International

Crimea's prime minister has told the BBC the peninsula has returned to its historical Russian homeland and will never again be part of Ukraine.

Sergei Aksyonov said the annexation of the peninsula by Russia one year ago had been a "democratic act".

In a pre-recorded interview which aired on Sunday, Russian President Vladimir Putin said he had been ready to put nuclear weapons on standby at the time.

Mr Putin has not been seen in public since 5 March.

The Kremlin has denied rumours that he might be sick or even dead.

Mr Putin is due to meet the President of Kyrgyzstan, Almazbek Atambayev, in St Petersburg on Monday.

Mr Atambayev's office has confirmed on its website (in Russian) that he arrived in the Russian city on Sunday.

Crimea was formally absorbed into Russia on 18 March - amid international condemnation - after a disputed referendum boycotted by Crimeans loyal to Ukraine.

Earlier, unidentified gunmen had taken over the peninsula and Mr Putin admitted in the interview that he had deployed troops to support "Crimea's self-defence forces".

The action resulted in the US and EU imposing sanctions on Russian organisations and individuals, including Mr Aksyonov.