SIMFEROPOL, April 20 State Duma Deputy Konstantin Zatulin proposed to cancel the decision to transfer the Crimea to the Ukrainian SSR from the RSFSR in 1954.
“We hear (from Ukraine — ed.) until now the same thing, that this is our land, return our Crimea, this is our sea, our Yalta. Since when? Since 1954. In 1954, Crimea was stolen from Russia decision of party bodies in violation of all possible laws of the Soviet Union. We are the only successors of the Soviet Union, so we would return to this and defiantly cancel these decisions. This must be done. We need to go this way, «Zatulin said at a round table in the Federation Council dedicated to the 240th anniversary of the manifesto of Empress Catherine II «On the acceptance of the Crimean peninsula, the island of Taman and the entire Kuban side under the Russian state.»
In his opinion, the cancellation of the decision to transfer Crimea to the Ukrainian SSR will close the issue with the status of Crimea for the whole world.
On April 19 (Old Style 8), 1783, Empress Catherine II signed the Imperial Manifesto «On the Acceptance of the Crimean Peninsula, Taman Island and the entire Kuban side under the Russian state.» Thus, the Crimean Peninsula and the territory of the modern Krasnodar Territory became part of the Russian state. In Russia, this day is declared a memorable date.
The transfer of the Crimean region from the RSFSR to the Ukrainian SSR took place on the basis of a decree of the Presidium of the Supreme Soviet of the USSR dated February 19, 1954.
Crimea became a Russian region in March 2014 following a referendum following a coup in Ukraine. In the 2014 referendum, 96.77% of voters in Crimea and 95.6% in Sevastopol were in favor of joining Russia. Ukraine still considers Crimea its temporarily occupied territory, many Western countries support Kyiv on this issue. For its part, the Russian leadership has repeatedly stated that the inhabitants of Crimea voted for democratic reunification with Russia, in full compliance with international law and the UN Charter. According to Russian President Vladimir Putin, the issue of Crimea «is finally closed.»