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Russian Legal Brief (Russia V. Ukraine) PDF
Russian Legal Brief (Russia V. Ukraine) PDF
Facts : T he Russian Federation has annexed a part of Ukraine (Crimea and Donbass Region),
Ukraine argues that this is a violation of Sovereignty and the 1994 Budapest Referendum. Russia
argues that the Populace of those regions are proRussian Occupation and that the transfer of
power in the region during 1954 was illegitimate and therefore Ukraine never should have had
control.
Issue : S hould the Russian Federation be allowed to hold their annexation over Crimea and
the Donbas Region despite Ukrainian opposition?
Analysis:
Whether the international community recognizes the fact, Ukraine, as a nation, is divided
heavily, be it ethnically or politically, and as a whole, on their allegiance to Ukraine as a credible
government. The area of most heavily contested division, originates within the Crimea and
Donbas Region, the primary language being coincidently, Russian. Having established this, we
can begin to clear up the many misconceptions surrounding the Ukrainian Crisis. The Crisis
itself began November 21, 2013, after the thenpresident Viktor Yanukovych, through lengthy
negotiations with the European Union, dropped an arranged agreement after unsatisfactory terms
by the EU.
The Euromaidan protests were said to have been met with opposition, and on February
20th of 2013 we saw the beginnings of a new coalition with the released footage of snipers firing
on protesters in Kiev, Ukraine. It was widely assumed that President Viktor Yanukovich and his
supporters were behind the attacks. However evidence has been brought to light that these
attacks were perpetrated by the new coalition government, and that Western diplomats knew this
and covered it up.
The following is a phone call between EU foreign policy chief Cathy Ashton and
Estonia's foreign minister Urmas Paet
Urmas Paet: "All the evidence shows that the people who were killed by snipers from
both sides, among policemen and people in the street, that they were the same snipers
killing people from both sides."
Cathy Ashton: " Well that's, yeah..."
Urmas Paet: "And she also showed me some photos and she said that has medical doctor,
she can say that it is the same handwriting..."
Cathy Ashton: "Yeah..."
Urmas Paet: "Same type of bullets... and it's really disturbing that now the new coalition,
that they don't want to investigate what exactly happened. So that there is now stronger
and stronger understanding that behind the snipers, it was not Yanukovich, but it was
somebody from the new coalition."
Among these coalition groups the one that poses the most eminent threat to the people of Crimea
and the Donbass Peninsula is S voboda , an extremely right wing, almost neonazi nationalist
regime.
In an interview with BBC Newsnight, the leader of C14 (Yevhen Karas), a coalition
group that is very closely affiliated with Svoboda, we see his speech promote similar
NeoNazi Rhetoric
Yevhen Karas (C14 Leader) “I t's our general mission to totally ruin chains that connect
our country with the imperial powers from the past...”
Gabriel Gatehouse: “ and that being Russia?”
Yevhen Karas (C14 Leader) “Y es Russia…. Not only Russia but the Soviet Union…”
Gabriel Gatehouse: “ Are you a Nazi?”
Yevhen Karas (C14 Leader) “ N o, I don’t think I'm a Nazi… I'm a Ukrainian Nationalist”
Gabriel Gatehouse: “ What does that mean?..”
Yevhen Karas (C14 Leader) “ The main confrontation is about… some ethnic groups
have control… many business structures… some economic… some political forces and”
Gabriel Gatehouse: “ Which ethnic groups?”
Yevhen Karas (C14 Leader) “ .... Russians, and Jews… Poles… and maybe some non
Ukrainian groups control a huge percent of some economic or political power. . and of
course in this situation Ukrainian people have some tensions.. and it causes some
conflicts”
This article was published on February 28, 2014. Soon after Crimea was supposedly “invaded”
by Russia.
The Russian Federation upholds the basic principles of government, we see the social
contract as the quintessential definition of the true intentions of government. Without such an
implied contract, an established government can and will lose the consent of the governed.
Ukraine has lost the consent of its people in their governance. The repeated subjugation of the
Ukrainian people to inherent corruption and violence by its elected officials caused the
disenfranchisement shown in the decision by Crimea to join the Federation. It was a vote of no
confidence by the people after continued added insult to injury by a government which can no
longer truly protect its people. This strained relationship between the Ukrainian Government and
Its ethnically russian citizens is exactly why the Russian Federation had to take action.
The Russian Federation pleads that the international community recognises our claim
over the Crimea and Donbas regions, calling upon the Ukrainian government to renegotiate
international borders, to deal with the Ukrainian crisis in the most diplomatic and humanitarian
way.