The Presidential Library website presents the history of relations between Crimea and Russia

On the eve of the anniversary of reunification of the Crimea and Russia, the Presidential Library presents rare books, archival materials, photographs and postcards relating to the history of the peninsula. Currently, the Presidential Library website features over 900 digitized items. It is planned to update the library’s collection with modern materials about the life of the region.

One of the first Crimean agreements was an agreement signed by the Grand Duke of Moscow, Ivan III and the Crimean khan Menli Giray. They concluded a military-political alliance against the Golden Horde, the Grand Duchy of Lithuania and the Polish Kingdom. Ivan Kalugin’s "Diplomatic relations of Russia and Crimea in the reign of Ivan III», published in 1855 and available on the Presidential Library website, tells about the signing of the agreement:

"It was the first step towards the rapprochement between Russia and Crimea: hence arose our diplomatic relations with the Crimea. Brought to life due to the far-sighted policy on the one hand and as a result of personal interests, therefore indispensible for both sovereigns, on the other, they were growing and evolving more and more with each passing year." In addition, the first national electronic library of Russia provides access to the text of a manifesto of Catherine II on the annexation of Crimea to Russia in 1783. The paper can be found in the 21st volume of the "Complete Collection of Laws of the Russian Empire."

Visual materials related to the Crimea are also widely available on the library’s website. These are photos and postcards depicting the extraordinary natural beauty of the region. For example, there is a photo album of the early 20th century, "Views of Crimea - Vues de Crimée”, and a collection of postcards of the Crimea of the late 19th - mid 20th century. The postcards depict the famous Yalta embankment, the piers of Sevastopol and Kerch, breathtaking, enchanting beaches of Yevpatoria, majestic Khan's palace in Bakhchisarai and amazing sea view from Koktebel. The earliest photographs date back to 1894. The collection was developed on the basis of materials from the Children's Museum of Postcards.

The Presidential Library has successfully fulfilled the task of creating a single regional network intended to bring together all the 85 regions of the Russian Federation. It develops an efficient cooperation with the Crimean peninsula as well. There are several electronic reading rooms of the Presidential Library operating in Sevastopol: at the Lazarev Maritime Library, the Sevastopol Presidential Cadet School, the Nakhimov Black Sea Order of the Red Star Higher Naval School, the Central Library system for adults.

In the near future, a regional center of access to information resources of the Presidential Library will open at the Franko Crimean Republican Universal Scientific Library in Simferopol. The opening is a part of the agreement signed between the libraries signed in December 2015. Currently, there is an electronic reading room of the first national electronic library of the country.