentary and artistic study of this epochal theme. In addition to the documentary side of events, the author tried to look into the souls of his heroes - the main characters of this historical drama - be it the President of Russia or an ordinary citizen of Crimea, a soldier or the Minister of Defense, a participant in the Kyiv Maidan or an officer of the Russian Black Sea Fleet. For obvious reasons, the author resorted to “ writers’ speculations,” however, this does not change the essence of the events described. The author sought answers to his questions not only in the Kremlin offices, but also on trips to post-Maidan Ukraine and Crimea, where he met with both supporters of the return of the peninsula to Russia and opponents. He had the opportunity to find out what was happening in the Kremlin, in the Ministry of Defense, in the General Staff in those anxious days and nights when Kyiv was smoking in the frenzy of the Maidan. What exactly forced Yanukovych to flee? How did it happen? Some confidential documents of the Verkhovna Rada, the Security Service of Ukraine and confessions of witnesses to those events shed light on many interesting points. How was the unique operation on the peninsula prepared? Where did the “polite people” come from, whose actions sharply raised the authority of the Russian army in society? Foreign military experts were forced to admit that the actions of the “polite people” during the Crimean operation were highly professional. Starting from the hidden concentration of troops and the speed of their transfer to Crimea, and ending with the competent blocking of Ukrainian units in cooperation with the Crimean self-defense forces. The author is confident: “polite people” played a historical role in the return of Crimea. They, together with local self-defense units, not only saved the peninsula from a bloody civil war, but also provided all the conditions for peaceful and free expression of the will of Crimeans at the referendum on March 16, 2014. This book is a tribute to the Russian Soldier and Citizen of Crimea who restored historical justice.