Claim: “Russia seized and occupied Crimea in 2014.

The peninsula had previously been

Russian from 1783-1954."

Fact is that in time of break up of USSR Crimea was not de jure part of Ukraine. In february
1991 became Autonomous Soviet Socialist Republic. It was stamped by Ukraine itself. Later in
USSR's break up chaos Ukraine repeal that stamping. So Ukraine actualy anexed Crimea from
USSR.

1991 Crimean sovereignty referendum

A referendum on sovereignty was held in the Crimean Oblast of the Ukrainian SSR on 20
January 1991,[two months before the 1991 All-Union referendum. Voters were asked whether
they wanted to re-establish the Crimean Autonomous Soviet Socialist Republic, which had
been abolished in 1945. The proposal was approved by 94% of voters.

1991 Crimean sovereignty referendum 20 January 1991 with question:

“Do you support re-establishing the Crimean Autonomous Soviet Socialist Republic as a
subject of the Union SSR and a participant of the Union Treaty?”

Results

Choice. Votes %
Yes. 1,343,855 94. 30%
No 81,254 5.70%
Valid votes 1,425,109. 98.74%
Invalid or blank votes 18,151. 1.26%
Total votes 1,443,260. 100.00%
Voters turnout 1,770,841 81.5%

The decision of the Crimean Regional Council to hold a referendum of 12 November 1990
signed by N.V. Bagrov

Background
The Crimean ASSR was originally created in 1921, as part of the Russian SFSR in the Soviet
Union.[2] Crimea was invaded by Nazi Germany during World War II, and when the region
was reclaimed by the USSR in 1944, the Crimean Tatars and other ethnic groups were deported
to Central Asia, and the ASSR was dissolved in 1945 with Crimea becoming an oblast of the
Russian SSR.[5] On 5 February 1954, it was transferred to the Ukrainian SSR.During the
collapse of the Soviet Union at the start of the 1990s, the Russian SFSR declared itself
sovereign on 12 June 1990 and the Ukrainian SSR declared itself sovereign on 16 July 1990.

In September 1990, the Soviet of People's Deputies of the Crimean Oblast called for the
restoration of the Crimean Autonomous Soviet Socialist Republic together with the previous
level of autonomy that the peninsula had enjoyed under the ASSR.
The referendum did not just call for the restoration for the ASSR, but further called for Crimea
to be a participant in the New Union Treaty – an ultimately futile attempt by Mikhail
Gorbachev to reconstitute the USSR. This would have meant that Crimea would have been a
sovereign subject of the renewed USSR and separate from the Ukrainian SSR.

Decision on carrying out referendum

Temporary resolution about referendum and order of carrying it out on territory of Crimean
Oblast of the Ukrainian SSR is to be approved (annex #1)

Carry out referendum on 20 January 1991

Create a commission in organization of the referendum consisting of 29 people (annex #2)

Appeal to Supreme Councils of the RSFSR, Ukrainian, Uzbek, Tajik, Kirgiz, and Kazakh
Soviet Socialist Republics to render a necessary cooperation in carrying out the referendum
among the Crimean Tatars and other people who were deported out of the Crimean Oblast and
currently reside on territory of the mentioned republics

The Oblast Executive Committee must review the issue of allocating necessary funds for
carrying out the referendum and make an expert analysis of the forecasted social and economic
development of Crimea

Consider expedient to find ways of participating in preparation for the new Union treaty both
people deputies of the USSR and the UkrSSR elected from Crimean Oblast as well as the
regional council's deputies

To recommend for the Regional Tele- and Radio Committee and editors of regional, cities and
districts newspapers widely publicize all activities in preparation and carrying out the
referendum

The present decision is to be published in regional newspapers "Krymskaya Pravda" and

"Sovetskiy Krym"

Aftermath
Following the referendum, the Supreme Soviet of the Ukrainian SSR passed the law "On
Restoration of the Crimean Autonomous Soviet Socialistic Republic as part of USSR" on 12
February 1991, restoring Crimea's autonomous status. In September 1991, the Crimean
parliament declared state sovereignty for Crimea as a constituent part of Ukraine.

It has been alleged that the Crimean parliament did not have the authority to make this
decision, because according to USSR law, "On the procedure for resolving issues related to the
withdrawal of a union republic from the USSR" from (3 April 1990) this issue could only be
resolved via a referendum.
Timeline of The Crimean Referendum

Brutal act of military conquest, or peaceful (and popular) transition of power? Here are
the facts to help you decide.

Picture: This collage of Ukrainian maps shows who is who. Russian speaking people were
majority in Ukraine. Viktor Yanukovich, who represented right side of maps, won presidential
elections 2x, and his “Party of Regions” as well. For them democracy, rule of law and human
rights worked. But for those left on map did not. So they get political power by force: Orange
Revolution in 2004 (organized by George Soros's legion) and Maidan in 2014. This is also
reason why Minsk agreements were not implemented due people on left side of maps would
lost political power forever.

1990

As the USSR begins to crumble, Ukraine declares itself an independent republic, beginning the
process of leaving the union and taking Crimea with it.

1991

January: The Crimean government holds a referendum asking if Crimea should declare its
independence from Ukraine, reform itself as the Crimean Soviet Socialist Republic (as it had
been prior to 1945), and rejoin the USSR. The vote passes with 94% support , and Crimea
declares independence.

February: The Ukrainian parliament recognizes this independence, passing the "Law On
Restoration of the Crimean Autonomous Soviet Socialist Republic as part of the USSR" .

September: Ukrainian parliament reverses their February decision and declares Crimea a part
of Ukraine once again. There is historical debate over the legality of this decision.

Following the collapse of the Soviet Union, and official Ukrainian independence, Crimea is no
longer politically unified with Russia for the first time in over 200 years.

1992

Crimean parliament again declares itself independent as "The Republic of Crimea", they draft
their own constitution and plan a referendum on secession from Ukraine. The Ukrainian
parliament refuses to acknowledge the declaration and forces the cancellation of the
referendum.

As a compromise, Crimea is granted special status as an "Autonomous Republic", and given

control over its own budget and other devolved powers, as long as they add a line to their
constitution designating Crimea a part of Ukraine.

1994

Newly-elected President Yuriy Meshkov of Crimea holds a referendum , asking the population
of Crimea three questions, most notably:

Do you support a return to the May 1992 constitution that did not guarantee Crimea was part of
Ukraine?
Do you support establishing that all Crimean citizens were entitled to dual citizenship with
Russia?
All three parts of the referendum pass with at least 77% of the vote, and President Meshkov
restores the old constitution. The Ukrainian government declares the referendum illegal and
refuses to recognize either the results or the new constitution.

1995

Ukrainian government abolishes the post of President of Crimea, and cuts the powers of their
parliament. For the rest of the year the President of Ukraine governs the peninsula by decree.

2001

The 2001 Ukrainian census records that over 60% of the population of Crimea describe
themselves as ethnically Russian. In total 77% of Crimeans, and over 94% of the people of
Sevastopol, reported being native Russian speakers.

2004

Following the "Orange Revolution", and over-turning of Viktor Yanukovych's victory in the
Presidential election, leaders of Eastern Ukrainian oblasts - including Crimea - raise the issue
of increased autonomy and even secession from the country. A conference of politicians from
the Donbas region called for a referendum on federalization , but was ignored.

2006

A US Navy ship docks at the Crimean port of Feodosiya, leading to mass protests on the
peninsula and a peaceful blockade of the port. Then-leader of the opposition Viktor
Yanukovych claims that allowing foreign military units onto Crimea's soil without consulting
the regional parliament is a violation of both the Ukrainian and Crimean constitutions. A
contemporary Radio Free Europe article notes that 55-60% of all Ukrainians oppose joining
NATO .

2008

Following the Russo-Georgian war, and on the back of increased calls for Ukraine to join
NATO, the BBC sends a reporter to Crimea. Their article details the strong pro-Russian feeling
on the peninsula, the key part Sevastopol has played in Russia's history, and warnings from
Crimeans that "nationalists in Kiev" are trying to "force Russians out".

A 2008 poll by the Ukrainian Center for Economic and Political Studies found 64% of
Crimeans favored secession from Ukraine to join Russia, and 55% favored increased autonomy
from Kiev.

2009-2011

Between 2009 and 2011 the United Nations Development Program conducted a series of polls
in Crimea on the question of Russian reunification. Every single poll returns 65-70% positive
response, with another 16-25% undecided and only 9-14% favoring staying with Ukraine.

2013

A poll done by the US-based Gallup agency finds 82% of Crimeans speak only Russian at
home, and further 6% speak Russian and one other language. Only 2% report speaking only
Ukrainian.

The pro-EU/pro-NATO Maidan protests begin, violence erupts in Kiev.

2014

January

27/1 – As protests intensify in Kiev and Ukraine becomes increasingly unstable, local officials
in Simferopol and Sevastopol propose Crimea become a federal state, and prepare legal
groundwork:

to use its right to self-determination and to exit Ukraine's legal space in the event of a state
coup, or seizure of power by force."

28/1 – An open letter from the Sevastopol city council calls on President Yanukovych to outlaw
the "extremist group" Svoboda, and invites the people of the city to form "People's Squads" as
described under Ukrainian law, and defend the border of Crimea :

It is impossible to allow specially trained and armed militants of the "Right Sector" and other
pro-fascist and extremist organizations to penetrate our city and dictate their terms. We will
provide reliable defense of Sevastopol. Extremism, lawlessness, banditry will not pass in the
hero city.

February

14/2 – Yahoo News reports "Ukraine's autonomous Crimea region leans towards Moscow" .
The article notes that the Crimean parliament amended the constitution to describe Russia as a
"guarantor of Crimea's safety", and that elected officials have asked Russia for help if the
Maidan protesters should attempt to move into Crimea.

18/2 – Radio Free Europe reports on the "rise of pro-Russian separatism in Crimea" . They
interview Crimean MP Sergei Shuvainikov, who claims the Ukrainian nationalists want to ban
the Russian language and kill Russian culture in Ukraine.

20/2 – Crimean MP and Speaker of Parliament tells an international meeting in Moscow that
Crimea "may secede form Ukraine, if the country splits" .

22/2 – Less than 24 hours after signing a peace deal, Maidan protesters storm government
buildings in Kiev and take control of the country. President Yanukovych flees to Kharkiv.

In a vote that violates the constitution of Ukraine, the Rada removes Yanukovych from office
for being "unable to carry out his duties".

The same day, The Washington Post publishes this article :

"The battle for Kiev is over, is the battle for Crimea about to begin?"

23/2 – One of the first bills passed by the new government repeals the law making Russian an
official state language . Neo-Naziprit leaders Oleh Tyanobohk and Dimitri Yarosh propose
going further and banning both the Party of the Regions and the Ukrainian Communist Party,
both traditionally political parties representing Eastern Ukraine, including Crimea.

The same day, thousands of Crimeans attend a protest in Sevastopol, chanting about re-uniting
with Russia. The Guardian headlines " Ukraine crisis fuels secession calls in pro-Russian
south" , reporting that when the Crimean Prime Minister ruled out secession in his speech he
was booed by the crowd.
26/2 – Crimean parliament meets in a special session to discuss the crisis and situation in Kiev.
Thousands rally outside the building as the meeting is taking place, chanting "Russia! Russia!
Russia!” and "Crimea Rise Up!"

The Parliamentary speaker emerges from the session to address the crowd , saying:

I share your alarm and worry over Crimea's fate...We will fight for our autonomous republic to
the end...Today Kiev doesn't want to solve our problems, therefore we must unite and act
decisively. The people of Crimea have enough strength. Neo-Nazism will not work in Crimea.
We will not betray Crimea."

The Irish Times reports "Many Russian-speakers worry that Ukraine's new government will be
pulled to the right by ultra-nationalist groups that played a major role in the protests" .

28/2 – In the early hours of Friday 28th February, men in fatigues bearing no insignia take
control of every airport, seaport, train station and border crossing on the Crimean peninsula.
They also secure all government buildings in Simferopol. These men are later revealed to be
Russian troops from the bases at Sevastopol.

Kiev and their NATO backers call the troops' presence an invasion, but Russia defends their
deployment, claiming the troops are there at the invitation of both the local Crimean authorities
and Viktor Yanukovych, whom they still recognize as the legitimate President of Ukraine.

Furthermore, the Russians claim their lease agreement allowed up to 25,000 Russian military
personnel to be stationed in Crimea, and they did not exceed that number.

With the peninsula effectively cut off from mainland Ukraine, a second special session of
Parliament is held, during which they vote to terminate the current government and choose a
new Prime Minister. They also established plans for an independence referendum to be held in
May.

March

11/3 – Crimean parliament, along with the Sevastopol city council, issue a decree declaring
Crimea independent .

The new Autonomous Republic of Crimea brings forward the planned referendum from May to
March 16th, changing the question from one of independence to a choice between re-joining
Russia or re-joining Ukraine.

