Russian President Vladimir Putin has described a secret meeting with officials last year when Russia decided it would take Crimea — the Black Sea region that Moscow annexed from Ukraine last March . In a trailer for an upcoming documentary , shown on state-owned television late Sunday , Putin said that he met with security officials in February to make plans for saving Ukraine 's then-President Viktor Yanukovych , who fled power after months of pro-European protests in the Ukrainian capital . 'We got ready to get him right out of Donetsk by land , by sea or by air , ' he said . 'Heavy machine guns were mounted there so that there would n't be much discussion about it . ' Scroll down for video . Russian president Vladimir Putin , who has described a secret meeting with officials last year when Russia decided it would take Crimea . Putin said that after the meeting he told the security chiefs that they would be 'obliged to start working to return Crimea to Russia . ' The minute-long trailer was overlaid with dramatic music and sweeping shots of the Crimean coast . The channel , Rossiya-1 , did not specify when the full film would be released . The Kremlin originally denied that it had sent troops into Crimea , though Putin later announced on state television that Russian troops had been sent in . Yanukovych was safely on Russian soil by late February , when Russia 's military was establishing its presence in Crimea . Putin said that he met with security officials in February to make plans for saving Ukraine 's then-President Viktor Yanukovych , pictured . The virtually bloodless seizure of Crimea - a Black Sea peninsula with an ethnic Russian majority and where Moscow has a naval base - was followed by a pro-Moscow insurgency in the east of Ukraine . About 6,000 people have been killed in the fighting in eastern Ukraine . A fragile ceasefire , greed last month in Minsk , has largely held so far . Western governments have condemned Russia 's intervention in Crimea as illegal , with the European Union and United States imposing sanctions on Moscow . Ukrainian soldiers stand on top of an armoured personnel carrier in Berdianske . Western governments have condemned Russia 's intervention in Crimea as illegal . About 6,000 people have been killed in the fighting in eastern Ukraine . A fragile ceasefire , greed last month in Minsk , has largely held so far . Russian soldiers who took part have been given state medals with the citation 'For returning Crimea ' , which give the starting date of the operation as February 20 , before Yanukovich was ousted . Novaya Gazeta , a newspaper often critical of Putin , published details last month of what it said was a document presented to the presidential administration some time between February 4 and 12 last year . It said the document described a plan to annex Crimea and eastern Ukraine . The Kremlin called the newspaper 's report nonsense .
Trailer for a new documentary on President Putin shown on Ukrainian TV . Showed Putin talking about annexation of Crimea from Ukraine last year . Described a secret meeting when plans were made to take back Crimea . Said how they had to get then-Ukraine president Viktor Yanukovych out of Donetsk .