Four former Soviet republics are ready to recognize the reunification of Crimea with Russia. The leader of the extremist organization “Mejlis of the Crimean Tatar People”*, a deputy of the Verkhovna Rada of Ukraine, stated this on Monday, December 26, on the air of the 112 Ukraine TV channel. Refat Chubarov.
“It is painful for me that four states of the former Soviet Union - Armenia, Belarus, Uzbekistan and Kazakhstan - are almost ready to recognize Crimea as not the territory of Ukraine. I had a conversation at the Ukrainian Foreign Ministry, I think that here we must take some very specific actions, at least with the ambassadors of these countries. We must more clearly and firmly define our position regarding the inadmissibility of such behavior,” Chubarov said.
At the same time, Chubarov emphasized that Crimea remains not a “gray” but a “black” zone against the backdrop of Donbass. “There is the OSCE there, there are some contacts there (in Donbass - author's note), but in Crimea they (Russia - author's note) do not allow anyone. We are working in Kyiv in emergency mode with those members of the Mejlis who are on mainland Ukraine,” he noted.
To date, six countries have officially recognized Crimea as Russian territory. These are Afghanistan, Venezuela, Cuba, Nicaragua, North Korea and Syria. Some experts add to this list states that, without formally recognizing the reunification of Crimea with Russia, actually did so by voting against UN General Assembly resolution 68/262 adopted on March 27, 2014 in support of the sovereignty and territorial integrity of Ukraine.
Let us recall that on November 16, the General Assembly approved a resolution on the alleged violation of human rights in Crimea. The document was supported by representatives of 73 countries, 23 voted against it. In addition to Russia, these are Angola, Armenia, Belarus, Bolivia, Burundi, Cambodia, China, Cuba, Comoros, North Korea, Kazakhstan, India, Iran, Nicaragua, Serbia, South Africa, Sudan, Syria, Uzbekistan, Venezuela, Eritrea, Zimbabwe.
US President-elect Donald Trump announced his readiness to consider the issue of recognizing Crimea as part of Russia during his election campaign.
— The situation in the world may change so radically that Crimea may be recognized not only former countries USSR, but also other states: Türkiye, BRICS countries, I am convinced political scientist, head of the expert group “Crimean Project” Igor Ryabov.
“Chubarov feels these changes and, in fact, is trying to “persuade” reality not to come true so quickly. Another question is that recognition or non-recognition of Crimea does not yet affect the life of the peninsula. Crimea faces completely different tasks, which it solves by simple fact that he is complete Russian region. Reflections on the opinions of other states about Crimea are to a certain extent virtual. Yes, if Crimea were recognized, perhaps the crimes that the Ukrainian authorities are committing today together with the “Mejlis” and illegal armed groups that stand on the border with Crimea, blockading the peninsula, would receive a much harsher assessment. But even the blockade causes more damage to Ukraine than to Crimea.
"SP":— Belarus, Armenia and Kazakhstan are allies of Russia in the CSTO and members of the EAEU. Why haven't they recognized Crimea yet?
— The relative neutrality of these countries gives both them and Russia the opportunity to play special role V international politics. Look - Minsk and Astana today are a negotiating platform for both Donbass and Syria. And Belarus, in general, thanks to its skillful maneuvering in this matter between Ukraine and Russia, is benefiting economically. For a number of positions, it has become a key supplier and commodity hub for Ukraine. This is pure pragmatics. If Belarus recognized Crimea unilaterally, this would affect its current status, which has many subtleties.
"SP":— How did Uzbekistan, which does not participate in the integration projects carried out by Moscow in the post-Soviet space, get involved in this “company”? What can you expect from the new president of this country? Will he move closer?
— Uzbekistan is a key regional player. IN Central Asia The situation is not simple, and if the situation escalates there, help will have to be sought from Russia. Chubarov is also worried about Uzbekistan preventively: because this country has been a haven for thousands Crimean Tatars. The possible recognition of Crimea by Uzbekistan is of great concern to the Mejlis members.
"SP":— Currently, six countries have officially recognized Crimea as Russian territory. What do you think guided the authorities of these powers?
— These countries are looking to the future. Russia is their strategic partner, and Russia is growing stronger. Why should they, due to their long-standing specific relationship with the United States, listen to the voice of Washington? In addition, some of them were called “rogue countries”, so they are confrontational.
"SP":— Is it possible to expand the list to include other non-post-Soviet countries? If yes, then at what expense?
