ne of the leaders of the Russian Society of Crimea, Viktor Prusakov, stated that his organisation was ready for an armed mutiny and establishment of the Russian administration in Sevastopol. In September, Eduard Baltin accused Ukraine of converting some of his fleet and conducting an armed assault on his personnel, and threatened to take countermeasures of placing the fleet on alert. In May 1997, Russia and Ukraine signed the Peace and Friendship Treaty, ruling out Moscow's territorial claims to Ukraine.
Like in the rest of the Crimea, Russian remains the predominant language in the city, although following the independence of Ukraine there have been some attempts at Ukrainization with very little success. The administration from the Government of Ukraine retains formal control of Sevastopol's life (such as of taxation and police) and tries to avoid confrontation with the Black Sea Fleet command and pro-Russian groups. A few years ago, the city council, dominated by the Communist Party of Ukraine, rejected a European Bank for Reconstruction and Development loan to renovate Sevastopol's poor sewage system, declaring that the project was intended to increase the city's dependence on the Ukrainian government and the Western world.
The WE Youth Political Organization, which advocates Russian citizenship for Sevastopol residents, published a poll in 2004 claiming "72% of the Sevastopol citizens support the idea of the independent status of Crimea. The Crimea is an autonomous Republic within Ukraine. Besides, 95% of the respondents support the constant stationing of the Russian Black Sea Fleet in Sevastopol even after 2045, when the time of the corresponding agreement between Russia and Ukraine is up. Also, 100% of those polled are for the having the option for citizens of Sevastopol of dual citizenship, Russian and Ukrainian. It is notable, however, that of those expressing a desire to be able to obtain Russian citizenship only 16% of the Sevastopol
