Crimean parliament are taking the matter of Crimean independence from the Ukraine to a public referendum on the 16th of this month.
Meanwhile the current unelected government in Kiev declare any such public vote to be 'unconstitutional.'

There has been some fast negotiating going on behind the scenes in Crimea. Either that or the US-backed coup in KIev was predicted and Putin already had his political moves ready to put into play in Crimea when it happened.