— Sooner or later, Crimea will be recognized by many states. Again, this depends on the speed of change in the world. If the elected US President is already ready to overestimate the essence of the events that took place in Ukraine as a result of the Maidan - and this is precisely the key point on the path to recognition of Crimea, then the same thoughts come to the minds of other representatives of the Western elite, especially those who stand on threshold of power in Europe. I think the future president of France will be ready to rethink the situation after February 2014. But the main thing is that with a high degree of probability the conductor function of the United States in the world will change, which is why many countries, especially neutral ones, will resolve the issue of Crimea at their own discretion. It is possible to predict in more detail the course of events after Trump’s inauguration. What he definitely won’t do is listen to Chubarov.
“The leaders of the Mejlis, banned in Russia, are professional liars who, unfortunately, still remain unpunished,” notes Crimean journalist Alexander Dremlyugin
- They long years profited from tragedy own people associated with the eviction from Crimea in 1944. Their anti-Soviet, anti-Russian, anti-people activities were supported for decades by powerful funding from abroad, in particular from Turkey. After the return of the peninsula to Russia and the expulsion of the Majlis from political life Crimea, this organization has practically lost its former relevance in front of its foreign sponsors. It has become much less in demand in the new realities, so its leaders have been bending over backwards for several years now so as not to completely fall to the sidelines of history and by any means to maintain the fading interest in themselves on the part of Ukrainian politicians. Recent history has proven that for this they are ready to commit any lies, manipulations, provocations and crimes, therefore their statements must be assessed accordingly, even when they say obvious things.
"SP":— How likely is what Chubarov is talking about?
— These countries did not support the anti-Russian resolution at the UN, so anything is possible. the main problem The fact is that the leadership of our country has still not formulated a new serious unifying idea for our region, and it categorically does not want to revive old Soviet ideas, which the overwhelming majority of the peoples of the neighboring countries would gladly support. Therefore, the emphasis is again placed on financial and economic cooperation, primarily among elites, and this, as we have already seen in the example of Ukraine, is not always the key to a successful and long-term partnership. Therefore, you should not be surprised by another “knife in the back.” Where there are no ideas, where everything is built exclusively around money, this is usually a matter of production costs.
"SP":— TO What other countries could recognize Crimea? Not necessarily from among former republics. What do they need for this?
— International legal recognition of the USSR stretched over two decades between two world wars, which completely changed the picture of our world. Soviet Union survived. In my opinion, the real strength of our state, the economic independence of the USSR served main reason his confessions. It’s the same now - Russia will be strong and independent, no matter how trivial it may sound, Crimea will definitely be recognized by all major international players. But this requires fundamental political and economic changes. Therefore, the question remains open. I say this as a person who, for a quarter of a century, without changing his registration, lived in three states. There would be someone to recognize, and the rest would be a matter of technology.
"SP":— Chubarov believes that Ukraine should take some very specific actions, at least with the ambassadors of these countries. “We must more clearly and firmly define our position regarding the inadmissibility of such behavior.” How will it look like? How else can Kyiv “work” with these countries, and what effect will this give?
— There are a lot of options to “work”: international economic pressure, bribery, deception, blackmail of elites, sanctions, threats to destabilize the situation in these countries, coup d’etat, persecution, physical elimination of political leaders. The West has enough tools to influence our post-Soviet countries. The West, but not Ukraine, which itself became a victim of a similar “elaboration”. Chubarov and his Mejlis members in this sense are collaborators, policemen, voicing options for action by the higher leadership. After the collapse of the Union, our fraternal countries unanimously entered into someone else’s game of the capitalist world, where the rules were not written by us, so they are trying to do whatever they want with us. To counter this requires extraordinary effort and will on the part of our leaders and our people. But methodological work Unfortunately, there are no signs of strengthening Russia, only emotional outbursts, which brought an intermediate result over a short distance, but are unlikely to help over a long distance. At the same time, the slow but sure destruction of the country continues; the spirit of 1991 has not yet been expelled from the corridors of power.
"SP":— According to Chubarov, Crimea remains not a “gray” but a “black” zone against the backdrop of Donbass. Does Kyiv really have no “contacts” in Crimea?
