Under Ukrainian rule, an equivalent post, named President of the Republic of Crimea (Russian: Президент Республики Крым, romanized: Prezident Respubliki Krym), was provided by the 1992 Constitution of the Republic of Crimea (de facto a special statute), with jurisdiction over the autonomous city of Sevastopol too.

[2] The first presidential elections took place in 1994, won by the pro-Russian separatist Yuriy Meshkov (leader of a coalition named "Russia"), but on 17 March 1995 the Ukrainian parliament, as part of a wider process of reduction of the Crimean autonomy, unilaterally abolished both the statute and the post of President of Crimea.

[2] In the immediate aftermath of the revolution of Dignity, on 27 February 2014, Russian special forces without insignia[3] stormed the Crimean parliament.

The next day, 17 March 2014, Crimea's newly installed authorities declared independence and requested to join Russia.

[a] Under article 62 of the Constitution of the Republic of Crimea, approved by the State Council on 11 April 2014 and entered into force the following day, any Russian citizen who has reached the age of thirty can take up the post, provided that he has not been subjected to restrictions on civil and political rights.