12/3 – The Crimean government formally invites members from the OSCE to observe the
referendum and make sure its fair. The OSCE describes the vote as "illegal", and refuses to
attend .

16/3 – The referendum goes ahead, with the ballot papers asking:
Do you support the reunification of Crimea with Russia with all the rights of the federal subject
of the Russian Federation?
Do you support the restoration of the Constitution of the Republic of Crimea in 1992 and the
status of the Crimea as part of Ukraine?
Although official observers from both the OSCE and the UN refused to take part, the Crimean
authorities claimed to have invited 190 independent observers from 23 different countries,
including the majority of the nations of the EU.

Kiev, along with most western governments, claim the vote is illegitimate because it took place
"at the barrel of a gun".

The reported results are massively in favor of joining Russia, 97% vs 3% against, on an
estimated turnout of 83%.

21/3 – President Vladimir Putin of Russia officially signs the law recognizing Crimea as part of
the Russian Federation. Street parties are held in Sevastopol and Simferopol, and all across
Russia.

April

Claiming they are owed money, the Ukrainian government closes the dam on the North Crimea
Canal , reducing the flow of fresh water to the peninsula. Access to water is protected by article
29 of the Geneva convention, and its use to punish a civilian population could be a war crime.

2015

Forbes publishes this article , headlined "One Year After Russia Annexed Crimea, Locals Prefer
Moscow" , it details all the polling done by Western polling agencies since the referendum:

A Gallup study from June 2014 found 83% of Crimeans agreed with the result of the
referendum, including 94% of ethnic Russians. 74% said being part of Russia would make life
better for them and their families .
In January 2015, a joint German-Canadian study done by GfK for "Free Crimea", found 82%
of Crimeans fully supported the referendum and thought Crimea had made the right choice,
with another 11% partially supporting it and only 4% opposing it .
A Pew Research study from 2014 found 91% of Crimeans thought the vote was free and fair,
and 88% thought Kiev should recognize the results.
A US government-funded study published on the Soros-backed OpenDemocracy website found
84% of Crimeans "absolutely" supported the Crimean referendum, and 88% thought Crimea
was moving in the right direction.
So, there it is, a timeline of the key events leading to Crimea's separation from, and eventual
reunification with, Russia. Military occupation and annexation, or a referendum supported by
the majority of the population? You decide.
We previously cataloged Ukraine's Maidan revolution and eventual fall of Viktor Yanukovych
in part 1 of this series here . In part three we will be going into Kiev's "anti-terror" operations in
Donetsk and Luhansk and the collapse into chaos and civil war.

Journalist: You mentioned Crimea. But under international law it is Ukrainian and Russia
occupies it.

Politician Jaromir Foldyna: Yes, that is what they are saying. But the fact is that since 1783 it
has been Russian and then Soviet. In February 1991, there was a referendum on Crimean
autonomy and Crimea subsequently declared independence, which the USSR recognised. The
Soviet Union itself did not break up until almost a year later, in December 1991 to be precise,
and the referendum on Ukraine's independence was also not held until December 1991. Crimea
was therefore independent from Ukraine before Ukraine from USSR. In order to clarify the
situation, which was somewhat opaque, another referendum was held in Crimea in 2014, in
which the population again voted in favour of Crimea being independent from Ukraine and,
moreover, becoming part of Russia. These are the facts.

To bring it a little bit closer to those who have forgotten about the organisation of the Soviet
Union or were not there at the time, I will use an analogous situation from our own
environment. Let us imagine hypothetically that, for example, the district of Columbia had a
referendum on independence from the USA, and on the basis of this referendum it actually
became a separate entity recognised by the USA. And then imagine that a year after the
independence of the District of Columbia had been recognised, USA would have broken up
into individual regions/countries, which would have acquired the status of an independent state.
And suddenly the state of Maryland would come along and claim that the autonomous region
of D.C was part of it. That makes no sense. And similarly with Crimea and Ukraine.

Journalist: It is just that many people in our country, but also the Ukrainian Parliament, do not
recognise the legitimacy of the referendums in Crimea and claim that Crimea still belongs to
Ukraine.

Politician: It is rather telling that people who do not recognise the legitimacy of the two
referendums that took place after the end of the Cold War recognise the legitimacy of the 1954
decree of N.S. Khrushchev, General Secretary of the Central Committee of the Communist
Party of the Soviet Union. This is the only official act by which Crimea was transferred from
the administration of the Russian SFSR to that of the Ukrainian SSR. However, it was still a
transfer of powers within the USSR, which affected both union republics and, of course,
Crimea. Then, when the USSR collapsed and an independent Ukraine was created, Crimea had
long been de jure independent from Ukraine.

George Soros: “Sovereignty is an anachronistic concept originating in bygone times when

society consisted of rulers and subjects, not citizens. It became the cornerstone of international
relations with the Treaty of Westphalia in 1648. During the French Revolution, the king was
overthrown and the people assumed sovereignty. But a nationalist concept of sovereignty soon
superseded the dynastic version. Today, though not all nation-states are democratically
accountable to their citizens, the principle of sovereignty stands in the way of outside
intervention in the internal affairs of nation-states.

But true sovereignty belongs to the people, who in turn delegate it to their governments. If
governments abuse the authority entrusted to them and citizens have no opportunity to correct
such abuses, outside interference is justified. By specifying that sovereignty is based on the
people, the international community can penetrate nation-states’ borders to protect the rights of
citizens. In particular, the principle of the people’s sovereignty can help solve two modern
challenges: the obstacles to delivering aid effectively to sovereign states, and the obstacles to
global collective action dealing with states experiencing internal conflict.”

The Constitution of the Autonomous Republic of Crimea (Ukrainian: Конституція

Автономної Республіки Крим Konstytutsiya Avtonomnoyi Respubliky Krym; Russian:
Конституция Автономной Республики Крым Konstitutsiya Avtonomnoy Respubliki Krym)
is the basic law of the Autonomous Republic of Crimea, a republic on the Crimean peninsula as
part of Ukraine. The constitution establishes the republic's status and authority within Ukraine.
It granted Crimea the right to draft a budget and manage its own property.[2]

During the 2014 Crimean crisis, a disputed referendum led to the repeal of the constitution by
the Crimean government, as part of the process by which the territory was annexed by Russia
as the Republic of Crimea.[1] The Ukrainian government has not recognized this annexation,
and still recognizes the constitution as active.[citation needed]

1992 Constitution
Main article: 1992 Crimean constitution
After a referendum on 20 January 1991, Crimea regained its status as an Autonomous Soviet
Socialist Republic. As this was months before August's Declaration of Independence of
Ukraine Crimea was at the time part of the Ukrainian SSR which was one of the constituent
republics of the Soviet Union.

In 26 February 1992, the Crimean parliament changed the name of the region from the Crimean
ASSR into the Republic of Crimea and the Ukrainian government with the objective of
allowing them more self-governance. On 5 May 1992, parliament declared Crimea
independent, which was yet to be approved by a referendum to be held 2 August 1992. On 6
May 1992, the same parliament inserted a new sentence into this constitution stating that
Crimea was part of Ukraine. The Ukrainian parliament convened on May 15, annulled the
Crimean declaration of independence and gave the Crimean parliament one week to cancel the
referendum. In June 1992, the parties reached a compromise, Crimea would be designated the
status of "Autonomous Republic" and granted special economic status, contingent on Crimea's
amendment of its constitution including proclaiming the peninsula an autonomous integral part
of Ukraine.The revised Constitution of Crimea was adopted on September 25, 1992.
Drafting of a new constitution

In May 1994, the Crimean parliament voted to restore the May 1992 Constitution.In September
1994, President of Crimea Yuriy Meshkov and parliament decided to write a new constitution.
On 17 March 1995, the Verkhovna Rada abolished the May 1992 Constitution and the post of
President of Crimea. From June until September 1995, Ukrainian President Leonid Kuchma
governed Crimea under a direct presidential administration decree. In October 1995, the
Crimean parliament adopted a new Constitution which was not recognized by the Ukrainian
national authorities until April 1996 when significant amendments were suggested. A fifth draft
law of the October 1995 constitution was ratified on 21 October 1998 at the second session of
the Crimean Verkhovna Rada (parliament). The Verkhovna Rada confirmed this constitution on
23 December 1998. (Article 135 of the Ukrainian Constitution provides that the Crimean
Constitution must be approved by the Ukrainian parliament.) It came into effect on 12 January
1999.

During the Crimean Crisis, the Crimean authority repealed the 1998 Crimean Constitution after
the 2014 Crimean status referendum.

Ukraine Annexed Crimea in the 1990s

Something else “our” government and its media whores did not tell us is that under the
Crimean Constitution of 1992, Crimea existed as a legal, democratic, secular state. Crimea’s
relationship with Ukraine was based on bilateral agreements. In 1995 Ukrainian special ops
forces and Ukrainian Army troops invaded Crimea and annexed the territory.

Here is the report from Arina Tsukanova: So Who Annexed the Crimean Peninsula Then? —
Strategic Culture: Due to the international media's continued claims about the «annexation of
Crimea», it's been difficult for the citizens of the US and Europe to make sense of…
http://www.strategic-culture.org/news/2017/03/28/so-who-annexed-crimea-peninsular-
then.html

The Autonomous Republic of Crimea was established by the 1991 All-Union Referendum in
which 94% of Crimeans voted in favor of re-establishing their status as an autonomous
republic. Crimeans repeated the vote in 2014 by an even higher percentage, and this time
prevented another Ukrainian invasion by reuniting with Russia.

Why didn’t you know this? Why instead do you hear nothing but lies about a “Russian invasion
and annexation of Crimea”?

THE LEGITIMATE CASE FOR THE RECOGNITION OF CRIMEA

SUBMITTED BY CHRISTIAN ON MON, 09/11/2017 - 11:54

Three years have passed since the reunification of Crimea with Russia, but Western countries
continue to challenge the ‘annexation’ of Crimea by the Russian Federation ignoring the
legitimate will of the people of Crimea, which they expressed on 16 March 2014.

It should be borne in mind that the sovereignty of the then Autonomous Republic of Crimea
was proclaimed on September 11,1991. According to section 10 of the Ukrainian Constitution
of 1996, the territory of Crimea is covered by the autonomous legal status, which is legally
applied to the rights of peoples. According to Article 138.2 of this section of the Ukrainian
Constitution, in particular the jurisdiction of the Autonomous Republic of Crimea includes ‘the
organization and conduct of local referendums’, while the possible subject of such referendums
is not limited to this special ‘Crimean’ section of the Constitution.

The actions of the Crimean authorities given the conditions prevailing in Ukraine at the time
were of a legal nature. On March 17, 2014 on the basis of a referendum (96.77% with a turnout
of 83.1% voted for the reunion of the Crimea with Russia) and the independent sovereign
Republic of Crimea was proclaimed.

As for Sevastopol, it should be noted that as early as 29 October 1948 it was separated from the
Crimean region and subordinated directly to the Soviet authorities by the decree of the
Presidium of the Supreme Soviet of RSFSR (Russian Soviet Federative Socialist Republic).
The Crimean region in violation of the Constitution of the USSR, RSFSR and Ukraine was
illegally transferred to Ukraine in 1954. The de facto inclusion of the city of Sevastopol
(Article 133 of the Ukrainian Constitution) into Ukraine was not based on any normative acts
of Russia on its transfer to Ukraine and was nothing more than a unilateral decision of Ukraine
which should be considered from a legal point of view as the seizure of a foreign territory by
Ukraine. The referendum conducted on March 16, 2017 in Sevastopol reaffirmed that fact
(95,6% with a turnout of 89,5% voted for the reunion of the Crimea with Russia) and gained its
special status.

The referendum conducted on March 16, 2014 with the attendance of more than 150 observers
in connection with a coup d'état and the seizure of power in Kiev became the realization of the
right of people to self-determination. Until March 16, 2014, the Autonomous Republic of
Crimea existed in the form of autonomy within Ukraine, which had its own Constitution
adopted on October 21, 1998. Article 48 of this Constitution, entitled Guarantees and Provision
of Status and Powers of the Autonomous Republic of Crimea, presupposes that these
guarantees are provided by democratic institutions of the society including the conduct of a
referendum on any substantive question to the citizens.
In addition, it should be borne in mind that the preamble of the Ukrainian Constitution also
refers to the recognition and ascertainment of the right of the Ukrainian peoples to self-
determination. This Constitution also guarantees the people's will through a referendum in
accordance with Article 69, while the purpose of the referendum is defined as a manifestation
of one of the forms of direct democracy.

The peoples of Crimea saw protection only in self-determination and reunification with the
historical Motherland, where it was for about two hundred years (starting from April 8, 1783
after the Empress Ekaterina II signing the manifesto on accepting the Crimea peninsula into the
Russian Empire).