“I think that specialists from the special services would argue with these statements, since they are still regularly thinning out the Mejlis underground on the peninsula. In addition, in the power structures of the Crimean Republic there are still a lot of officials of past years, political chameleons, with whom Chubarov and his associates may still have connections, and, accordingly, some common murky affairs. Again, quite a lot of former Mejlis members still occupy leadership positions in Crimea. Therefore, in the future, one should not be surprised by high-profile and scandalous arrests. In addition, in Crimea, due to a number of factors: the economic crisis, the illiteracy of some officials, the sabotage of other officials, the extreme inefficiency and corruption of most of them, dissatisfaction with the current state of affairs is growing among the people. Every day you can increasingly hear the phrase that under Ukraine it was better and calmer.
This serious problem. Many people, including young people who grew up in the “House-2” paradigm, do not want to understand the details, preferring to think in propaganda templates. Being determines consciousness. Our “Maidan” opponents will try to take advantage of these dangerous trends, since many of our people, unfortunately, due to the lack of higher ideas, still have “Homeland where it’s warmer.”
* The Supreme Court of the Republic of Crimea recognized public association"Majlis of the Crimean Tatar people" is an extremist organization and banned its activities in Russia.
IN currently only six countries recognize our Crimea as part of the Russian Federation. Well, this is not so bad, considering the demonization of Moscow by Western countries. But it still seems that recognition from Afghanistan or Cuba is not enough. Firstly, these countries have nothing to do with Crimea, and it is unlikely that there will ever be economic cooperation between the peninsula and, say, Kabul. In addition, recognition did not entail any consequences for these countries, absolutely none.
Secondly, Nicaragua or the DPRK today are not among those states whose opinion is considered important in the world. In this regard, Russia lacks recognition from some more influential player in the international arena. Türkiye is perfect for this role. She has long been considered as a candidate for this role.
She has an interest in developing relations with Crimea - under favorable circumstances, Ankara could become the main supplier of products to the peninsula, and Turkish construction companies are always ready to come and build up almost the entire peninsula, in any case, representatives of Turkish business have repeatedly spoken about such opportunities. This, of course, is still only a theory, but it speaks too much for it. For example, Ankara has a powerful lobby on the peninsula in the form of the Crimean Tatars. No one will deny that in Crimea this national minority is represented in all spheres of government by very influential people. Of course, this is also facilitated by the proximity of the regions.
In general, Turkey could have very good a good relationship with Crimea. But something is not going well. Ankara has repeatedly refused to consider Crimea part of Russia, officially recognizing the peninsula as an annexed republic of Ukraine. For example, recently the head of the Turkish Foreign Ministry Mevlut Cavusoglu once again stated that Crimea has been annexed, and Türkiye will never give up these words. Why is Türkiye so principled, despite strengthening cooperation with Russia?
We decided to talk about this with Turkish economist Taner Beksoy.
“SP” - What is the reason for Cavusoglu’s recent statement on Crimea?
- He has political reasons. He held a meeting with part of the Crimean Tatar community loyal to Ukraine. He simply outlined to them Turkey’s official position: Turkey voted for the adoption of resolution 68/262 (UN General Assembly resolution on the territorial integrity of Ukraine - author) and has always officially advocated for Crimea to belong to Ukraine.
"SP": - Can Türkiye change its mind?
“We shouldn’t expect this in the coming years.” International politics - complicated thing, therefore, it makes no sense to talk about the complete independence of any of the countries. In Turkey itself, society has little interest in this issue, and in politics there are many people who advocate rapprochement with Russia and abandoning the need to follow European countries. This also applies to Crimea. But these people cannot change their official position. But they are allowed to develop economic cooperation projects with the Russian Federation, including Crimea. Now this cooperation is difficult, but thanks to the actions of this part of the Turkish elite, Ukraine does not prevent Turkey from developing projects in Crimea. Nobody bothers Turkish ships when they call at Crimean ports. This suits everyone, so there is no need to change your political position about this question. Türkiye is developing relations with Crimea as part of Russia, while officially recognizing the rights of Ukraine. Is not new approach, for example, like this for a long time Taiwan developed, and even today it is not officially recognized by most states, but everyone trades with it.
“SP”: — Is there a possibility that Turkey will recognize Crimea as part of Russia in the future and what is needed for this?
— It is still unknown what will happen after the elections (soon early presidential and parliamentary elections will be held in Turkey - author). But if the current president wins the election, then this possibility remains. This is explained by the position Erdogan on Russia, and his desire to make his policy independent of the European Union and the United States, but this requires many conditions. One of them is guarantees from Russia. Türkiye might think about Crimea if it were given exclusive rights to a number of economic projects in the region. This, of course, is not enough. First of all, there must be big changes in international politics, this largely depends on the actions Donald Trump, which has still not decided on its relations with Turkey. He likes Erdogan because they are similar in many ways, but this is not enough to build mutually beneficial relations between the states that each represents. In order for Erdogan to recognize Crimea Russian territories, we need either a major crisis in Turkish-American relations or progress in American relations with Russia.
