Zelenskyy: war must end with the liberation of Crimea
OLENA ROSHCHINA – TUESDAY, 9 AUGUST 2022, 23:29
Volodymyr Zelenskyy, the President of Ukraine, claimed that the war of Russia against Ukraine started with the invasion of Crimea and will end with its liberation.
Source: Volodymyr Zelenskyy in the evening video address to Ukrainians on 9 August
Quote: "Today, the topic of Crimea is at the centre of attention. And rightfully so, because Crimea is Ukrainian, and we will never give it up. We will not forget that the Russian war against Ukraine started with the occupation of Crimea.
Russia has turned our peninsula, which has always been and will remain one of the safest places in Europe, into one of the most dangerous places in Europe. Russia has brought massive repression, environmental problems, economic hopelessness and war to Crimea".
Details: Zelenskyy remarked that Russia is resorting to terrorism in Crimea, and the world is beginning to recognise that it "made a mistake in 2014 when it decided not to respond with full force to Russia’s first aggressive steps".
The presence of occupiers on the peninsula poses a threat to Europe and to global stability.
"The Black Sea region cannot be safe as long as Crimea is occupied. There will be no stable and lasting peace in many countries on the coast of the Mediterranean Sea as long as Russia is able to use our peninsula as its military base", Zelensky believes.
Quote: "This Russian war against Ukraine, against the whole of free Europe began with Crimea and has to end with Crimea, with its liberation. Today it is impossible to say when this will happen, but we are constantly adding the necessary components to the formula for the liberation of Crimea.
I know that we will come back to Ukrainian Crimea."
Details: Zelenskyy stated that the Crimean Platform will hold a new summit this year. In addition, new decisions for protecting the rights of the indigenous people of Ukraine are being prepared, as are programmes for the economic recovery of Crimea after its liberation.
He added that Ukraine is repelling the "colonial invasion" of Russia from the Kharkiv region to Kherson, from Donetsk to Enerhodar, from Stanytsia Luhanska to Yalta, and from Berdiansk to Novofedorivka, so that the whole of Ukraine can be free.
Background:
- On the afternoon of 9 August, explosions rocked the military airbase in Novofedorivka, in the Saky district of Russian-occupied Crimea. Sergey Aksyonov, the so-called and Russian-appointed "head of Crimea" reported that one person had been killed and six injured.
- The Russian Defence Ministry claimed that no-one fired on the Saky airfield in Crimea, but that, for some reason, there was a detonation of ammunition. Later on, a source in the Russian Ministry of Defence told TASS that the explosions were caused by a "fire safety violation".
- The Ministry of Defence of Ukraine has said it was not aware of what caused the explosions and the subsequent fire at the Saky airfield near Novofedorivka.
- The New York Times quoted a "senior Ukrainian military official with knowledge of the situation" who said that Ukrainian forces were behind the blast at the air base.
- Mykhailo Podoliak, Senior Adviser to Ukrainian President, said that Kyiv was not involved in the explosions at the airfield in Novofedorivka but added that Ukrainian partisans might be behind the blast.
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