The Crimeans faced with the conditions of the coup d’état implemented the right of the
population to self-defense by creating self-defence forces with the participation of Cossacks,
militia, together with a part of the local police. The number of militias was about 10,000.

In contradiction to the requirements of Part 4 of Article 17 of the Ukrainian Constitution on the

prohibition of using the armed forces of the country to restrict the rights and freedoms of
citizens, the Ukrainian Ministry of Defence was preparing a landing of troops to disrupt the
referendum.

According to the US and EU countries, the referendum was illegitimate, unconstitutional in

nature due to the presence of the Russian armed forces during its conduct in Crimea. At that
time, Russia acted in full accordance with the international law, since its military presence in
Crimea (Black Sea Fleet) was due to the existence of bilateral international treaties that provide
legal grounds for placing the Russian military contingent on the territory of Ukraine
(Agreement between Ukraine and the Russian Federation on the issues of stay of Russia's
Black Sea Fleet on the territory of Ukraine dated April 21, 2010, including the Agreement
between Ukraine and the Russian Federation on the status and stay of Russia's Black Sea Fleet
on the territory of Ukraine dated May 28, 1997, Agreement between Ukraine and the Russian
Federation on the parameters for dividing the Black Sea Fleet dated May 28, 1997, and
Agreement between the Government of Ukraine and Government of the Russian Federation on
mutual settlements related to the division of the Black Sea Fleet and stay of Russia's Black Sea
Fleet on the territory of Ukraine dated May 28, 1997). The Russian Armed Forces could move
around the territory of Crimea, as it is stipulated by the international treaty between Russia and
Ukraine, which was ratified by the Verkhovna Rada.
The Russian Federation Armed Forces did not participate in the voting and could not influence
its outcome. The provision of law and order in the polling stations was born by self-defence
forces and people's volunteers from among the citizens of Crimea and these actions also did not
affect the counting of votes.

On March 18, 2014, the President of Russia in his address stressed that "Russia did not
introduce troops into Crimea, but only reinforced its grouping, while not exceeding the
maximum number of staff provided for by the international treaty of 1997." Such actions were
taken to protect "the lives of citizens of the Russian Federation, our compatriots and staff of the
military contingent of the Russian Armed Forces deployed on the territory of Ukraine in
accordance with the international treaty." Moreover, the President of Russia confirmed his
constitutional right in the national parliament of the state on the use of the Russian troops
abroad, but he did not use it. (Resolution of the Council of Federation of the Russian Federal
Assembly No. 48-SF dated 01.03.2014). Thus, the accusations of using the Russian Armed
Forces before, during and after the referendum in Crimea are legally inconsistent.

The Opinion of the Venice Commission on the Crimean Referendum dated March 21, 2014 No.
762/2014 CDL-AD (2014) 002 stating that "... there are numerous provisions of the Ukrainian
Constitution, clearly indicating that the separation of a part of the country's territory cannot be
subject to a local referendum” seems to be unconvincing because the constitutional norms on
the functioning of the Ukrainian government that functioned before the coup d’état were ruined
and the extraordinary circumstances in Crimea (threat to lives of people, unleashing the civil
war) made it impossible to conduct the referendum without special security measures.
Undertaking such measures was legal for legitimate Crimean government.

Summing up, it is necessary to state that Crimea faced a secession (i.e., voluntary withdrawal
from the state), proclaiming state independence by a legitimate representative body represented
by the Supreme Council of the Autonomous Republic of Crimea, confirmed by a referendum
having approved the separation from Ukraine. It was followed by an application for the entry of
an independent Crimea state into the Russian Federation, adopted by Russia, and reunion that
fundamentally excludes the annexation, i.e., accession by one state of another. Thus, in such
case it is inevitable to differentiate the legal terms “secession” and “annexation”.

In this regard, the statements of some politicians on the Crimean referendum violating the
international law seems to be absurd and the UN General Assembly Resolution No.
A/RES/68/262 dated March 27, 2014 on the "territorial integrity" of Ukraine was adopted in a
hurry without a duly made legal analysis .

The Declaration of Independence doesn’t violate international law. The UN International Court
of Justice proved by its’ decision on July 22, 2010 that “unilateral declaration of independence
by a part of the state does not violate any rules of international law… The general international
law does not include any applicable prohibition of declaration of independence".

The legitimacy of the referendum of the Crimeans dated March 16, 2014 is further
strengthened by the fact that the Resolution of the Supreme Council of the Russian Federation
dated May 21, 1992 No. 2809-1 recognized the Resolution of the Presidium of the Supreme
Soviet of RSFSR dated 05.02.1954 Concerning the Transfer of the Crimean Region from
RSFSR to the Ukrainian SSR as having no legal force and in violation of the Constitution
(Basic Law) of RSFSR and legislative procedure.

The Supreme Council of the Russian Federation decided on restoring the illegally lost territory
without establishing a protectorate over Crimea. This decision was rested for the future
involving the expression of will of the citizens of Crimea. The legal vacuum and legal
vagueness of the status of Crimea were overcome after 22 years on the basis of democratic
expression of the citizens’ will. Thus, the referendum in Crimea and Sevastopol conducted on
March 16, 2014, which was used by the peoples inhabiting the Crimea peninsula to
independently and democratically determine their fate, was held legitimately and should be
recognized as such by foreign states.

TNS Global, an independent research company with offices in over 80 countries, polled
Europeans on their perception of the Crimean peninsula, in which some 5 138 respondents
from France, Germany, Italy, the United Kingdom and the United States took part. At least 34
percent of Italians and 36 percent of Germans called Crimea an essential part of Russia, while
roughly a quarter of Britons, Americans and French thought so. In France older respondents
thought Crimea was Russian territory, while in Germany, mostly young people considered
Crimea as part of Russia. The most popular answer was “I don’t know.” Some 51 percent of
Americans, 48 percent of French and 44 percent of Britons said they did not know. The poll
was conducted between February 16 and February 22, 2017 this year.

Note about Secession

Secession under international law refers to separation of a portion of an existing state, whereby
the separating entity either seeks to become a new state or to join another state, and the original
state remains in existence without the separating territory. The most relevant legal issue
pertaining to secession is under what circumstances a minority group seeking to separate from
an original country has the legal right to do so. The legal right for a "people' or a minority
group to attain a certain degree of autonomy from its sovereign has been referred to as "self-
determination" in international law. The principle of self-determination is embodied in multiple
international treaties and conventions. Under the principle of self-determination, groups with a
common identity and link to a defined territory are allowed to determine their political future in
a democratic fashion. Self-determination of such groups can be effectuated in different ways:
through self-government, autonomy, free association, or, in extreme cases, independence. For a
group to be entitled to exercise its collective right to self-determination, it must qualify as a
people. Traditionally, a two-part test has been applied to determine when a group qualifies as a
people. First, the test looks to objective elements of the group to determine the extent to which
its members "share a common racial background, ethnicity, language, religion, history and
cultural heritage," as well as the "territorial integrity of the area the group is claiming." Second,
the test looks to subjective elements to examine "the extent to which individuals within the
group self-consciously perceive themselves collectively as a distinct 'people' "and "the degree
to which the group can form a viable political entity." Once the determination has been made
that a specific group qualifies as a people and thus has the right to self-determination, the
relevant inquiry, for purposes of secession, becomes whether the right to self-determination
creates a right to secession and independence. In other words, as mentioned above, the right to
self-determination can take different forms, such as autonomy, self-government, or free
association, that are less intrusive on state sovereignty than secession. Modern-day
international law has come to embrace the right of people to secede from an existing state
"when the group is collectively denied civil and political rights and subject to egregious
abuses."

http://www.aalep.eu/legitimate-case-recognition-crimea

Chronology for Crimean Russians in Ukraine

Sep 1990 The Crimean Supreme Soviet calls upon the Supreme Soviets of the Soviet Union
and Russian SFSR to nullify the decisions to strip Crimea of its autonomous status.

Jan 20, 1991 A referendum is held in the Crimea on restoring autonomy to the region. Over
80% of the electorate participates, of which 93.26% supported the "restoration of the Crimean
ASSR as a subject of the USSR and as a party to the Union Treaty."

Feb 12, 1991 The Ukrainian Supreme Soviet restores the Crimea as an autonomous republic
within the borders of the Ukraine.
Aug 1991 An attempted coup against Gorbachev fails on the 21st. On the 24th, the
Ukrainian Supreme Soviet declares the Ukraine's independence and on the same day, the
Republican Movement of Crimea (which later becomes the Republican Party of Crimea) is
established by Yurii Meshkov. The movement is officially registered as a movement in
November.

Sep 4, 1991 The Crimean parliament declares the state sovereignty of Crimea as a constituent
part of the Ukraine.

Dec 1, 1991 A referendum is held in the Ukraine on independence simultaneously with

presidential elections. Leonid Kravchuk is elected the first president of the Ukraine, and the
independence of the Ukraine is supported by the referendum. However, Crimean support for
Ukrainian independence was the lowest of all of the Ukraine (only 54% in favor) with very low
turnout (65%). Support not only for Russia, but for the Soviet Union, is extremely high in
Crimea as much of the population is related to the Soviet military and the Black Sea Fleet.

Jan 1992 The Russian Foreign Ministry and parliament condemn the transfer of Crimea to
the Ukraine in 1954.

Jan 15, 1992 The Union of Ukrainian Naval Officers in Sevastopol protests what they see as
Russian intervention in Ukrainian internal affairs.

Feb 26, 1992 The Crimean parliament changes the name of the region from the Crimean ASSR
to the Crimean Republic.

Apr 1992 In a visit to Crimea, Russian Vice President Rutskoi calls for the secession of
Crimea from the Ukraine.

May 5, 1992 Crimea's parliament declares total independence subject to approval in a

referendum to be held in August 1992.

May 13, 1992 The Ukrainian parliament declares the Crimean parliament's independence
declaration unconstitutional and gives them until May 20 to rescind it. They also give President
Kravchuk the power to use all necessary means to halt Crimean independence.

May 20, 1992 In reaction to the Ukrainian ultimatum, the Crimean parliament rescinds its
declaration of independence, but only suspends the referendum on independence. They also
suggest that Kiev suspend its law on Crimean autonomy and begin negotiating a new
delineation of power between Kiev and Simferopol.

May 21, 1992 The Russian parliament passes a resolution declaring the 1954 transfer of
Crimea illegal and calling for negotiations on the future of Crimea. This move is supported by
some Russian nationalists and Communists in Crimea.
Jun 1, 1992 Crimean and Ukrainian parliaments agree to a compromise in which Crimea is
granted greater autonomy and special economic status. Crimean Tatars condemn the agreement
as they were not a party to the negotiations.

Jun 23, 1992 The Dagomys Summit between the Ukraine and Russia takes place. An
agreement is signed dividing the Black Sea Fleet equally by 1995.

Jun 30, 1992 Kiev passes a law granting Crimea greater autonomy as they agreed to, but made
its enactment contingent on (1) Crimea's amendment of its constitution to bring into line with
the Ukraine's, and (2) the complete annulment of the independence referendum. Crimea later
imposes a moratorium on the referendum.

Jul 9, 1992 The Russian parliament declares Sevastopol a Russian city. The declaration is
quickly disavowed by Russian President Yeltsin. Later in the month, the U. N. Security Council
declares the Russian parliament's declaration on Sevastopol a violation of the UN Charter and
the 1990 Russo-Ukrainian treaty recognizing existing borders. Yeltsin supports the UNSC
declaration.

Aug 1992 At Yalta, Kravchuk and Yeltsin agree on details of how they are to divide the
Black Sea Fleet. They also agree that Sevastopol is to be leased to Russia for basing of the
fleet. Both Russian and Ukrainian nationalists attack the agreement.

Sep 1992 Crimea revises its constitution to meet the Ukraine's requirements.

Dec 17, 1992The Ukrainian parliament passes the Law on the Representation of the President
of Ukraine in the Republic of Crimea.

Jan 10, 1993 Over 2,000 protesters hold an unauthorized demonstration in Sevastopol calling
for separation from Ukraine, price reductions, dismissal of the presidential representative in
Sevastopol, and the transfer of the representative's powers to the city council and Executive
Committee.

Jan 13, 1993 A Russian, Rear Admiral Baltin, was confirmed by both Ukrainian and Russian
presidents as commander of the Black Sea Fleet.

Jan 18 - 20, 1993 Anti-Ukrainian demonstrations again take place in Sevastopol and
Simferopol. This time they are organized by the All Crimean Movement of Electors for a
Crimean Republic, the Republican Movement of Crimea, Yedinstvo, and the Union of
Communists. Demands include the transfer of Crimea back to Russian jurisdiction and early
elections be held for all government bodies. The Simferopol demonstration, numbering about
1,000 and led by Meshkov, goes past the parliament building and is unauthorized. The
demonstration of the 17th attracted about 5,000 people. In all, the series of demonstrations
attracted less than 10,000 people.
Jan 22, 1993 Ukrainian PM Kuchma states that the government should be examining the
question of making Sevastopol a free economic zone.

