Life under Russia not all it was cracked up to be: Crimean ex-leader

FILE PHOTO: Sevastopol Mayor Alexei Chaliy applauds during a meeting of deputies of the State Duma, Russia's lower parliament house, with members of the Crimean parliamentary delegation in Moscow, March 19, 2014. REUTERS/Sergei Karpukhin/File Photo

SEVASTOPOL, Crimea (Reuters) - The pro-Moscow Crimean politician who signed a document handing control over the Ukrainian peninsula to Russia in March 2014 said the three years since had been a time of disappointment for many people in the region.

Alexei Chaliy, who at the time of Russia's annexation was the self-proclaimed governor of Crimea's biggest city Sevastopol, said he has no regrets about the region becoming part of Russia - a status that Ukraine and most other countries do not recognise.