Foreign Ministry of Ukraine: Voting in the annexed Crimea on amendments to the Russian constitution is illegal

The Ministry of Foreign Affairs of Ukraine stated that the forthcoming voting on the territory of the annexed Crimea for amendments to the Russian constitution is illegal. Its results will not be recognized by either Ukraine or the international community.

“Voting on the territory of the temporarily occupied Crimea on July 1 for amendments to the Russian constitution is the same illegal act as all previous so-called elections held by the occupation authorities on the territory of the peninsula. The Autonomous Republic of Crimea and the city of Sevastopol are temporarily occupied territories of Ukraine, the legal regime of which is determined by the norms of international humanitarian law. One of the key responsibilities of the occupying state is to comply in such territory with the national legislation of a sovereign state – Ukraine,” the Ukrainian Foreign Ministry said in a statement.

There also pointed out that the elections, referendums, and voting held by Russia in the temporarily occupied territory “grossly violate the Constitution and legislation of Ukraine, its sovereignty and territorial integrity”.

Accordingly, such actions of the occupying power “are a violation of fundamental norms and principles of international law, including the UN Charter, the Geneva Convention of 12 August 1949 on the Protection of Civilian Persons in Time of War, the Helsinki Final Act of the Conference on Security and Cooperation in Europe August 1975, the Memorandum on Security Guarantees in Relation to Ukraine’s Accession to the Treaty on the Non-Proliferation of Nuclear Weapons of 5 December 1994, UN General Assembly Resolutions on the Territorial Integrity of Ukraine of 27 March 2014, the Human Rights Situation in the Autonomous Republic of Crimea and Sevastopol 2016 – 2019, as well as a number of international agreements to which Ukraine and Russia are parties”.

The Ukrainian Foreign Ministry stressed that the results of this vote in the annexed Crimea “will be legally insignificant”.

We will remind that in the Russian Federation and in the Crimea annexed by it from June 25 to July 1 voting on amendments to the constitution will take place. One of the amendments will concern the revocation of presidential terms, which will allow incumbent President Vladimir Putin to run in the election twice more and remain in power until 2036.