Mar 23, 1993The Party for the Economic Rebirth of Crimea holds a congress during which it
calls for economic, political and legal measures to expedite the development of Crimea as a
democratic state within Ukraine.

Apr 6, 1993 The Crimean parliament passes a resolution demanding that Ukraine and Russia
reaffirm their allegiance to the Yalta agreement on the fleet.

Apr 14, 1993 The Presidium of the Crimean parliament calls for the creation of the post of
president. The issue is to be on the upcoming sessions agenda.

Apr 25, 1993 Two vessels of the Black Sea Fleet pledge allegiance to Ukraine. The Ukrainian
Defense Ministry accepts the ships into the Ukrainian Navy. The fleet command denounces this
move as a violation of the Yalta agreement.

May 5, 1993 President Kravchuk meets with Crimean Chairman Bahrov. They discuss an
amendment to the Ukrainian Constitution concerning the division of powers between Kiev and
Sevastopol, the establishment of committees to decide the division of property in Crimea, and
the allowance of dual Russian-Ukrainian citizenship for Crimean residents.

May 24, 1993 115 ships of the Black Sea Fleet raise the Russian flag to protest
discrepancies between the pay Russian and Ukrainian sailors receive.

May 31, 1993 The Defense Council meets over the situation with the fleet. The Congress
of Ukrainian Nationalists declares that all ships flying the Russian flag be withdrawn from
Ukrainian waters and the Yalta and Dagomys agreements be voided.

Jun 1, 1993 Over 200 ships of the fleet raise the Russian naval ensign. The following day,
Ukrainian Defense Minister states that the crews of ships flying the Russian flag would not be
paid by Kiev.

Jun 8, 1993 The Ukrainian Defense Ministry issues statement renouncing plans to lease
Sevastopol to Russia.

Jun 16, 1993 The Crimean parliament passes a decree appealing to both the Ukrainian and
Russian presidents to maintain the fleet jointly with Sevastopol as the home port. They also call
on them to resolve to lessen the hardships faced by the seamen of the fleet. The following day
Kravchuk and Yeltsin agree to divide the fleet equally into Russian and Ukrainian fleets. Yeltsin
promises to contribute to socioeconomic programs wherever Russian naval forces are stationed.

Jun 25, 1993 Kravchuk declares Crimea a free economic zone. The following day, protests are
held against the agreement by officers of the fleet and workers' unions.
Jun 29, 1993 The Conference of Black Sea Fleet Officers protest the division of the fleet. They
call on fleet commanders to raise the Russian ensign on July 1 in protest. A report on July 5,
said that 220 of the fleet support ships were still flying the Russian flag, while only three were
flying the Ukrainian flag. All combat vessels are required to fly the Soviet era flag.

Jul 9, 1993 The Russian parliament passes a resolution declaring Sevastopol the home port of
a unified Russian Black Sea Fleet and Russian territory. The resolution is condemned by
Ukrainian groups throughout Crimea, the Ukrainian parliament and most Western governments.

Jul 16, 1993 The anti-Ukrainian Popular Assembly declares that only Russian laws should be
valid in the city of Sevastopol, new elections to the city council should be held, Sevastopol
deputies in Kiev should be dismissed and new elections for deputies to be sent to Russia should
be held, the Ukrainian naval headquarters should be removed forcibly from Sevastopol, and
Russia should cut off oil deliveries to Ukraine. The declarations are accompanied by anti-
Ukrainian / pro-Russian demonstrations. Meshkov makes statement that once Sevastopol is
reunited with Russia, the rest of Crimea would soon follow. Non-Russians throughout Crimea
and in Kiev denounce the statement. Most of these sentiments are not held by Russians in the
rest of Ukraine. Many Crimean Russians yearn for a return to the Soviet Union and re-
establishment of Soviet authority in Ukraine.

Jul 21, 1993 The UNSC declares the Russian parliament's resolution on Sevastopol in
violation of the UN Charter and the 1990 Russo-Ukrainian treaty establishing their common
borders.

Jul 26, 1993 Demonstrators in Sevastopol (approximately 2,000) demand the transfer of the
fleet to Russia. Victor Prusakov of the Russian Society of Crimea threatens to take up arms to
restore Sevastopol to Russia.

Sep 3, 1993 Yeltsin and Kravchuk hold a summit during which Yeltsin suggests that Ukraine
trade its share of the fleet to pay off its huge debt to Russia for fuel. Kravchuk rejects the idea
pointing out that they had been planning to sell part of the fleet on the market to boost their
finances.

Sep 17, 1993 The Crimean parliament passes a law providing for the election of a president of
the Crimean Republic.

Sep 28, 1993 Bahrov, speaker of the Crimean parliament threatens to resign in protest the
parliament's refusal to guarantee Crimean Tatars representation. The parliament refuses to
accept the resignation.

Oct 14, 1993 The Crimean parliament sets presidential elections for January 16, 1994.

Dec 15, 1993Andrii Lazenbnykov, a campaign worker for presidential candidate Yermakov
(the Ukrainian presidential representative in Sevastopol) and press secretary for the Black Sea
Fleet is murdered. A bomb does minor damage to the home of Eskander Memetov, economic
advisor to Bahrov the next day.

Jan 10, 1994 Supporters of the pro-Russian nationalist, Meshkov disrupt a speech by Bahrov.
Charges are leveled at Meshkov of waging a "pathological terror campaign."

Jan 15, 1994 Meshkov is attacked at a bus stop on the eve of the elections by an individual
with a metal rod.

Jan 16, 1994 Over 80% of registered voters vote in the presidential elections. No winner
emerges; the top two candidates are Mehkov with 38.2% of the vote, and Bahrov with 17.6% of
the vote. The run-offs are scheduled for January 30.

Jan 19, 1994 Memetov is again attacked along with 14 companions. Eleven people are
wounded, three killed. Memetov dies two days later due to his injuries.

Jan 20, 1994 Kiev's parliament votes to allow the president to nullify any acts by either central
agencies or Crimean authorities which violate the constitution.

Jan 25, 1994 Kravchuk meets with advisors of Meshkov and Bahrov. He assures them that he
does not intend to intervene against the Republican Movement. He also reiterated his
opposition to dual citizenship.

Jan 30, 1994 The presidential run-offs are held. Meshkov wins with 75% of the vote and
Bahrov resigns from parliament - although the resignation was rejected again by the
parliament.

Feb 4, 1994 Meshkov is sworn in as president. He praises Ukraine and President Kravchuk,
and in meetings with him works on economic agreements.

Feb 24, 1994 The Ukrainian parliament finds that Crimea did not have the right to have
independent defense and monetary policies and they rejected the idea of a separate Crimean
citizenship. They also placed a deadline on the Crimean parliament to get Crimean law into line
with Ukrainian. Bahrov denounces the resolution by the Ukrainian parliament in a meeting
with Kravchuk and Ukrainian Supreme Soviet chairman.

Mar 4, 1994 The Rossiya electoral bloc urges Crimeans to boycott the upcoming Ukrainian
parliamentary elections (set for March 27).

Mar 6, 1994 400 Russian nationalists protest in Sevastopol against presidents Kravchuk and
Clinton. Kravchuk is meeting with Clinton in Washington.

Mar 11, 1994The Crimean parliament appoints a former Russian minister of economics as
deputy prime minister. The Crimean branch of the Ukrainian Republican Party and the
Ukrainian Civic Congress adopt a resolution denouncing the Crimean decree on holding a
referendum on independence. They also demanded that Kravchuk abolish the Crimean
presidency.

Mar 14, 1994Crimean parliament adopts a budget which calls for taxes and tariffs to be
appropriated in Simferopol instead of Kiev. The Central Election Commission declares
Meshkov's referendum on independence illegal. Two days later, Kravchuk follows suit
declaring the referendum null and void; he states that Meshkov has exceeded his authority.
Meshkov vows to go ahead with the referendum anyway.

Mar 21, 1994Meshkov sets up a special commission to conduct a nonbinding referendum on

the status of the Crimea.

Mar 25, 1994The Ukrainian Defense Ministry declares illegal a decree by Meshkov requiring
that Crimean citizens may only perform military service on Crimean soil.

Mar 27, 1994The Crimea holds the referendum 1.3 million voted, 78.4% of whom supported
greater autonomy from Ukraine, 82.8% supported allowing dual Russian-Ukrainian citizenship,
and 77.9% favored giving Crimean presidential decrees the force of law. The first round of both
Crimean and Ukrainian elections also take place. In the Crimea, the Rossiya bloc gets 67% of
the vote, the Communist Party 11%, and the Party of Economic Rebirth 7%.

Apr 1994 Crimean President Meshkov removes the chief of internal affairs ministry (the
police) who was appointed by Kiev and replaces him with a Crimean, Valerii Kuznetsov. The
situation becomes decidedly heated as both sides issue threats and counter-threats. General
Kuznetsov declares on Rossiya Radio that Crimea is in essence Russian and will be a part of
Russia.

Apr 15, 1994 Kravchuk and Yeltsin sign an agreement on the fleet dispute. The agreement calls
for the fleet's division with Ukraine getting 15-20% of the ships. It also is to set up separate
Russian and Ukrainian bases.

Apr 22, 1994 The Russian-Ukrainian talks over the fleet break down with no final agreement
signed. The talks broke down over the issue of what bases the Russians would be allowed to
use. Separately in Crimea, 13 Crimean political parties sign an "Accord for Rebirth." The
accord is not signed by Communist Party of Crimea, Ukrainian Republican Movement,
Ukrainian Civic Congress of Crimea, nor the Mejlis. The signing came after a week of pro-
Russian demonstrations in front of the local parliament.

May 1994 Kravchuk orders the removal of Kuznetsov as chief of the internal affairs
ministry, but he is unable to enforce the order. Compromise is later reached between the offices
of the two presidents; there is to be both a Ukrainian and Crimean internal affairs ministry
presence.

May 6, 1994 Russians in Crimea celebrate Crimean Constitution Day in Simferopol. The
festivities include a rally for Crimean independence which is attended by 15,000 people.
Jun 4, 1994 Agreement is reached between deputies of the Crimean and Ukrainian
parliaments. The deputies agree that Crimean law is overridden by the Ukrainian constitution
and that both sides should come to agreement on a division of powers between Kiev and
Simferopol. The accord is rejected by the Crimean parliament three days later.

Jun 28, 1994 The Ukrainian parliament attempts to assert Ukrainian control over all police
units in the Ministry of Internal Affairs. The Crimean parliament counters by repealing all
Ukrainian laws which contradict Crimean law.

Jul 1, 1994 The Crimean parliament votes to assume full powers on the territory of Crimea
except for those which it voluntarily delegates to Kiev. They also condemn the Ukrainian
leadership for violating the Crimean Constitution and law.

Jul 6, 1994 The Crimean parliament passes a resolution invalidating a decree from Kiev
placing the Crimean militia under the control of the Ministry of Internal Affairs of Ukraine.

Jul 19, 1994 Leonid Kuchma is sworn in as president of Ukraine. He won the election with
52.14% of the vote. The leader of Mejlis warns that this could make the situation for his group
(the Tatars) worse. Kravchuk did well in western Ukraine, and Kuchma did well in eastern
Ukraine and Crimea.

Jul 21, 1994 A law allowing dual citizenship in the peninsula passes its first reading in the
Crimean parliament. The parliament is also said to be considering charging both the Russians
and Ukrainians for use of Crimean land for their military installations. Russia has paid only
irregularly for use of its naval bases and Ukraine has not paid at all.

Aug 3, 1994 The Crimean minister of economics reports that Crimea is becoming more and
more dependent on Ukraine for trade and less so on Russia. He reported that 80% of Crimean
manufactures are sold in Ukraine.

Aug 4, 1994 It is revealed that on July 18 Meshkov created the Service of the President of the
Republic of Crimea for Security and International Affairs. The new service answers only to the
president and is headed by a former Russian special services operative. This is the third special
services office to operate in Crimea; the other two are operated by Ukraine and parliament.

Aug 6, 1994 Kuchma issues two decrees which place the government under his direct control
and subordinates all local and regional councils to his authority. This move is not challenged by
the parliament which has ten days to do so (otherwise the decrees become law).

Aug 23, 1994 The Sevastopol city council decided to declare Sevastopol a Russian city,
making the city subject only to Russian legislation. The resolution was backed by 36 of the 42
members and was immediately denounced as illegal by Ukrainian authorities.

Sep 11, 1994 Crimean President Meshkov suspends the Crimean parliament and all local
councils, and has assumed all political powers within the republic. Meshkov's decree states that
a draft constitution is to be drawn up December 9 and voted on in a referendum by April 9.
Within three months of the approval of a new constitution, new elections are to be held and
new local bodies to be created. This move follows the parliament's vote to curtail his powers 4
days earlier. Later, Meshkov offers to begin talks with parliament only if they rescinded the
amendments curtailing his powers.

