He was the first to ask Putin to send troops
Back on December 1, 2013, an appeal from city council deputy Sergei Smolyaninov to Russian President Vladimir Putin was posted on one of the Sevastopol websites. “...We ask you to provide military and other assistance to the fraternal people, the Government and the President of Ukraine to protect the sovereignty of the country, the Russian population of Crimea and other regions of Ukraine. We ask you to coordinate with the Government of Ukraine the introduction of armed forces into the territory of the country...