Disinfo: The Crimea issue is finally closed

Summary

Crimea became a Russian region after a referendum was held in March 2014, in which 96.77% of voters in Crimea and 95.6% of people in Sevastopol voted in favour of joining Russia. Ukraine still regards Crimea as its own, but as territory temporarily occupied by the Russian population.

Russian leaders have repeatedly stated that the people of Crimea, democratically, with full respect for international law and the Charter of the United Nations, voted for reunification with Russia.

According to Russian President Vladimir Putin, the Crimea issue is "finally closed".

Disproof

Disinformation around Crimea. No international body recognises the so-called referendum in Crimea, not the UN, nor the EU.

The European Union does not recognise and continues to strongly condemn this violation of international law, which remains a challenge to the international security order. This position is based on the UN Charter, which clearly states that the territory of a State cannot be acquired by another State resulting from the threat or use of force, as well as on the Helsinki Final Act in which the signatories declared their intention to respect the inviolability of frontiers and territorial integrity. UNGA Resolution 68/262, which condemned Russia's illegal actions in Ukraine, was supported by 100 United Nations member states. Only 10 states opposed it.

Russian President Putin recognised on 17 April 2015 that "our soldiers were deployed in Crimea to help the inhabitants express their opinion." Vladimir Putin admitted (proudly) publicly that the plan to annex Crimea was ordered weeks before the so-called referendum. No link to alleged attacks on ethnic Russians or human right violations. One can conclude: the real motive was simply to conquer territory.

Russian sovereignty over Crimea is not recognised by a single country in the Black Sea region and less than a dozen of UN member states recognise it worldwide.

Read similar stories: The Crimean issue is finally closed, Question of Crimea’s ownership is closed forever , The Crimean question is "completely closed", Russia fully respects international law, in Crimea and elsewhere.

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fr.news-front.info (Archived)
  • Reported in: Issue 249
  • DATE OF PUBLICATION: 22/06/2021
  • Article language(s) French
  • Countries and/or Regions discussed in the disinformation: Ukraine, Russia
  • Keywords: Crimea, illegal annexation, International Law
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Recurring pro-Kremlin disinformation narrative absolving the Syrian regime of responsibility for chemical attacks in general.

The declared Syrian chemical weapon stockpile was reported to be completely destroyed in 2014. However, the inspectors from the Organization for the Prohibition of Chemical Weapons (OPCW) could only authenticate that declared chemical weapons had been destroyed, even though there were suspicions in the West that Syria had hidden as much as 10% of its stockpile.

Disinfo: The EU knows Crimea is Russian and that the decision to annex it was based on a referendum

The European Union extended sanctions against Crimea and Sevastopol for a year. They know that under the constitution, Crimea is part of the Russian Federation. They know that the decision was taken on the basis of the Crimean referendum, and its results were reaffirmed in practice.

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Disproof

Recurring pro-Kremlin disinformation narrative about the illegal annexation of Crimea. The claim was neither counterbalanced nor critically challenged in the article.

The EU still does not recognise the illegal annexation of Crimea and Sevastopol by the Russian Federation and continues to condemn this violation of international law. In June 2021 the European Council decided to renew the sanctions introduced in response to the illegal annexation of Crimea and Sevastopol by the Russian Federation until 23 June 2022.

Disinfo: Sputnik V is the most effective vaccine against the Indian Covid-19 variant

The “Sputnik V” vaccine proves more effective than all other vaccines against the Indian COVID-19 variant

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Disproof

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