Sep 22, 1994 Meshokov suspends his decree dissolving parliament in order to begin talks with
the parliament. Meanwhile, the position of the central government in Kiev has been low-keyed
and non-intrusive. Kuchma has called on both sides to resolve the dispute peacefully, saying
that the central authority would only intervene if "disorder" broke out. Kuchma also proposed a
compromise of both sides cancelling their decrees. Both sides rejected the proposal. In the
wake of this, he has declared that if they do not resolve the dispute peacefully, he will rescind
Crimea's autonomous status. A poll is reported showing only 23% of Crimeans support
Meshkov. The report which gave this statistic also reported that leader of the Tatar (Kuraltai)
faction of parliament has said that it would be better to live as an oblast of Ukraine than under
Meshkov.

Sep 29, 1994 The parliament moves to strip Meshkov and the presidency of all powers, making
the prime minister the chief executive (the vote was 68 in favor, 11 against, and 14 abstained).
A week later, the parliament votes Anatoly Franchuk the new prime minister. Franchuk is a
close friend of Kuchma. The Russia bloc, the largest party in Crimea, has split into two factions
over the battle between Meshkov and the parliament. "Russia" is still headed by Serhii Nikulin
and supports Meshkov, while the new faction, "Russia-Unity" opposes Meshkov due to what
they term his "betrayal" of the interests of the party to reunite Crimea with Russia.

Oct 1994 The Sevastopol city council has decided it can no longer afford to hand over its
tax revenues to Kiev due to its economic crisis.

Nov 28, 1994 Russia begins to institute dual citizenship for citizens in CIS member
countries unilaterally. There is wide concern that this may provide Russia with even greater
leverage in Crimea where Viktor Mezhak, Crimean Supreme Soviet deputy chairman, predicted
1.5 million of Crimea's 1.7 million Russians would apply.

Jan 4, 1995 According to a recent poll, more than half of all Crimeans believe their peninsula
is run by the mafia. Only 10% thought parliament was running the country and 2% thought
their president and prime minister were in charge.

Mar 1995 The Ukrainian parliament rescinded Crimea's constitution and abolished the post
of Crimean President. Ukrainian president Kuchma said the region's parliament could be
dissolved if it continued to violate Ukraine's Constitution. By abolishing the presidency,
Ukraine left regional power in Crimea in the hands of its Prime Minister Anatoliy Franchuk.
Officials said Ukrainian state ministries, including the military and police, would enforce
Ukrainian laws and the dismantling of the Crimean presidency. Unrest continued through May
as a result of these moves. The move is supported by Mejlis leaders. Reports have indicated
that presumably Kiev will recognize the Mejlis as the representative body of the Crimean Tatar
people, a move which Crimean authorities have refused to do and which likely will rile the
NMCT.

Apr 17, 1995 Ukrainian Cossacks and Crimean Tatars attempt to raise a Ukrainian flag in
Simferopol near the city council, but a large group of Russians blocks their way. No overt
violence was reported. Russian President Yeltsin announced he would not sign a friendship
treaty with Ukraine until it resolves its dispute with Russian nationalists in its Crimean region.

Apr 19, 1995 Russian Foreign Minister Kazyrev warned that Russia is prepared to use force to
protect the rights of ethnic Russians living in the former Soviet republics. He noted that Russia
could use a range of diplomatic, political and economic means to protect such Russians, adding
that Moscow would not exclude the use of force. He insisted he was staking out a moderate
position and warned against extremists who might appeal to nationalism in upcoming elections.

May 1, 1995 About 4000 people marked May Day in Simferopol shouting slogans upholding
Crimea's right to independence and condemning Ukraine's efforts to crush Crimean separatism.

Jul 6, 1995 Pro-Russian chairman of the Crimean Parliament Sergei Tsekov was replaced by
Yevgeny Suprunyuk.

Aug 1996 Crimean Parliament Chairman Suprunyuk was kidnapped by unknown assailants.
He was held for two days and then escaped. Crimea is plagued by clans of organized crime who
hope to gain assets once held by the state or Communist Party.

Oct 8, 1996 Crimean Russians held a congress and proclaimed it their legislature. The
congress was attended by Russian State Duma Deputy Vladimir Davidenko. The congress also
issued a declaration "On the National Unity of the Russian People."

Oct 10, 1996 Vasily Kiselyov was elected Chairman of the Crimean Supreme Soviet. Observers
think his election could complicate relations between Simferopol and Kiev and lead to
increased pro-Russian sentiments on the peninsula. He was congratulated on his election to the
highest state office in the Autonomous republic of Crimea by Dmitry Stepanyuk, the Ukrainian
President's permanent representative in Crimea.

Jan 15, 1997 Leaders of the Russian community of Crimea held a press conference to draw
attention to what they say is a policy of "language aggression" aimed at "driving out the
Russian language in Ukraine." Last Fall, the Ukrainian president gave instructions to the
government and heads of local administrations to intensify control over the putting into effect
of the language policy, to draft a new edition of the law on language, to work out privileges for
the publication and circulation of materials in Ukrainian and to issue licenses only to those TV
companies which broadcast mostly in Ukrainian. The press conference organizers claimed the
president violated the Ukrainian constitution which guarantees the free development, use and
protection of Russian and other languages of national minorities. They also sent a message to
the Russian government suggesting it "examine the problem of the language rights of Russian
population of Ukraine and Crimea, the situation of Russians and Russian Culture in Ukraine
and especially in the regions traditionally inhabited by Russians and discuss a possibility of
rendering assistance for the purpose of preserving Russian culture, as well as the Russian
language and information space."

Feb 1997 Crimea's mainly pro-Russian parliament sacked speaker Vasily Kiselyov whom
deputies accused of being too favorable to Ukraine.

Feb 23, 1997 Crimean communists attending a meeting in Simferopol have called on
authorities to cut off relations with NATO. The Congress of the Russian People called on
Russian and Ukrainian leaders to immediately sign a defensive union recognizing Sevastopol
as the main base of the Black Sea Fleet.

Mar 18, 1997Riot police in Crimea prevented about 1000 protestors from storming the
parliament building in Simferopol during a demonstration calling for the return of the peninsula
to Russia. Pro-Russian communist groups organized the demonstration which was attended by
about 5000 people.

Mar 20, 1997An announcement that the U.S. and Ukraine would participate in joint naval
exercises this summer brought a protest from Russia. The outcry over the planned exercise was
traced to an early scenario drawn up by the Ukraine in which a separatist revolt by and
unnamed "ethnically based party" is threatening the integrity of Ukraine. The separatists in the
scenario are backed by an "unnamed neighboring country." The unnamed party was interpreted
by Moscow to be Crimean Russians and the unnamed neighboring country Russia itself. The
U.S. rejected this scenario outright. A previous joint exercise (July 1995) went off without
controversy. (Note Protests against the exercises, especially by Russians in the Crimea,
occurred on an almost weekly basis until the maneuvers were held in September, and will not
be further mentioned unless otherwise noteworthy.)

Mar 27, 1997President Kuchma, in a news conference in Moscow, called for a resolution of the
Black Sea Fleet issue, and bilateral relations between the two republics. (Xinhua 3/27/97)

Apr 4, 1997 Shortly after limiting the amount of Russian language programming transmitted
to the Crimea, Kiev reduced the amount of Russian-language broadcasting in Crimea to four
hours a week. (TASS 4/4/97)

Apr 9, 1997 The Crimean parliament voted overwhelmingly to oust Prime Minister Arkady
Demidenko, the third attempt to oust him since January. Observers said the ouster of
Demidenko was based on clan rivalry (the leader of the movement was related to President
Kuchma through marriage) rather than pressure to forge closer ties with Moscow or Kiev.
According to the constitution, the Ukrainian head of state must approve the resignation of the
Crimean government. (Agence France Presse 4/9/97) The head of Russia's upper house of
parliament suggested that Ukraine join the planned union of Russia and Belarus, arguing "those
Slav states should form the core of integration in the CIS." (NOTE The issue of union with
Russia and/or Belarus recurs regularly throughout the period covered by this update, and will
not be further mentioned unless otherwise noteworthy." (British Broadcasting Corporation
4/11/97)

Apr 10, 1997 During Ukrainian hearings on the freedom of the media, the Ukrainian
Information Ministry said that the number of Ukrainian-language books published in 1996 was
2.3 times less than the number in 1970, and 1.15 times less than the number in 1990. In
addition, ninety percent of the 70 private radio stations in Ukraine broadcast in Russian. The
Information Minister used these statistics to decry what he called the "Russification" of
Ukraine and called on the parliament to defend the Ukrainian language. He also blamed
Ukrainian media's freedom to broadcast in the language of their choice, and the "amorphous-
democratic" laws for this decline. (TASS 4/10/97)

Apr 17, 1997 Russia's upper house of parliament voted to make the contested city of Sevastopol
a special international city. The Federation Council insisted that its proposal did not amount to
Russian territorial designs on Sevastopol. The Deputy Foreign Minister representing Ukrainian
interests in the Black Sea Fleet negotiations rejected the proposal, saying that Sevastopol was
unequivocally a part of Ukraine. (Agence France Presse 4/17/97 and TASS 4/22/97)

Apr 20, 1997 A Russian Federation Council commission dealing with the question of
Sevastopol decided that Russia should directly declare its historical rights to the city and
declare it an international city under international law, perhaps appealing to the UN. The
commission declared the 1954 Supreme Soviet resolution that turned Crimea over to the
Ukraine unconstitutional, saying the presidium did not have the authority to do so. (British
Broadcasting Corporation 4/22/97)

May 7, 1997 About 150 activists from pro-Russian public organizations picketed the
Sevastopol State TV and Radio Company for two hours to demand a resumption of Russian
Public Television [ORT] broadcasts in the city, instead of the Inter channel. The TV company
promised to restore the 10-hour ORT broadcasts in the near future. Prior to mid-April,
Sevastopol was the only city in Crimea that received ORT instead of Inter. (British
Broadcasting Corporation 5/16/97)

May 21, 1997 Sixty of the 70 deputies of the Crimean parliament passed a resolution to
oust Premier Arkadi Demidenko, in the eighth attempt. After the last attempt in March,
Ukrainian President Leonid Kuchma vetoed the decision of the Crimean parliament as
"contradicting Ukraine's law." (Deutsche Presse-Agentur 5/21/97)

May 27, 1997 The Russian Prime Minister reacted with concern to a proposed new
Ukrainian language law which he said would "limit and force out" the Russian language from
intellectual life. He claimed that Russians and Russian-speakers were often denied their rights
and were often denied employment or residence permits based on their citizenship. (TASS
5/27/97) Ukrainian Prime Minister Pavel Lasarenko offered to lease a portion of the port of
Sevastopol to Russia for 20 years as part of an agreement on the Black Sea fleet. An agreement
to that effect was signed the following day. However, most Sevastopol and Crimea residents
felt the agreement was not in their advantage, and appealed to the Federation Council and State
Duma not to ratify the Black Sea agreement. (Deutsche Presse-Agentur 5/27/97 and TASS
5/28/97 & 5/30/97)

May 31, 1997 Ukrainian President Leonid Kuchma and his Russian counterpart, Boris
Yeltsin, signed a treaty of friendship, cooperation and partnership, which promised that the two
countries would respect each other's sovereignty and territorial integrity, not violate the present
borders, nor interfere in each other's internal affairs. The treaty marked the first time Russia had
formally recognized Ukraine's independence, and was decried by some Russian politicians as a
sign of giving up hope of protecting Russians or the Russian language in Ukraine. About 150
Russian protestors demonstrated in Sevastopol over the weekend, saying Yeltsin had betrayed
them by accepting Crimea as part of Ukraine. (Xinhua 5/31/97 and The Independent [London]
5/30/97 and Financial Times 6/2/97)

Jun 3, 1997 Ukrainian President Leonid Kuchma named Anatoli Franchuk - the father of his
son-in-law - as new prime minister of the autonomous Crimean Republic, and approved the
removal of the outgoing Crimean prime minister, Arkadi Demidenko. (Deutsche Presse-
Agentur 6/3/97)

Sep 19, 1997 The Sevastopol Committee of Veterans of War and the Armed Forces appealed to
both chambers of the Russian Parliament, to Moscow Mayor Yuri Luzhkov, to the Citizenship
Committee under the President of Russia, to Russia's Foreign Minister and to the OSCE
mission in Crimea to study the prospect of granting the people of Sevastopol Russian
citizenship. If given Ukrainian passports - which they had not had previously - the residents
would not be allowed to work at Russian Black Sea Fleet facilities, and children of Russian
seamen would not be allowed to enter Russian naval academies or serve in the Russian Armed
Forces. They claimed they were being forcefully assimilated into Ukraine and Ukrainian
citizenship, in violation of the Human Rights Charter and the (yet unratified) Treaty of
Friendship and Cooperation between Ukraine and Russia. (Soviet Press Digest 9/19/97)