The young Crimean republic was able to defend its rights to independence and joined Russia. 93% of the population of Crimea positively assessed the results of the referendum held in March 2014. And it doesn’t matter which countries recognized Crimea as part of Russia and which did not, the elections are considered valid and fair. A decree issued by the Kremlin recognizes the republic as a sovereign state.
Ukraine itself, succumbing to doubts about the fairness of the vote, prepared and sent a resolution document to the UN, blaming Russia. The UN, in turn, supported the applicant, but disputes about the current situation continue to this day.
Which countries still recognized Crimea as part of Russia?
The very first congratulations on the independence of the Crimean Republic were from Armenia, Kazakhstan, Cuba, and Bosnia.
The political head of Syria said that the peninsula has long been an indivisible part of the Russian Federation, and relations between the countries are friendly and promising. Also, Hadiya Abbas emphasized that the Crimean people independently decided to return to their country.
In obtaining independence of Crimea, direct support was felt from North Korea, Argentina, Bolivia, Venezuela and Abkhazia.
The Belarusian president also supported the inalienability of the peninsula from the Russian Federation.
Catalonia, dreaming of becoming independent from Madrid, sided with Russia.
The Nicaraguan authorities fully supported Russia. The country's ambassador believes that the will of the Crimeans should be fully supported. It was Nicaragua that, back in 2008, was one of the first to support the secession of South Ossetia and small Abkhazia.
The President of Afghanistan supported the will of the residents of Crimea to have the right to determine their own future. Moreover, Hamid Karzai made this statement at a meeting with a political delegation from the United States.
BRICS (South Africa, India, China and Brazil) recognized the unification of the southern peninsula with the Russian Federation and condemned the sanctions of the West, which caused a surge of indignation on the part of some European countries. In addition, the BRICS authorities agreed not to criticize or comment on the political work of the Russian president.
The American president expresses an incomprehensible position. It seems that he is against it, but at the same time he believes that the Russian side will eventually lay claim to the peninsula anyway.
Who didn't agree
Many Western countries have made statements of disagreement with the unification of Crimea with Russia. The first were: Germany, USA, Great Britain.
In the first days after the referendum, the Chinese Foreign Minister, for some unknown reason, doubted Russia’s actions and emphasized that such issues should be resolved according to fairness and diplomatic laws. But Chinese companies are actively establishing trade relations with Russia and helped lay a cable across the Kerch Strait.
After the referendum, the European Union and the United States introduced the first sanctions:
- freezing of assets;
- visa restrictions on a separate list of persons related to politics, culture, and business;
- ban on communication with Russia by EU countries.
There is nothing to say about Ukraine. Protests combined with military actions against their own people are still raging in the country to this day. How will they develop further events, no one knows.
Those countries that have recognized Crimea as part of Russia are gradually strengthening political, economic and trade relations. But the EU countries, under pressure from the United States, regularly make decisions regarding the Russian side that do not bring benefits.
President of the Republika Srpska Milorad Dodik, in an interview with the Izvestia newspaper, said that the issue of annexing Crimea to Russia has been resolved. He stressed that the will of the people must be respected.
At no cost: The Russians will not give up Crimea
Political scientist Igor Shishkin expressed regret on radio Sputnik. According to him, not all European leaders share a similar point of view.
“Unfortunately, we must admit that such a point of view is not at all widespread among those who determine European policy. It is widespread among those who fight against the European bureaucracy, those who defend national values European states and their peoples. For example, one can recall French presidential candidate Marine Le Pen, who has made similar statements more than once and is now the favorite in the presidential race. That is why French President Francois Hollande, contrary to all legal norms, said that it is necessary to prevent her victory, and in this he is supported by the entire bureaucracy of the European Union,” said Igor Shishkin.
In his opinion, the EU recognizes Crimea as Russian only in one case.
“The European Union and its member countries recognize Crimea as Russian only if it is vitally necessary for them. They are guided only by their own interests, which, in general, is what the President of Republika Srpska spoke about. They are guided by only one thing - their interests, and not by any standards international law. And the example of Kosovo and Crimea is very indicative,” the political scientist believes.
