In 1996 he became the leader of the Crimean regional organization for the
People's Movement of Ukraine. Pilunskyi spoke out against
Russia's annexation of Crimea and subsequently stopped attending parliamentary sessions. After leaving politics in 2014, he focused on his writing career, particularly in writing poetry and a multi-volume literary project about Crimean stories. Later in an interview, he stated he was in self-imposed isolation as he felt on the verge of a mental breakdown after what he observed of other former Crimean deputies "integrating into the Russian occupation system", and called them werewolves. He confirmed he would not return to politics, believing his political style that he called "non-opportunistic" was unneeded in Crimean or Ukrainian politics. == Personal life and death ==