Ukrainian Air Force combat planes stored in the peninsula were redeployed to airbases in mainland Ukraine when Crimea was invaded. Including a MiG-29 that is now back to flight status.
When Russian forces invaded Crimea Ukrainian Air Force aircraft deployed near Sevastopol were dismantled, loaded on trucks and relocated to the mainland Ukraine.
But 7 healthy MiG-29, MiG-29UB two seater Fulcrums and 3 L-39 stored there remained on the Crimean repair plant.
Mothballed Fulcrums were quickly reassembled and put back to flight status to join the other Ukrainian air force MiG-29s, Su-27s, Su-25s, Mil Mi-24s and some Soviet-era UAVs fighting pro-Russia separatists in eastern Ukrainian (where Malaysia Airlines MH17 was shot down last month).
The Ukrainian Ministry of Defense has released an image of the first Mig-29 Fulcrum that was re-assembled and brought back to operational status.
Image credit: Ukraine MoD
There was no invasion of crimea by russian soldiers, because Russia had the right (by a contract valid to 2024) to have up to 20 000 soldiers in Crimea (note a over 60 % majority of russian people there).
So part of these russian soldiers “secured” (without russian national emblem on their outfit) the transformation of the autonomic Republic of crimea, say to leave the since Febr.2014 established putsch government in KIev, consisting of extreme right wing nationalist and anti-russian politicians, into the Russian Federation by a (even from OECD acknowledged) referendum.
This is the outcome when US and EU politcs are playing around in the Russian backyard in order to bring NATO (missiles threat) and corporations respectively supercapitalism at Russias borders.