Oct 7, 1997 Soyuz, a political party founded in Crimea, announced its campaign platform
would include the protection of the Russian language and culture, the integration of the
Slavonic republics, and the development of regional self-government in Ukraine to
counterbalance the unitary principle underlying the state system. The Soyuz congress received
congratulatory telegrams from Crimean leaders, as well as Moscow's Mayor Yuriy Luzhkov,
and other Russian politicians. (British Broadcasting Corporation 10/9/97)

Oct 15, 1997 The Crimean parliament voted to make Russian the region's official language in
place of Ukrainian. Fifty-six of the parliament's 96 deputies approved the motion and four
voted against. The Kurultai faction, which represents ethnic Tartars, boycotted the vote.
According to the Ukrainian constitution, Ukrainian is the only official language. The new
resolution runs counter to the Ukrainian legislation, under which all official documents should
be made in Ukrainian. It is also at variance with the Crimean constitution which says that
Russian is both an official language of the republic and a state language, together with the
Crimean Tatar and Ukrainian languages. The article of the Crimean constitution dealing with
languages was not approved by the Ukrainian parliament. The parliament also passed the law
"On timekeeping in the Autonomous Republic of Crimea," which required the peninsula to
switch to Moscow time. (Agence France Presse 10/15/97 & TASS 10/16/97 and British
Broadcasting Corporation 10/17/97)

Oct 22, 1997 The Ukrainian Cabinet of Ministers set up a subcommission for issues connected
with the stay of the Russian Black Sea Fleet on Ukrainian territory, within the framework of the
earlier Ukrainian-Russian agreement on the Fleet. The chairman of Sevastopol city council,
Viktor Semenov, became the head of the new structure. (British Broadcasting Corporation
10/25/97)

Oct 24, 1997 The Sevasopol branch of the Crimean voters' movement held a rally accusing the
Ukrainian state of annexing Crimea and seizing Sevastopol. The resolution passed at the rally
demanded that the UN, OSCE and Council of Europe "take measures in response to Ukraine's
illegal actions," and asked the Russian leadership not to ratify the treaty between Ukraine and
Russia on Sevastopol's status. (British Broadcasting Corporation 10/27/97)

Oct 25, 1997 Ukrainian President Kuchma declared that the Crimea's October 15 law legalizing
the third time zone [Moscow time] on the peninsula violated a number of provisions in the
Ukrainian constitution, and ordered it suspended. (British Broadcasting Corporation 10/27/97)

Nov 5, 1997 President Leonid Kuchma said that no forced "Ukrainisation" or violation of
rights of ethnic Russians will occur in Ukraine, but reaffirmed that Ukrainian was the republic's
only official language and called on citizens to respect it. (TASS 11/5/97)

Nov 11, 1997Eighteen parties, movements and organizations - including the People's
Democratic Party, the Agrarian Party of Ukraine and the Ukrainian People's Movement - joined
to create a bloc called For the Dignified Life and the Future of Sevastopol Residents. They
hoped the bloc would "ensure, through representatives of the bloc in all branches of power,
gradual and justified economic reforms together with effective social protection measures for
Sevastopol residents; and to ensure the full implementation of Russian-Ukrainian agreements
concerning Sevastopol." (British Broadcasting Corporation 11/13/97)

Nov 13, 1997 At the Ukrainian Supreme Council session, people's deputies debated two
alternative draft laws on the Crimean Supreme Council, one submitted by Ukrainian President
Leonid Kuchma and the other by a group of Ukrainian deputies. The draft law submitted by the
Ukrainian president, envisaged proportional, single-seat territorial district elections of deputies
to the Ukrainian parliament, with special ethnic constituencies for representatives of the
Crimean Tatar people and other deported ethnic groups and minorities living in Crimea.. The
initiators of the alternative bill opposed this because they believed this would introduce
national quotas for an indefinite period. Instead, they proposed that the elections to the Crimean
Supreme Council be conducted on the basis of universal, equal and direct electoral rights in
secret ballots under a mixed (majority and proportional) electoral system. (British Broadcasting
Corporation 11/15/97)
Nov 30, 1997 About 250 people from the Sevastopol branch of the all-Crimean
movement of voters for the Republic of Crimea held a rally in Sevastopol to protest what they
considered to be the fraudulent 1991 referendum on Ukrainian independence, and their
dissatisfaction with a Sevastopol city council decision not to take part in Crimean
parliamentary elections. (British Broadcasting Corporation 12/3/97)

Dec 2, 1997 About 400 people mounted three picket lines by the Sevastopol city council to
accuse council members of being "traitors" and to demand the abolition of their decision to
keep Sevastopol out of the Crimean parliamentary election. Within half an hour, a group of
disabled employees of the Sevastopol marine works arrived at the picket line demanding the
timely payment of disability benefit. They were later joined by about 300 members of the union
committee of the Sevastopol city water treatment plant protesting a four-month delay in wage
payments. (British Broadcasting Corporation 12/4/97)

Dec 3, 1997 A spokesman for the Ukrainian President warned against "playing the Crimean
card" in the upcoming Ukrainian parliamentary elections. Crimean elections had been delayed
pending the adoption of the law "On the Supreme Council of the Autonomous Republic of
Crimea" by the Ukrainian parliament. The Ukrainian government felt the new law was
necessary because the old law was unconstitutional; those who tried to delay the new law -
which had been drawn up by the Ukrainian president - would risk postponing the Crimean
elections. (British Broadcasting Corporation 12/5/97) About 500 people representing the
People's Opposition Union of Crimea, the Union of Soviet Officers, and the Crimean
Republican Committee of the Communist Party of Ukraine picketed the Crimean parliament
building, demanding that Crimean elections be held on 29th March 1998 [when parliamentary
elections were to be held in Ukraine] and that a Crimean electoral commission be set up. The
protesters threatened to block the Crimean parliament if their demands had not been met by
December 10th. The leader of the Crimean Republican Committee of the Communist Party of
Ukraine, Leonid Hrach, noted that under the Ukrainian constitution election to bodies of power,
whatever the level, should take place on the same day, and accused Crimean legislators of
trying to extend their terms by debating the issue of the election date. (British Broadcasting
Corporation12/5/97)

Dec 10, 1997Ukraine's Supreme Council approved in the first reading a draft law "On the
election of people's deputies to the Supreme Council of the Autonomous Republic of Crimea."
Under the law, elections were to be held in Crimea on the basis of a mixed (majority and
proportional) electoral system. A total of 100 deputies were to be elected; 50 deputies from
single-seat constituencies on the basis of a relative majority, and 50 deputies from party lists
submitted by Crimean regional organizations on the basis of proportional representation. The
law stipulated that the next election to the Crimean parliament would take place on the last
Sunday of March of the parliament's fourth year in office. Speaking at the Ukrainian parliament
session, Crimean Supreme Council Chairman Anatoliy Hrytsenko voiced his disagreement with
a number of provisions. He felt all the Crimean parliament deputies should work on a
permanent basis and that the Crimean Supreme Council should have had the right to coordinate
the appointment of heads of power-wielding structures in Crimea, who are appointed by the
Ukrainian president. The chairman also wanted to give the Council the power to adopt laws.
(British Broadcasting Corporation 12/22/97) The Ukrainian Supreme Council approved a
resolution recommending that the Crimean Supreme Council submit to the Ukrainian
parliament before the end of December a draft Crimean constitution in the form of an integral
document complying with the Ukrainian constitution. The Ukrainian government maintained
that the Crimean constitution contained provisions contradicting the Ukrainian constitution,
including regulations and provisions regarding the status of the state languages in Crimea,
Crimean citizenship, relations between the Crimean budget and the center, and the authority of
the Crimean Supreme Council to suspend the effect of the regulations issued by the Ukrainian
executive on Crimean territory. (British Broadcasting Corporation 12/12/97)

Dec 11, 1997 By this date, almost a quarter of a million Tatars who had been deported from
Crimea by Stalin had returned. Out of this number, practically 147,000 returned before
November 13, 1991, and by law, were citizens of Ukraine, while the remainder had to be
naturalized.. Half of the returnees are over the age of 18, i.e., they are of voting age, but many
cannot vote because they are considered foreigners. Only 74 percent of the Crimean Tatars
have applied for Ukrainian citizenship, and only 45 percent of the Tatars residing in Crimea had
the right to participate in elections. (Soviet Press Digest 12/11/97)

Dec 22, 1997Ukraine's parliament refused to review the 1989 law on languages, which
declared Ukrainian the country's state language, even though the parliamentary speaker said
Ukraine should pay equal attention to Ukrainian, Russian and other languages. Parliament
maintained that reducing Russian language classes in Ukrainian schools to optional lessons was
a violation of this law. (TASS 12/22/97)

Jan 17, 1998 The Sevastopol branch of the Crimean Voters' Movement for a Crimean republic
held a rally to mark the seventh anniversary of the re-creation of the Crimean republic. Among
their demands were that Russia' s Federation Council not ratify the Treaty of Friendship,
Partnership, and Cooperation between Ukraine and Russia. Furthermore, they wanted the
Crimean parliament to draw up a constitution for Crimea and be able to submit it to popular
approval through referenda. They also called for a referendum on the status of Crimea. In
addition, they protested for restoration of the right of Sevastopol citizens to take part in the
election of Crimean Supreme Council deputies and the implementation of the Crimean
parliament's resolutions "On time zones" and "On the functioning of the Russian language."
Approximately 200 people attended the rally. (British Broadcasting Corporation 1/20/98)

Jan 27, 1998 The government of Ukraine visited Crimea, noting that the economy had not
shown much improvement. Industrial production in the region remained one of the highest in
Ukraine, but agriculture was in crisis, investment was decreasing, and unemployment and wage
arrears rose in 1997. (TASS 1/27/98)

Jan 28, 1998 Ukrainian President Leonid Kuchma refused to sign the law "On the Supreme
Council of the Autonomous Republic of Crimea," stating that the document contained many
provisions that did not conform to the constitution and the laws of Ukraine. Among other
problems, Kuchma cited the use of the majority/proportional-representation parliamentary
election system envisaged by the law, which he felt was premature and likely to lead to the
violation of the fundamental principles of civic rights and freedoms. There were also provisions
which restricted the right of Ukrainian citizens to stand for public office and local self-
government positions in Crimea, and a five-year residence term as a prerequisite for election to
the Crimean parliament, which Kuchma felt should not apply to Crimean Tatars and
representatives of other deported nations. (British Broadcasting Corporation 1/29/98)

Feb 1, 1998 Ukrainian President Leonid Kuchma signed a decree on control over the local
authorities in Yalta, which appointed an acting head of the city's administration until a new
mayor could be elected. Ten city councilmen, who felt Kuchma had overstepped his authority,
staged a sit-in at the city hall the following day in protest, while 300 people gathered outside
city hall to keep the police out. The Crimean Council appealed to Ukraine's Constitutional
Court to decide the legality of the matter on February 5. (British Broadcasting Corporation
2/2/98 & 2/6/98 and Deutsche Presse-Agentur 2/3/98)

Feb 4, 1998 The Crimean parliament voted overwhelmingly to put a proposed referendum on
the peninsula on its agenda. The referendum was to include questions of whether inhabitants
would like to return to Russian jurisdiction, to restore the provisions of the less restrictive 1992
Crimean constitution, and to adopt Russian as the area's official language. The referendum
decision was prompted in part by the events in Yalta. (Deutsche Presse-Agentur 2/4/98)

Feb 24, 1998 Surveys conducted by the Kiev Center of Political Research and Conflict
Resolution revealed that 31% of all inhabitants of Ukraine considered themselves to some
extent Russian including 11.5% who claimed to be Russian; 5% more Russian than Ukrainian,
and 14.5% equally Russian and Ukrainian. The surveys also indicated that 55% of all
inhabitants of Ukraine preferred Russian as their everyday language. (What The Papers Say
2/24/98) The parliament of the Crimean peninsula agreed to hold its elections simultaneously
with the elections of the Ukrainian parliament on March 29, ending a week-long tug-of-war
between the peninsula and central power in Kiev. President Kuchma had threatened to call a
state of emergency if the parliament did not agree to simultaneous elections. In addition, on
February 22, the Ukrainian Justice Ministry had declared that the September election date
proposed by the Crimean parliament would illegally extend the rule of the current parliament
past its maximum four years. (Deutsche Presse-Agentur 2/24/98 and British Broadcasting
Corporation 2/24/98)

