Can the annexation of the Crimean peninsula be justified?

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CLN4U1

Canadian + International Law

Ms. *. *****

December 6, 2021
Can the annexation of the Crimean peninsula be justified? 1

To begin with, Crimea, the Crimean peninsula, formerly Taurica, Gazaria - a peninsula

lying between the northern coast of the Black Sea and the Azov Sea. Located in the south of

Ukraine and covers the Autonomous Republic of Crimea, Sevastopol and partly the south of the

Kherson region; most of the peninsula (Crimea and Sevastopol) in February 2014 was captured

and occupied by Russian regular military units, and later temporarily annexed by the Russian

Federation. Occupation of the peninsula is not internationally recognized and is defined as an act

of illegal annexation due to Russia's armed aggression. On the other hand, Russia justifies their

actions by saying that they are taking back their historical territory and saving the citizens that

identify as Russian. The Autonomous Republic of Crimea and Sevastopol have the international

legal status of territories of Ukraine temporarily occupied by Russia

(https://www.britannica.com/place/Crimea). So taking into account both sides of the story, the

conclusion is simple: the annexation of Crimea cannot be justified legally or morally in any way

possible because of the historical settlers and first colonists and also the lack of respect for

human rights and international laws.

The conflict between Russia and Ukraine began on February 20th, 2014 and it has been

exactly 2,846 days since Russian soldiers with no insignias have been spotted driving Russian

military vehicles and hardware. In an attempt not to be recognized as Russian and occupy

strategic positions in Crimea. These include the Supreme Council of Crimea, Simferopol Airport,

Kerch Ferry and many more. Which is a direct violation of the “Minsk II Agreement”

(https://peacemaker.un.org/sites/peacemaker.un.org/files/UA_150212_MinskAgreement_en.pdf).

The conflict rapidly escalated into an armed confrontation where Russia committed many war

crimes and broke many human rights. "Russian occupation forces engage in extrajudicial

killings, kidnappings, raids, disappearances, arbitrary detention, physical abuse, torture,

Can the annexation of the Crimean peninsula be justified? 2

deportation, harassment, forced psychiatric hospitalization, and arbitrary prosecution"

(https://osce.usmission.gov/illegal-occupation-of-crimea-by-russia/). The violent actions taken

by Russia further prove that during the occupation of Crimea, the Russian government had no

good intentions in mind. Delving deeper into the violations, Russia broke the “Non-intervention

provisions in the United Nations Charter, Helsinki Final Act of 1975, 1990 Paris Charter, 1997

Treaty of Friendship, Cooperation and Partnership between Russia and Ukraine, 1994 Budapest

Memorandum on Security Assurances”

(https://warsawinstitute.org/crimean-factor-european-union-reacted-russias-annexation-crimea/).

In addition to agreements, a lot of human rights violations were committed by Russia. In

particular, Article 1, “All human beings are born free and equal in dignity and rights”

(https://www.un.org/en/about-us/universal-declaration-of-human-rights). Article 2, “Everyone is

entitled to all the rights and freedoms set forth in this Declaration without any discrimination”

(https://www.un.org/en/about-us/universal-declaration-of-human-rights). Article 3, “Everyone

has the right to life, liberty and security of a person”

(https://www.un.org/en/about-us/universal-declaration-of-human-rights). Article 9, “No one shall

be subject to arbitrary arrest and exile”

(https://www.un.org/en/about-us/universal-declaration-of-human-rights). Article 5, “No one shall

be subjected to torture” (https://www.un.org/en/about-us/universal-declaration-of-human-rights).

Article 12, “No one shall be subjected to arbitrary interference with his home”

(https://www.un.org/en/about-us/universal-declaration-of-human-rights). Article 13, “Everyone

has the right to freedom of movement and residence within the border of each state”

(https://www.un.org/en/about-us/universal-declaration-of-human-rights). Article 19, “Everyone

has the right to freedom of opinion and expression”

Can the annexation of the Crimean peninsula be justified? 3

(https://www.un.org/en/about-us/universal-declaration-of-human-rights) and more. As to the

broken international laws set by the Rome Statute of the International Criminal Court, those are:

according to article 8², subsection 2⁸, Russia has committed a war crime against Ukraine by

transferring some of its population into the occupied land. And according to article 8 bis 3,

subsection 2. a. Russia also committed the crime of aggression by invading Crimea by armed

forces (https://www.icc-cpi.int/resource-library/documents/rs-eng.pdf).

The self-identification argument Russia is making states that when Crimea voted to join

Russia then it became a legitimate decision, however, not all of Crimea was accounted for during

this election. The elections themselves were held in Crimea, which is now under unlawful

occupation and all the voting results were falsified by Russian military forces, who are now

considered illegal occupants of Crimea. The evidence to the classification of the voting results is

that 2001 statistics taken by the Ukrainian government show that only about 50% of the whole

Crimean population identify as Russian citizens

(http://pop-stat.mashke.org/ukraine-ethnic2001.htm). Nevertheless, it is important to note the

history of Crimea and who were the first settlers. The first settlers of the Crimean peninsula were

the Cimmerians and Tauri from which the ancient name of the peninsula, Taurica, originates.

Tauri lived on the Crimean peninsula and the current territory of Ukraine. Later studies of

linguists confirmed the presence in the Ukrainian language of words of Iranian origin and the

participation of Scythians and Sarmatians in the ethnogenesis of Ukrainians. Later in history,

Tauri officially joined newly-formed Ukraine at their own will.

(http://resource.history.org.ua/cgi-bin/eiu/history.exe?&I21DBN=EIU&P21DBN=EIU&S21STN

=1&S21REF=10&S21FMT=eiu_all&C21COM=S&S21CNR=20&S21P01=0&S21P02=0&S21

P03=TRN=&S21COLORTERMS=0&S21STR=Radianska_Tavridy) When demolishing the

Can the annexation of the Crimean peninsula be justified? 4

main myth and argument used by Russia only one fact needs to be clarified, “tens of thousands

of Crimean Tatars perished during Joseph Stalin’s suppression of the ethnic minorities. In May

1944 the remaining Crimean Tatars (about 200,000 people) were forcibly deported to Siberia and

Central Asia” (https://www.britannica.com/place/Crimea/History). The historical information

provides evidence that the population of Crimea has been manipulated to fit the Russian

standards.

Taking everything into account, when justifying something intent needs to be included in

the analysis. Actions taken by Russia before, during and after the occupation of Crimea suggest

no good intentions and sole purpose of simply benefitting the oligarchs and Putin himself. In

addition, there is sufficient evidence of historical manipulation of the Crimean population by the

Russian government making any claims of ownership based on the population invalid. Lastly,

when considering the native colonists of the Crimean peninsula, there is a clear connection

between Taurids and Ukrainians making Crimea historically and originally Ukrainian. So there

are no possible arguments that can be made to justify the annexation of Crimea. Therefore, the

annexation is proven to be unjustifiable in the eyes of the laws and the morals.
Can the annexation of the Crimean peninsula be justified? 5

References

Геращенко, С. Л. (2019). КРИМ – ЦЕ УКРАЇНА Документальні свідчення в архівах

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Canada, G. A. (2021, October 18). Statement by foreign affairs minister on Fifth

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Can the annexation of the Crimean peninsula be justified? 6

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