Crimea's parliament applied to become part of Russia on Monday, a day after a referendum in the southern Ukrainian region showed overwhelming support for joining the Russian Federation.

A Crimean parliamentary delegation is expected to arrive in Moscow on Monday to discuss the procedures required for the region to become part of the Russian Federation.

Crimea's parliament applied to become part of Russia on Monday, a day after a referendum in the southern Ukrainian region showed overwhelming support for joining the Russian Federation.

The region's parliamentary speaker said on Monday Ukrainian military units in the region would be disbanded although personnel would be able to remain there. Official returns show 96.77 percent of Crimean voters cast ballots in favor of joining Russia.

The Referendum Commission said the referendum saw a massive turnout, with 81.3 percent of the eligible voters casting ballots. Crimeans in Simferopol, the region’s capital, were seen celebrating the outcome of the referendum late Sunday night and early Monday morning.

This is the third such referendum in the the Black Sea peninsula's history.

"The number of votes in the Crimean referendum in support of the first question on whether you favor joining Russia as a subject of the Russian Federation came to 1,233,002, which corresponds to 96.77 percent of all voters," said Mikhail Malyshev, head of Crimean Referendum Commission.