Feb 24, 1998 The Crimean Tatar People's Majlis threatened to organize protests and possibly to
disrupt the Crimean parliamentary election because they feared that the new majority voting
system in Crimea would deprive Crimean Tatars of representation in the new Crimean
parliament. According to the Majlis leader, 167,485 of the Crimean Tatars then resident in
Crimea were over 18, but only about 97,000 (58 per cent) were Ukrainian citizens. Others,
mostly those who arrived after 1st January 1992, had not yet been granted Ukrainian
citizenship. (British Broadcasting Corporation 2/25/98) Russian newspapers were blocked at
the Ukraine border for several weeks. Ukrainian officials maintained that the newspapers had
not paid their customs duties, but the newspapers claimed they were being asked to pay a
surcharge for the circulation of Russian material in Ukraine, which they refused. On the eve of
the parliamentary elections, many, especially in the Russian media, saw the move as political.
(Soviet Press Digest 3/12/98)

Mar 5, 1998 According to a poll by the Democratic Initiatives fund and Sotsis-Gallup,
approximately 57 percent of voters would back a candidate, party, or bloc for the Ukrainian
parliament if they advocated Ukraine's admission to the Russia-Byelorussia Union. The poll,
which included 1,800 respondents from various segments of population and various regions,
also found that 44 percent of respondents favored granting the Russian language a status as the
second state language. (TASS 3/5/98)

Mar 6, 1998 Ukrainian customs seized all periodicals arriving in the Crimean peninsula from
Russia, allegedly because the Ukrposhta agency, directly responsible for deliveries, had not
settled its debts with the Ukrainian customs. Crimea's largest newspaper, however, described
the arrest of Russian periodicals as "a political action seeking to torpedo the efforts of President
Leonid Kuchma of Ukraine to establish friendly relations with Russia." (British Broadcasting
Corporation 3/7/98)

Mar 22, 1998Three people were hurt in an explosion at the office of the Communist Party and
the Russian Society of Crimea in Yevpatoriya on Crimea's west coast. The victims accused the
Yevpatoriya mayor, Andriy Danylenko, of ordering the attack. A series of political figures in
Crimea had been attacked over the course of the previous months; this attack may or may not
have been targetting Russians. (British Broadcasting Corporation 3/24/98)

Mar 25, 1998The Crimean police chief said large numbers of Ukrainian interior troops would
be sent to Crimea to maintain order during the March 29 parliamentary elections. The day
before in Simferopol, ethnic Tatars wounded 19 police during a rally for parliamentary electoral
rights for all repatriates regardless of their citizenship. (TASS 3/25/98)

Mar 27, 1998The Ukrainian Constitutional Court ruled that the Crimean "Law on Calculating
Time," which declared Crimea would use the same time zone as Moscow, was in violation of
the Ukrainian Constitution, and that the Crimean parliament did not have the authority to make
law, only decrees. (British Broadcasting Corporation 3/30/98)

Mar 29, 1998In Ukrainian elections, the Communists won 84 of 225 seats voted under the
party list system in the 450-seat parliament. The nationalist Rukh Party won 32 seats, the Green
Party -- 19, the Peoples' Democratic Party -- 17 seats, Gromada association -- 16 and the
Progressive Socialist Party and the Social Democratic Party (United) -- 14 seats each, under the
party list system. The Communists won another 39 seats in the first-past-the-post
constituencies, which made them the biggest single party faction with an aggregate of 123
seats. Turnout reached 70% in some places, and the Crimean Tatars continued to protest their
relative lack of representation up to the day of the election. In Crimea, thirty-six of the deputies
elected to the Crimean parliament represented the Communist Party of Ukraine, five the
Agrarian Party of Ukraine, and four seats each went to representatives of the People's
Democratic Party and the Union Party. The Party of Economic Revival won two seats and the
Socialist Party of Ukraine - one seat. (TASS 4/1/98 and British Broadcasting Corporation
3/30/98 & 4/1/98)

May 19, 1998 The Crimean Supreme Council parliament set the Crimean parliament
election for the last Sunday of September in 1998. It also approved a constitutional submission
on whether the Ukrainian Supreme Council's resolution of 12th February 1998 "On the
Crimean Supreme Council election" and the law of Ukraine "On the election of Crimean
Supreme Council deputies" complied with the Ukrainian constitution. The Council acted in part
because they felt they had no current legal regulations to guide Crimean elections. (British
Broadcasting Corporation 2/19/98)

May 27, 1998 A coalition government of the Crimean autonomy was formed, consisting
predominantly of representatives of the Communist Party, the People's Democratic Party of
Ukraine (NDPU) and the "Soyuz" (union) Party. (TASS 5/27/98)

Jun 15, 1998 Information Minister Kulik admitted that the Ukrainian government could not use
legal means or financial means to prohibit information companies from using other languages
to transmit information in Ukraine, making it impossible to stop broadcasts in the Russian
language. (British Broadcasting Corporation 6/19/98)

Aug 4, 1998 Representatives from regional branches of Ukraine's parties and public
organizations in the Autonomous Republic of Crimea signed a declaration on concord for the
sake of Crimea's revival in Sevastopol. They wanted to counteract what they called the "the
protracted and all-embracing economic and spiritual crisis in Ukraine," and emphasized the
need for concord in the community. They also declared their readiness to cooperate with the
Supreme Council [parliament] and Council of Ministers of the autonomy [Crimea] on issues
that directly concern the socioeconomic condition and wellbeing of citizens. The 21
representatives of political parties and community organizations who signed the declaration
agreed to the creation of a coordinating council that will meet at least once a month. (British
Broadcasting Corporation 8/7/98)

Aug 26, 1998 Moscow Mayor Yuri Luzhkov opened a Russian school in Sevastopol,
declaring it would strengthen the belief that "Sevastopol will return to the lap of Russia." The
new school was meant for the children of the servicemen of the Russian Black Sea fleet, and
had been built with Russian funds, as had the repair of ships and the construction of housing for
the seamen. Luzhkov's comments, including remarks about Sevastopol being a Russian city and
the "Ukrainization" of the city, later caused official criticism from Ukraine. (TASS 8/26/98 and
British Broadcasting Corporation 8/30/98)

Sep 16, 1998 The Crimean parliament approved an agreement between Crimea and Moscow on
cooperation in the trade, economic, scientific, technical, humanitarian and cultural fields. The
agreement was supported by 85 of the 90 Crimean parliament deputies who attended the
session, while ten deputies did not attend. (British Broadcasting Corporation 9/17/98)
Sep 22, 1998 At a meeting with the chairman of the Ukrainian Supreme Council, Crimean
Supreme Council chairman Leonid Hrach stressed that the Crimean Council of Ministers did
not have power to rule either through the legislation of Ukraine or its constitution. He added
that Crimea would never agree to be made simply into a Regional state administration. Hrach
felt the Crimean parliament needed the right to conclude agreements with local self-
government bodies on socioeconomic issues and cultural development of Crimean regions, as
well as to make provision for the "mutual delegation of individual powers by parliament and
local councils." (British Broadcasting Corporation 9/23/98)

Oct 18, 1998 The National Movement of the Crimean Tatars held a meeting of some 200
delegates from the Crimea, other Ukrainian regions, Russia and the Central Asia. They called
on Ukraine to voluntarily disavow the 1954 act on the transfer of the Crimea to Ukraine and to
settle relations with the Crimean Autonomous Republic on the basis of an agreement with
Russia, Simferopol, and commissioners of the Crimean Tatars. The National Movement of the
Crimean Tatars, which proclaimed itself "a special political self-organization of the people,"
seeks, among other things, the restoration of statehood in the Crimea. (TASS 10/18/98)

Oct 21, 1998 The parliament of the Crimea approved a new version of the republic's
constitution, the fifth proposal since Crimea's 1992 independence from Ukraine. In contrast to
some earlier drafts, the new version of the main law did not call for attributes of statehood such
as separate citizenship or a separate legal system. According to newspaper accounts, Crimean
separatism lost its impetus after the division of the Black Sea Fleet. The Russian Duma later
condemned the new constitution, which declared Ukrainian to be the sole official language of
the Crimea, as being discriminatory to the Russian population. The Ukrainian foreign ministry
denied the claims. (Deutsche Presse-Agentur 10/21/98 and British Broadcasting Corporation
10/26/98 & 10/28/98)

Nov 7, 1998 As part of a rally marking the 81st anniversary of the October Revolution, Leonid
Hrach proposed to hold a referendum during Ukrainian elections on October 29th, 1999, on
giving Russian the status of a second state language in Ukraine. (British Broadcasting
Corporation 11/9/98)

Nov 17, 1998 Simferopol University released a poll showed that 92 percent of graduates
of Crimean schools and higher educational establishments favored granting Russian official
status on the peninsula. According to the poll results, 95 percent of local Ukrainians, 80 percent
of Crimean Tatars, 100 percent of Russians and 93 percent of people of other ethnicities spoke
Russian. Some 85 percent of the respondents wanted their children to be taught in Russian.
When asked about the naturalization preference, 27 percent of the respondents chose the
citizenship of Ukraine, 25 percent favored the citizenship of Russia, 21 percent wanted that of
the former Soviet Union and 10 percent that of the United States. (TASS 11/17/98)

Nov 24, 1998 Crimean Tatars appealed to President Kuchma and the parliament not to
examine the Crimean constitution until the adoption of legislative and regulative acts on the
renewal of Crimean Tatar rights in Ukraine. Tatars believed that adoption of the constitution of
Crimean autonomy without the consideration of other issues would be detrimental to Ukraine's
development and could lead to consolidation of antigovernment forces in Crimea. (British
Broadcasting Corporation 11/28/98)

Nov 30, 1998 The Parliamentary Assembly of the Council of Europe's monitoring
committee threatened to strip the Ukrainian delegation of its credentials if it did not act more
swiftly to build a law-governed state, to transfer the penitentiary system from the Interior
Ministry to the Justice Ministry, and to pass laws improving the work of local bodies of power,
ending the death penalty, ensuring the rights of Crimean Tatars, and adopting the constitution of
Crimea. (TASS 11/30/98)

Dec 15, 1998The Ukrainian parliament did not approve the Constitution of the Autonomous
Republic of Crimea (ARC), as deputies from the Gromada and People's Democrats parties and
the Rukh nationalist movement frustrated the voting by hurling insults at Premier Hrach. Rukh
representatives claimed that Crimea had been granted too many rights. The Constitution, with a
few revisions, was eventually approved on Dec. 23, 1998, with a vote of 230 to 67 with 3
abstentions. The Constitution specified that the ARC was an inalienable part of Ukraine, whose
powers were defined by the Ukrainian constitution and Ukrainian laws as well as by the ARC
constitution. The Constitutional Court of Ukraine was to resolve issues of constitutionality and
whether ARC laws were consistent with the Ukrainian constitution. Laws guaranteed the
development and protection of the Ukrainian language, as well as Russian, Crimean Tatar and
other nationalities, and the right of individuals to study in their native languages. Official
documents were to be issued in Ukrainian and Russian, and Crimean Tatar upon request. The
Constitution went into effect January 12, 1999. (TASS 12/15/98 and Deutsche Presse-Agentur
12/23/98 and British Broadcasting Corporation 12/26/98)

Jul 17, 1999 In a press conference, President Leonid Kuchma said Ukraine should have only
Ukrainian as its state language, but that the Russian language was not oppressed in the
Republic. "I am categorically opposed to pressing Russian or Ukrainian. But people will
understand that they live in Ukraine and must know the Ukrainian language," he said. (TASS
7/17/99)

Aug 30, 1999 On live Ukrainian television, President Leonid Kuchma again advocated
the importance of the state Ukrainian language as well as Russian. Kuchma advocated
compulsory Ukrainian lessons in Russian schools, as well as the teaching of Russian and other
foreign languages for Ukrainian schools. Kuchma also said that he opposed autonomy for the
Crimean Tatars within Crimea, which he said would affect the balance between ethnic groups
in the area. The Tatars were assumed to be the dominant ethnic group within the Crimea after
about 270,000 Crimean Tatars had returned to Ukraine in the course of a few years. (British
Broadcasting Corporation 8/31/99 & 9/1/99) Criminal proceedings began against some
members of the National Bolshevist Party who ascended the spire of the Sailors' Club of the
Russian Black Sea Fleet in Sevastopol on August 24th (Ukraine's Independence Day) in protest
against the transfer of Sevastopol to Ukraine. They were charged with aggravated hooliganism
and the seizure of club premises after the Sevastopol militia said that leaflets and anti-
Ukrainian literature had been confiscated from National Bolshevist Party members in
Sevastopol in the course of search-and-prevention operations. (British Broadcasting
Corporation 9/1/99)

Sep 15, 1999 Ukrainian television reported on ongoing ethnic tensions in the Crimea, including
a rise in arrests related to the smuggling of provocative literature, arms, and ammunition to the
peninsula. The Crimean prime minister was quoted as saying that interethnic relations were the
number one issue in the Crimea, but most of the article focused on tensions with the Tatar
community, not Russians. (British Broadcasting Corporation 9/16/99) During a visit to
Ukraine, OSCE Commissioner for national minorities, Max van der Stoel, said that he felt that
the Russian minority in Ukraine, in particular in Crimea, encountered no problems in daily life.
(British Broadcasting Corporation 9/16/99)

