For the first time, the UN officially recognized Russia as the occupier of Crimea: the United States supported

The UN General Assembly adopted an updated Ukrainian resolution “The human rights situation in the Autonomous Republic of Crimea and the city of Sevastopol, Ukraine,” the provisions of which were significantly strengthened this year. This is reported by "Ukrainian Truth" with reference to the statement of the Ministry of Foreign Affairs of Ukraine.

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“The resolution clearly defines the illegitimacy of the bodies and officials of the Russian Federation in Crimea in the context of strengthening the international policy of non-recognition of the attempted annexation of Crimea. For the first time, it was established at the UN level that such officials should be considered only as “the occupying power of the Russian Federation,” the statement said.

The new elements reflect numerous instances of massive human rights violations in the temporarily occupied peninsula.

The document states that Russia is not fulfilling international obligations in relation to human rights and international humanitarian law. It is noted that the level of human rights observance in Crimea after its occupation by Russia has significantly decreased also because the Russian Federation is a party to a smaller number of relevant international treaties than Ukraine.

The UNGA emphasizes that Russia is using the COVID-19 pandemic to introduce unjustified restrictive measures on the peninsula, while increasing repression against the population, in particular by involving the FSB.

“It is important that the UN General Assembly does not ignore the problem of the release of illegally detained Ukrainian citizens. Noting the releases in December 2019 and April 2020 of persons held by the occupying state in the Donbass, the resolution emphasizes the need for the release of all Ukrainian political prisoners of the Kremlin, mentioning by name Emir-Usein Kuku and Server Mustafayev,” the Foreign Ministry noted.

The resolution includes the term “citizen journalists” for the first time, which is an important result of the ongoing campaign by the Ukrainian Foreign Ministry to protect journalists and activists working under occupation.

Among other things, the document dwells in detail on the subversive economic activity of the Russian Federation, which depletes the natural resources of the temporarily occupied Crimean peninsula. The resolution recognizes the problem of Russia's blocking the access of Crimean residents to the Ukrainian education system and the violation of the religious rights of our fellow citizens.

The UN General Assembly calls on the Russian Federation to ensure unhindered and full access to Crimea for international monitoring missions, in particular the UN Human Rights Monitoring Mission in Ukraine and the OSCE SMM.

This is the fifth in a row the General Assembly's resolution on human rights issues in the occupied Crimea and the ninth in the context of the international response to Russia's attempt to annex the Ukrainian peninsula. As noted RIA News, the authors of the resolution are Ukraine, Australia, Germany, Georgia, Latvia, Lithuania, Poland, Great Britain, USA, Turkey, France, Croatia, Czech Republic, Estonia, Japan, Moldova and other countries.

On the subject: UN General Assembly has once again called on Russia to end the occupation of Crimea

US reaction

The US Embassy in Ukraine supported the adoption of UN General Assembly resolutions on the human rights situation in Crimea, writes Voice of America.

“We welcome the UN General Assembly resolution calling on Russia to comply with its obligations as an occupier in Crimea and immediately stop violations and abuses there,” the embassy said in a statement on its Twitter page.

“Russia must release illegally detained Ukrainians and ensure unimpeded access for human rights monitors. Crimea is Ukraine,” the US diplomatic service added.

As Ukrainian Foreign Minister Dmitry Kudelya told Voice of America, the resolution “fixes Russia’s responsibility as an occupying state for the situation on the peninsula.”

As Ukraine's Permanent Representative to the UN, Serhiy Kislitsa, told Voice of America, in the future this may allow the UN to monitor the situation in Crimea not as part of Russia, but as on the occupied territory of Ukraine. The Ukrainian side hopes in this way to help protect people living on the Russian-occupied peninsula.

The reaction of Russia

According to the Deputy Permanent Representative of Russia Gennady Kuzmin, the purpose of the resolution is to vote against Russia. Writes about it RIA News.

Commenting on the voting results, Kuzmin said that, in his opinion, “the discussions around the status of the peninsula are over.” The diplomat said that the state allegedly guarantees human rights throughout Russia, including Crimea. According to him, the period of troubles and turmoil on the peninsula “ended in 2014.”

“The Crimeans escaped the bloody fate that was prepared for them by the anti-constitutional regime that came to power in Kyiv in February 2014 through a coup d’etat. Look at what is happening now in the Russian-speaking regions of eastern Ukraine,” the deputy permanent representative noted.

According to him, Ukraine “has ceased to be an independent country capable of maintaining law and order and ensuring human rights on its territory.”

“Where are the results of the investigation into the murder of civilians and police officers on the Maidan? Where are the results of the investigation of 48 people burned alive in the House of Trade Unions in Odessa? Where are the results of the investigation into the murders of journalists Oles Buzina and Pavel Sheremet in Kyiv? When will Nazi marches throughout Ukraine finally stop? When will discrimination based on language stop? - asked Kuzmin.

According to him, there are no answers to these questions in the resolution.

“The purpose of the resolution is completely different. The puppeteers need you to press the green button. The puppeteers need you to vote against Russia,” the diplomat concluded.

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