Russian President Vladimir Putin has confessed for the first time that he had planned on annexing Crimea and seize it from Ukraine two weeks before Crimea's referendum on self-determination.

Crimea was annexed to Russia on March 18 last year, after unidentified gunmen took over the peninsula. This incident in the Black Sea region was condemned by the international community.

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On television, Putin admitted that he had ordered the project of "returning Crimea" during an all-night meeting with his officials on February 22. He called the meeting after Ukrainian President Viktor Yanukovych was ousted from power.

Last year, Putin had mentioned that he made up his mind about Crimea, after confidential opinion polls indicated that 80 percent of Crimeans wanted to join Russia. Putin made the admission on television, as part of a forthcoming Russian documentary.

The trailer for this TV special, dubbed as "The Path To The Motherland," was shown on television on Sunday night. But the date for the airing of the full documentary has yet to announced.  

The Russian leader recalled that he had met with his officials for two days, from February 22 to 23, to plot the rescue of Ukraine's deposed president.

"I invited the leaders of our special services and the defense ministry to Kremlin and set them the task of saving the life of the president of Ukraine, who would simply have been liquidated," Putin narrated. "We all finished about seven in the morning. When we were parting, I told my colleagues that we are forced to begin the work to bring Crimea back to Russia."

On February 27 last year, unidentified armed men took control of the local parliament and government buildings in Crimea. They proceeded to raise the Russian flag.

The men appeared to be regular soldiers, but they were not wearing any insignia. Residents simply called them "little green men."

Putin eventually admitted he was the one who ordered the deployment of troops to Crimea, to supposedly stand behind the peninsula's self-defense forces.

TagsCrimea, Ukraine, Ukraine crisis, Russia