Nov 7, 1999 Crimean President Leonid Hrach publicly accused Crimean prime minister,
Serhiy Kunitsyn, and the representative of the Ukrainian president in the Autonomous Republic
of Crimea, Anatoliy Korniychuk, of trying to start a coup d'etat. The two subsequently
threatened to sue Hrach for libel, who countered by demanding that they be fired. The crisis
eventually led to a series of dismissals during questionable meetings of parliament which were
held while the sessions were officially closed. (British Broadcasting Corporation 11/17/99 &
12/15/99)

Dec 10, 1999A group of Tatars seized the administrative offices in Bakhchysaray and
demanded that their representative be appointed head of the district. Members of the Supreme
Council of the Crimea and activists of the Russian community held a counter-demonstration
outside the building a few days later to speak out against the Tatar demands that people be
appointed based on ethnicity. (British Broadcasting Corporation 12/11/99 and What the Papers
Say 12/15/99)

Jan 5, 2000 The Ukrainian Parliament formally ratified the European Charter On Local
Languages and the Languages of Minorities, which Ukraine had signed when it joined the
Council of Europe in 1995. The Charter guaranteed the right of Russian speakers to use
Russian in public life in all areas of Ukraine where a minimum of 20% of the population spoke
Russian. Russian groups claimed that all of Ukraine met this requirement. However, on Dec. 14
in accordance with Article 10 of the Constitution, the Constitutional Court of Ukraine
recognized Ukrainian as the only "compulsory means of communication for officials of the
local government bodies and local self-government structures while discharging their duties
and in all the public spheres of social life, as well as in clerical work." The ruling meant that all
public officials, including police and teachers, could only use Ukrainian while on duty, and that
inadequate knowledge of Ukrainian could be grounds for the dismissal of public workers. The
law also applied to Crimea. (TASS 1/5/00 and Current Digest of the Post-Soviet Press 1/19/00)

Feb 16, 2000 Dmitry Bulgakov, a Russian living in Crimea, filed a case in international court,
claiming that the government had Ukrainized his name on his passport. He said while Tatars
and other ethnic groups in Ukraine retained their names on government documents, the names
of Russian speakers were regularly Ukrainized, and that his previous appeals in district and
Crimean courts had not restored his identity. (TASS 2/16/00)
Feb 26, 2000 The Soyuz (Union) party and several other organizations called a conference on
human rights and languages in which they criticized Ukrainian authorities for carrying out a
policy aimed at forcing the Russian language out of the country. Delegates to the conference
cited examples of language discrimination and mass violations of people's right to speak their
native tongue. (TASS 2/26/00)

May 25, 2000 The Crimean parliament demanded the resignation of the Crimean cabinet,
sparking increased tensions with Ukraine and a series of demonstrations by the Tatars calling
for the dissolution of the parliament and the implementation of direct presidential rule. (British
Broadcasting Corporation 5/25/00 & 5/27/00)

May 29, 2000 Ukrainian radio reported on the steady loss of radio programming in
Crimea, which it attributed to several sources. Although the radio stations did owe money to
local broadcasters, the greater problem lay in a new Ukrainian law which was reputed to ban
editing of national radio broadcasts (including the addition of local news or the translation of
items into local languages). Since the programming could not be reread, the original weak
transmissions were simply rebroadcast. In addition, the exact provisions of the law were
unknown, and there was some suspicion that the law - which would have been unconstitutional
- did not even exist. (British Broadcasting Corporation 5/29/00)

Jul 14, 2000 The Constitutional Court of Ukraine decided that the law "On the Ratification of
the European Charter on Regional and Minority Languages 1992" was unconstitutional, based
on irregularities in the way it was ratified and approved. (Interfax 7/14/00)

Nazism in Ukraine

The Hill - The reality of neo-Nazis in Ukraine is far from Kremlin propaganda
USA Today - 15,000 Ukraine nationalists march for divisive Bandera
New Republic - Fascism returns to the continent it once destroyed
NBC - German TV Shows Nazi Symbols on Helmets of Ukraine Soldiers
Foreign Policy - Yes, There Are Bad Guys in the Ukrainian Government
CNN - Rein in Ukraine’s neo-fascists
NBC - U.S. Cozies Up to Kiev Government Including Far Right
Salon - Is the US backing neo-Nazis in Ukraine?
Reuters - Ukraine’s neo-Nazi problem
BBC - Ukraine's ultra-nationalist Right Sector
The Guardian - Ultranationalism in Ukraine – a photo essay
Huffington Post - The Neo-Nazi Question in Ukraine
The Guardian - Azov fighters are Ukraine's greatest weapon and may be its greatest threat
The Nation - America’s Collusion With Neo-Nazis
The Nation - Neo-Nazis and the Far Right Are On the March in Ukraine
USA Today - Volunteer Ukrainian unit includes Nazis
Foreign Policy - There’s One Far-Right Movement That Hates the Kremlin
Aljazeera - Who are Ukraine’s far-right Azov regiment?
Daily Beast - Is America Training Neonazis in Ukraine?
Radio Free Europe - In Ukraine, Ultranationalist Militia Strikes Fear In Some Quarters
Chnent Ultranationalist Group, Sets Its Sights On U.S., Europeannel 4 - How the far-right took
top posts in Ukraine’s power vacuum
Radio Free Europe - Azov, Ukraine's Most Pr - Ukraine's Hyper-
Nationalist Military Summer Camp for Kids NBC
https://morningstaronline.co.uk/a-f49a-the-little-known-history-of-the-galizia-divisionhttps://
www.zerohedge.com/geopolitical/springtime-hitler

Brief history of the Ukrainians

Ukraine is an East European territory which was originally forming a western part of the
Russian Empire from the mid-17th century. That is a present-day independent state and
separate ethnolinguistic nation as a typical example of Benedict Anderson's theory-model of the
"imagined community" - a self-constructed idea of the artificial ethnic and linguistic-cultural
identity. Before 2014 Ukraine was a home of some 46 million inhabitants of whom, according
to the official data, there were around 77 percent of those who declared themselves as the
Ukrainians. Nevertheless, many Russians do not consider the Ukrainians or the Belarus as
"foreign" but rather as the regional branches of the Russian nationality. It is a matter of fact
that, differently to the Russian case, the national identity of the Belarus or the Ukrainians was
never firmly fixed as it was always in the constant process of changing and evolving [on the
Ukrainian self-identity construction, see: Karina V. Korostelina, Constructing the Narratives of
Identity and Power: Self-Imagination in a Young Ukrainian Nation, Lanham, Maryland:
Lexington Books, 2014].

The process of self-constructing identity of the Ukrainians after 1991 is basically oriented vis-
à-vis Ukraine's two most powerful neighbors: Poland and Russia. In the other words, the self-
constructing Ukrainian identity (like the Montenegrin or the Belarus) is able so far just to claim
that the Ukrainians are not both the Poles or the Russians but what they really are is of a great
debate. Therefore, an existence of an independent state of Ukraine, nominally as a national
state of the Ukrainians, is of a very doubt indeed from both perspectives: historical and
ethnolinguistic.

The Slavonic term Ukraine, for instance, in the Serbo-Croat case Krajina, means in the English
language a Borderland - a provincial territory situated on the border between at least two
political entities: in this particular historical case, between the Kingdom of Poland and the
Grand Duchy of Lithuania as the Republic of Both Nations (1569−1795) and the Russian
Empire. A German historical term for Ukraine would be a mark - a term for the state's
borderland which existed from the time of the Frankish Kingdom/Empire of Carl the Great .
The term is mostly used from the time of the treaty (truce) of Andrussovo in 1667 between
these two states.

In the other words, Ukraine and the Ukrainians as a natural objective-historical-cultural identity
never existed as it was considered only as a geographic-political territory between two other
natural-historical entities (Poland and Russia).

All (quasi)historiographical mentioning of this land and the people as Ukraine/Ukrainians

referring to the period before the mid-17th century are quite scientifically incorrect but in a
majority of cases politically inspired and colored with the purpose to present them as
something crucially different from the historical process of ethnic genesis of the Russians [for
instance: Alfredas Bumblauskas, Genutė Kirkienė, Feliksas Šabuldo (sudarytojai), Ukraina:
Lietuvos epocha, 1320−1569, Vilnius: Mokslo ir enciklopedijų leidybos centras, 2010].

It was a Roman Catholic Vatican that was behind the process of creation of the "imagined
community" of the "Ukrainian" national identity for the very political purpose to separate the
people from this borderland territory from the Orthodox Russian Empire. Absolutely the same
was done by Vatican's client Austria-Hungary in regard to the national identity of Bosnian-
Herzegovinian population when this province was administered by Vienna-Budapest from 1878
to 1918 as it was the Austria-Hungarian government who created totally artificial and very new
ethnolinguistic identity - the "Bosnians", just not to be the (Orthodox) Serbs (who were at that
time a strong majority of the provincial population) [Лазо М. Костић, Наука утврђује
народност Б-Х муслимана, Србиње−Нови Сад: Добрица књига, 2000.].

A creation of ethnolinguistically artificial Ukrainian national identity and later on a separate

nationality was part of a wider confessional-political project by the Vatican in the Roman
Catholic historical struggle against the eastern Orthodox Christianity (the eastern "schism") and
its Churches within the framework of Pope's traditional proselytizing policy of reconversion of
the "infidels". One of the most successful instruments of a soft-way reconversion used by the
Vatican was to compel a part of the Orthodox population to sign with the Roman Catholic
Church the Union Act recognizing at such a way a supreme power by the Pope and dogmatic
filioque ("and from the Son" - the Holy Spirit proceeds and from the Father and from the Son).
Therefore, the ex-Orthodox believers who now became the Uniate Brothers or the Greek
Orthodox believers became in a great number later on pure Roman Catholics but as well as
changed their original (from the Orthodox time) ethnolinguistic identity. It is, for instance, very
clear in the case of the Orthodox Serbs in Zhumberak area of Croatia - from the Orthodox
Serbs to the Greek Orthodox, later the Roman Catholics and finally today the Croats.
Something similar occurred and in the case of Ukraine. On October 9th, 1596 it was announced
by the Vatican a Brest Union with a part of the Orthodox population within the borders of the
Roman Catholic Lithuanian-Polish Commonwealth (today Ukraine) [Arūnas Gumuliauskas,
Lietuvos istorija: Įvykiai ir datos, Šiauliai: Šiaures Lietuva, 2009, 44; Didysis istorijos atlasas
mokyklai: Nuo pasaulio ir Lietuvos priešistorės iki naujausiųjų laikų, Vilnius: Leidykla Briedis,
(without year of publishing) 108.]. The crucial issue in this matter is that today Ukraina's
Uniates and the Roman Catholics are most anti-Russian and of the Ukrainian national feelings.
Basically, both the Ukrainian and the Belarus present-day ethnolinguistic and national identities
are historically founded on the anti-Orthodox policy of the Vatican within the territory of ex-
Polish-Lithuanian Commonwealth that was in essence an anti-Russian one.

The Lithuanian historiography writing on the Church Union of Brest in 1596 clearly confirms
that:

"... the Catholic Church more and more strongly penetrated the zone of the Orthodox Church,
giving a new impetus to the idea, which had been cherished since the time of Jogaila and
Vytautas and formulated in the principles of the Union of Florence in 1439, but never put into
effect - the subordination of the GDL Orthodox Church to the Pope's rule" [Zigmantas Kiaupa
et al, The History of Lithuania Before 1795, Vilnius: Lithuanian Institute of History, 2000,
288].

In the other words, the rulers of the Roman Catholic Grand Duchy of Lithuania (the GDL) from
the very time of Lithuania's baptizing in 1387−1413 by the Vatican had a plan to Catholicize all
Orthodox believers of the GDL among whom overwhelming majority were the Slavs. As a
consequence, the relations with Moscow became very hostile as Russia accepted a role of the
protector of the Orthodox believers and faith and therefore the Church Union of Brest was seen
as a criminal act by Rome and its client the Republic of Two Nations (Poland-Lithuania).

Today, it is absolutely clear that the most pro-western and anti-Russian part of Ukraine is
exactly the West Ukraine - the lands that was historically under the rule by the Roman Catholic
ex-Polish-Lithuanian Commonwealth and the former Habsburg Monarchy. It is obvious, for
instance, from the presidential voting results in 2010 as the pro-western regions voted for J.
Tymoshenko while the pro-Russian regions do it for V. Yanukovych. It is a reflection of the
post-Soviet Ukrainian identity dilemma between "Europe" and "Eurasia" - a dilemma that is of
common nature for all Central and East European nations who historically played a role of a
buffer zone between the German Mittel Europa project and the Russian project of a pan-
Slavonic unity and reciprocity.