The Crimea Referendum in Pictures

Residents of Crimea vote in a referendum on their region's secession from Ukraine and annexation into Russia on March 16, 2014.

Parishioners gather for Sunday Mass at the main Ukrainian Orthodox Church in Crimea on March 16, 2014. The leaders of the Ukrainian Orthodox Church urged their congregations to boycott the referendum.

Sergei Yurchenko, the leader of a pro-Russian paramilitary force in Crimea, votes in his hometown Bakhchysarai on March 16, 2014

Members of the Cossack paramilitary force in Crimea guard a checkpoint on the highway leading to the city of Sevastopol, home of Russia's Black Sea naval fleet, on March 16, 2014.

A jubilant crowd in Crimea waits for the results of the referendum in the Crimean city of Sevastopol on March 16, 2014.