War in Ukraine

This year marches were organized by the Right Sector, Svoboda, and the National Corpus radical organizations.

KIEV — To see the warfare of the future, head to the top floor of a nondescript office tower on a potholed street on the scruffy outskirts of Ukraine's capital. There, next to a darkened conference room, engineers sit at dark gray monitors, waging war with lines of code.

Russia on Monday will mark the fifth anniversary of Moscow's annexation of Crimea from Ukraine, condemned by the West but celebrated by most Russians.

President Vladimir Putin will take part in celebrations in the Black Sea peninsula, where he is also due to launch a new power station, the Kremlin said.

Moscow's 2014 takeover of Crimea was denounced by Kiev and the West as an annexation and led to sanctions against Russia, but it resulted in a major boost of Putin's popularity at the time.

In Russia, March 18 has been officially proclaimed as the "Day of Crimea's Reunification with Russia".

In Moscow, city authorities have thrown a street festival called "Crimean Spring" that hosts jazz concerts, cooking workshops and a photography exhibition a stone's throw from the Kremlin.

Up to 10,000 people are expected to take part in a flash mob in the Moscow region Monday, dancing to the Soviet-era song "Waltz of Sevastopol" — the Crimean city home to Russia's Black Sea fleet.

Hundreds are expected to participate in another flash mob recreating the Russian flag in the Crimean seaside resort Yalta.

- 'Ours forever' -

"For us, the question of Crimea is decided forever," Russian foreign ministry spokeswoman Maria Zakharova said several days before the anniversary.

"This is because its reunification with Russia was the result of the free will of the peninsula's people in a referendum," she added.

The March 2014 referendum, held by Crimean authorities, was not recognised internationally.

Putin signed a treaty with representatives from Crimea to make it part of Russia two days after the unrecognised vote, on March 18 2014.

Ukraine and much of the international community condemned the move as a violation of international law.

Last week, the United States, Canada and the European Union slapped new sanctions on more than a dozen Russian officials and businesses in response to Moscow's "continued aggression in Ukraine".

But Putin, whose approval ratings soared after Moscow took over Crimea, has repeatedly rejected any prospect of returning the peninsula to Ukraine.

"What, have you gone mad?" he told a journalist who asked him if there were any circumstances under which he would be ready to give up Crimea in a documentary aired last year.

"There are no such circumstances and never will be."

- 'Atmosphere of terror' -

"All these five years there has been an atmosphere of both open and hidden terror against the people of Crimea and international law," Ukrainian Foreign Minister Pavlo Klimkin told AFP.

The Crimean Tatars, a Muslim-majority community that is largely opposed to the annexation, have faced pressure from Russian authorities.

Russia has banned the Mejlis, the Crimean Tatars' elected assembly which resisted Russian rule, denouncing it as extremist.

"Crimea was taken away from the Crimeans, their homeland was taken away from them," Klimkin said.

Ukraine "feels pain for this every day" and that "the international community will never recognise" the annexation, he said.

But surveys show Russians are less enthusiastic about Crimea being under Moscow's rule than they were five years ago.

According to a survey published by the Center for Public Opinion (FOM) in early March, only 39 percent of Russians believe the annexation brought Russia more good than harm, compared to 67 percent in 2014.

A comedian whose political experience is limited to playing the president on TV is likely to top the first round of voting when Ukrainians go to the polls on Sunday.

Actor Volodymyr Zelensky's bid started as a long shot but he has leapfrogged establishment politicians amid public frustration over corruption and stagnating living standards.

The 41-year-old star of the political comedy "Servant of the People," which returned for its third season this week, is polling above 25 percent, well ahead of his nearest rivals.

If Zelensky wins the presidency he will lead a country of 45 million people that in recent years has known war, loss of territory and uprisings, and remains one of the poorest nations in Europe.

The main question now is whether incumbent Petro Poroshenko or ex-prime minister Yulia Tymoshenko will meet Zelensky in a run-off next month.

One recent survey put them neck and neck at around 17 percent, though another showed Poroshenko pulling ahead of ally-turned-foe Tymoshenko to make the second round.

Zelensky, who has a young support base, acknowledges that he has "no experience" but nonetheless insists he has the strength to lead Ukraine.

"I don't have all the knowledge but I'm learning this now," he told AFP in an interview this month.

"I don't want to look like an idiot."

Even in the final days of campaigning he has eschewed rallies and interviews in favour of playing gigs with his comedy troupe.

Critics point to the vagueness of his manifesto, the key pledges of which were chosen following a public vote on social media.

But supporters say only a brand new face can clean up Ukraine's murky politics.

Some accuse Zelensky of acting as a front for the interests of oligarch Igor Kolomoysky, who owns the channel that broadcasts the entertainer's shows, but he denies any political links.

- Standing up to Russia -

Poroshenko was elected president in 2014 after a revolution forced Kremlin-backed predecessor Viktor Yanukovych from office.

The pro-Western uprising was followed by Russia's annexation of Crimea and a conflict in eastern Ukraine between Kiev's forces and Moscow-backed separatists.

Poroshenko came in on promises to tackle graft, align Ukraine with the West and shut down the fighting in the east.

But five years on, corruption is widespread and the simmering separatist conflict has cost 13,000 lives.

"I am absolutely confident that despite all of Russia's attempts... the Kremlin will not block the European or Euro-Atlantic integration of my country," Poroshenko said after his final campaign rally.

The 53-year-old president has positioned himself as the only person able to stand up to the Kremlin and has promised to return Crimea to Ukraine if he is re-elected.

The pledge has been widely dismissed as unrealistic.

- Record number of candidates -

Tymoshenko — who was once known for her traditional plaited hairstyle but now opts for a more conventional pony tail — has focused on the cost of living.

She has promised to cut consumer gas prices in half and boost pensions as she appeals to an older base during her third bid for the presidency.

With a record 39 candidates on the first-round ballot, analysts say the race remains open despite Zelensky's dominance in the polls.

Barring a shock result in which one candidate crosses the 50 percent threshold in the first round, a two-person run-off is to be held on April 21.