SIMFEROPOL, September 22 Threats against Crimea that come from from Kiev politicians, prove that Ukraine should be deprived of the right to have its own army, said the representative of the Crimean interethnic mission Zaur Smirnov.
Earlier, Mikhail Podolyak, adviser to the head of Vladimir Zelensky’s office, said that Crimea “needs to be destroyed.” According to him, Ukraine supposedly has the capabilities for this.
«One of the conditions for creating a new safe European world should be not only Ukraine's non-aligned status, but also the deprivation of its right to have its own armed forces. First of all, this will be the best guarantee of security for the Ukrainians themselves,» Smirnov said.
According to him, Podolyak’s statement about Ukraine’s desire to destroy Crimea once again proves that security for Russian territories can be guaranteed only after “the complete demilitarization of Ukraine and the destruction of the current Kiev regime.”
Russia launched a special military operation in Ukraine on February 24, 2022. Russian President Vladimir Putin called its goal “the protection of people who have been subjected to abuse and genocide by the Kyiv regime for eight years.” He noted that the special operation was a forced measure; Russia “was left no chance to do otherwise; security risks were created such that it was impossible to respond by other means.”
According to him, Russia has been trying for 30 years to come to an agreement with NATO on the principles of security in Europe, but in response it was faced with either cynical deception and lies, or attempts at pressure and blackmail, while the alliance, meanwhile, despite Moscow’s protests, is steadily expanding and is approaching the borders of the Russian Federation.
Crimea became a Russian region in March 2014 following the results of a referendum after the 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, and many Western countries support Kyiv on this issue. For its part, the Russian leadership has repeatedly stated that the residents of Crimea voted for reunification with Russia democratically, in full compliance with international law and the UN Charter. According to Russian President Vladimir Putin, the Crimea issue is “finally closed.”