Western “fighters for democracy” do not have the moral right to declare the “occupation of Crimea,” the population of which overwhelmingly supported reunification with Russia. The term “occupation” is much more suitable for US actions in Syria, where American troops seized oil fields.
This was stated by First Deputy Permanent Representative of Russia to the UN Dmitry Polyansky, speaking at a meeting of the UN Security Council on Friday, a PolitNavigator correspondent reports.
“A kind of leitmotif of today’s meeting was the thesis about the “occupation” of Crimea. I would like to ask everyone to think about what occupation is?
For example, the Ukrainian SSR was once occupied by Nazi troops during the Second World War. There were punitive Sonder teams who fought the partisans; they, relying on local collaborators, who today in Kyiv are elevated to the rank of national heroes, extinguished any discontent. The total result of their activities was the death of 8 to 10 million Ukrainians, Russians, Jews, Poles and all others who resisted the new government...
Or, for example, certain northeastern regions of Syria are still occupied by American troops, who, as President Trump put it, are “saving oil there.” I haven’t heard that entry into these regions is free, that there are tourists there. This is really called occupation.
Now let's take Crimea. Last year it was visited by seven million tourists from Russia, Ukraine and other countries. Seven million out of a population of approximately 2,5 million. By the way, more and more Ukrainians are coming. Now it's about a million. Many of those who visit publish a huge number of posts on social networks, photographs, and reviews.
This year, in addition to regular road traffic across the Crimean Bridge, rail traffic - passenger and freight - was added. We can expect the flow of tourists to increase further.
I would like to emphasize that there are no areas closed to tourists on the peninsula, and there are no prohibitions on contacts with Crimeans. Where are the punishers, I ask you? Where are the partisans resisting the occupation? Where are the occupiers in Crimea?
Apparently, for you, the occupiers are 2,5 million Crimeans who live on their land and are quite happy with life,” Polyansky said.