He believes that the reunification of Crimea with the Russian Federation dealt a blow to the EU’s strategic plans in the region.
“Until they recognize the return of Crimea to Russia, not because it does not correspond to some norms of law, everything here is ideal from the point of view of international law, but because Crimea has become a symbol of Russia’s return to the framework of a great power... This is a severe blow according to their strategic plans,” the political scientist concluded.
Crimea will not prove its territorial affiliation with Russia to the new administration of US President-elect Donald Trump, even in exchange for the lifting of sanctions. This was stated by the head of the republic Sergei Aksenov, Pravda.Ru wrote. They decided on the peninsula back in the spring of 2014, however, the Barack Obama administration believed that the Russian Federation had allegedly “annexed” the peninsula, and the future US Secretary of State at Senate hearings said that he would recognize the annexation of Crimea to Russia The White house can only if there is an agreement that respects the interests of Ukraine.
“I don’t understand why Crimeans have to prove something to the Americans. We made our choice in March 2014. The peninsula is Russian de facto and de jure. This in no way depends on the position of foreign politicians and statesmen. According to our president, the issue of the territorial affiliation of Crimea is “historically closed,” Sergei Aksenov told Izvestia.
According to him, if Washington , then he is just recognizing reality. “Foreign journalists and observers had every opportunity to make sure that this was an absolutely free expression of the will of citizens. Another question is how they presented information. The elected President of the United States already had the opportunity to see how deceitful and biased even the leading media can be. I am sure that "In Ukraine, a significant part of the people understands and accepts the choice of the Crimeans. But in the conditions of state terror, which has been unleashed by the Kyiv regime, people are afraid to express their opinion. It is necessary to clear the propaganda rubble created by the lying media and Russophobic politicians around the situation on the peninsula," said the head of the Republic of Crimea. .
Republican senators will not take into account the interests of Ukraine when building relations with Moscow. This was stated by ex-State Duma deputy Ilya Ponomarev, who met with representatives of the Donald Trump administration. “American elites and society, in general, consider Russia and Ukraine to be one state; the origin of the conflict between them is not very clear to them, and most importantly, of little interest. The plan for resolving the situation, without taking into account the interests of Ukraine, is approximately ready,” the ex-deputy, who now lives either in Kyiv or in Washington, told NG.
According to him, the American authorities have also already developed a point of view on Crimea. “No one will recognize it, but they will also poke Russia at every opportunity or quarrel over it. There will be such a silent form of recognition, which was once used regarding the occupation of the Baltic countries, and will not have serious consequences for Moscow,” says Ilya Ponomarev “What should we do with Donbass in this case? An acceptable option for the United States would most likely be the restoration of this region through the joint efforts and resources of Moscow and Washington.”
Crimea has prepared a draft UN resolution on human rights violations in the republic during the period when the peninsula was part of Ukraine. This was reported to RIA Novosti by a member of the Crimean government, Zaur Smirnov. What Crimea can do was previously told by Pravda. Ru Professor of the Department of International Law at MGIMO, Doctor of Law Dmitry Labin.
What are the legal prospects for this resolution?
There is no need to ignore the offenses that were committed in terms of non-compliance with human rights and freedoms, but, unfortunately, making any statements at the international level is still the prerogative of a sovereign state. In this case, only the Russian Federation can make any statements on this matter on behalf of Russia and the entire multinational people.
Unfortunately, the subjects of the federation do not have the proper international legal personality to take any significant legal steps, including in international organizations such as the UN.
In this case, perhaps we're talking about to draw international attention to events related to violations of international law during the period when this territory was under soft annexation by Ukraine. But I would not see any legal prospects in this format; after all, the international legal personality that is required for full communication at the international level is lacking.
Are there more significant legal instruments? Where should the Russian Federation turn?
The issue related to the protection of human rights and freedoms is not as simple as it seems at first glance. It is always a kind of stumbling block when there are unresolved issues between states. First of all, it makes sense to work as a priority to ensure that the Ukrainian side complies with the Minsk agreements. Today, the more significant issue is the southeast of Ukraine. Human rights are really violated there. The attention of the world community must first of all be drawn to this.
Regarding Crimea. Individually, everyone has a fairly wide range of opportunities and rights to restore their violated rights. This means going to court and presenting relevant evidence. The court will thoroughly consider and make an appropriate decision. And if a citizen remains dissatisfied with the court’s decision, there is the European Court of Human Rights.
