A referendum on autonomy was held in the Crimean Oblast of the Ukrainian SSR on 20 January 1991,^[1] two months before the 1991 All-Union referendum. Voters were asked whether they wanted to re-establish the Crimean Autonomous Soviet Socialist Republic, which had been abolished in 1945. The proposal was approved by 94% of voters.

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1991 Crimean autonomy referendum

20 January 1991
Do you support re-establishing the Crimean Autonomous Soviet Socialist Republic as a subject of the Union SSR and a participant of the Union Treaty?
Results
Choice Votes  % Yes 1,343,855 94.30% No 81,254 5.70% Valid votes 1,425,109 98.90% Invalid or blank votes 15,910 1.10% Total votes 1,441,019 100.00% Registered voters/turnout 1,770,841 81.37%

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After the referendum, the Crimean oblast was made an Autonomous Soviet Socialist Republic within the Ukrainian SSR.^[2][3][4]

The Crimean ASSR was originally created in 1921, as part of the Russian SFSR in the Soviet Union.^[5] Crimea was invaded by Nazi Germany during World War II, and when the region was reclaimed by the USSR in 1944, the Crimean Tatars and other ethnic groups were deported to Central Asia,^[6][7] and the ASSR was dissolved in 1945 with Crimea becoming an oblast of the Russian SSR.^[8] On 5 February 1954, it was transferred to the Ukrainian SSR.^[8] During the collapse of the Soviet Union at the start of the 1990s, the Russian SFSR declared itself sovereign on 12 June 1990 and the Ukrainian SSR declared itself sovereign on 16 July 1990.

In September 1990, the Soviet of People's Deputies of the Crimean Oblast called for the restoration of the Crimean Autonomous Soviet Socialist Republic together with the previous level of autonomy that the peninsula had enjoyed under the ASSR.^[9]

The referendum did not just call for the restoration for the ASSR, but further called for Crimea to be a participant in the New Union Treaty – an ultimately futile attempt by Mikhail Gorbachev to reconstitute the USSR. This would have meant that Crimea would have been a sovereign subject of the renewed USSR^[10] and separate from the Ukrainian SSR.^[11]

Following the referendum, the Supreme Soviet of the Ukrainian SSR passed the law "On Restoration of the Crimean Autonomous Soviet Socialistic Republic as part of USSR" on 12 February 1991, restoring Crimea's autonomous status. In September 1991, the Crimean parliament declared state sovereignty for Crimea as a constituent part of Ukraine.^[12]

It has been alleged that the Crimean parliament did not have the authority to make this decision, because according to USSR law, "On the procedure for resolving issues related to the withdrawal of a union republic from the USSR" from (3 April 1990) this issue could only be resolved via a referendum.^[13]