When will Crimea be finally recognized as part of Russia?
Political scientist, CEO Institute of Regional Problems Dmitry Zhuravlev, commenting on the mistake of the British newspaper, which on October 2 “recognized” Crimea as part of the Russian Federation, confidently stated that, however, it would take some time for the public to agree with this fact due to the constant reservations of Western politicians.
“In general, society recognizes Russia when it gets used to it. I think it will take six months to a year of such reservations. If we talk about the elites of Western countries - not the world, but specifically the elites of Western countries: I don’t think that it is very important for any Latin American or African country who owns Crimea - they would rather support us, and there are so many problems in Africa now, that they definitely have no time for us... This is probably a very seditious thing, everything was recognized a long time ago,” said Dmitry Zhuravlev, commenting on the British newspaper’s recognition of Crimea as part of the Russian Federation.
On October 2, the British newspaper The Telegraph published a video from YouTube, which shows how a hurricane gust of wind blew a man through the air to a distance of 9 meters. The incident, according to the newspaper, occurred "in Sevastopol, in southern Russia" - the publication reports that the southern part of Russia suffered from heavy rains and a hurricane.
Dmitry Zhuravlev is confident that representatives of the Western elite initially recognized the annexation of Crimea to Russia, evidenced by their inaction on the day of the referendum in Crimea: “When Crimea was annexed, there were no serious comments in the West, there were none then, and at the same time - I have already said this several times - on the day of the referendum in Crimea, the UN Commission on Inland Seas recognized the Sea of Okhotsk as internal sea of Russia. Getting a decision through this commission is tantamount to I don’t even know what - here you need to butt heads with them for 10 years in order for them to admit something. Here they recognized it with a bang! And you yourself understand that the UN commission, to put it mildly, greatly influences Western countries. Therefore, even then it was clear that the Western elite recognized everything,” Dmitry Zhuravlev is sure.
However, after Russia recognized the results of the referendum, the European Union and the United States introduced the first package of sanctions: assets were frozen, visa restrictions were introduced for persons included in special lists, as well as a ban on companies from countries that had imposed sanctions on the Russian Federation from supporting business relationship with Russia, and a ban on ships flying the flags of these states from arriving at the ports of Sevastopol and Crimea. But our expert believes that if we are talking about territorial integrity, then the situation in the east is much more significant than the annexation of Crimea to Russia: “Punishments for violations of territorial integrity came from eastern Ukraine. When Crimea voted to join Russia, everyone was completely silent. And Mr. Henry Kissinger even supported this position. He spoke publicly in support of the fact that Crimea is Russia. And he is a very large representative of the American elite.” [Winner Nobel Prize world, former Secretary of State, US National Security Advisor Henry Kissinger, in an interview with The Washington Post, called on Ukraine to refrain from anti-Russian steps, and called on Russia to recognize that Ukraine is an independent state, and also said, in particular, that the annexation of Crimea by Russia will disrupt the existing world order - approx. editors.]
Another, more problematic situation V this issue, according to Dmitry Zhuravlev - public opinion, which does not share the Ukrainian crisis and the annexation of Crimea: “For them, Ukraine and Crimea are a problem of the same order. Although the Ukrainian crisis and Crimea for the Western elite are different problems, for society - one problem. And it’s much more difficult to admit it all.”
Nevertheless, public recognition of Crimea by Russia will happen in the near future, Dmitry Zhuravlev believes, and he associates the answer to the question of why this has not happened yet with some snobbery that prevails in the West - supposedly if it did not exist, Russian Crimea would have long ago been officially recognized by the whole world: “As for reservations, in my opinion, they are associated with a certain snobbery. They, in general, don’t really care where it is, what belongs to whom. The task was to find shortcomings in Russian politics, they began to talk about Russian expansion in Ukraine, about the violation of the territorial integrity of an independent state, and by and large, try to force them to find Ukraine on the globe,” the political scientist assures, adding that the West adheres to the position that the ideal of life is in the USA and has nothing to do with they don’t know where Crimea is: “Thank you for not saying that Altai is on the Black Sea, but they could have.”
Note that at the moment the word “Russia” in the mentioned article about the hurricane in the south of the Russian Federation has been replaced by employees of the website of The Telegraph newspaper, which on October 2 mistakenly “recognized” Crimea as part of the Russian Federation, with the word “Ukraine” in the part of the text where it refers about events in Crimea.
