Kyiv, March 13 (Navigator, Mikhail Ryabov) – Acting The head of the Ukrainian Ministry of Defense, Igor Tenyukh, shows surprising inaction, refusing to repel Russian troops in Crimea.
The corresponding theses were published by professor of the Kiev-Mohyla Academy Vladimir Vasilenko, formerly the representative of Ukraine in the International Court of Justice during a dispute with Romania regarding the ownership of the sea shelf in the area of Zmeiny Island.
Subscribe to the news “Navigator - Kiev” >>>
“The Armed Forces of Ukraine were unable to suppress Russia’s armed aggression against Ukraine in the bud, when the first small armed group seized the Verkhovna Rada of the Crimean Autonomy on February 27, 2014, and immediately block the routes for the transfer of the aggressor’s forces to the territory of Crimea.
To justify his inactivity and helplessness, acting. On March 11, 2014, the Minister of Defense of Ukraine Igor Tenyukh made a statement in the Verkhovna Rada of Ukraine that was illiterate from the point of view of law and outrageous in its essence, in which he asserted that “the Armed Forces of Ukraine do not have the legal right to begin military operations in Crimea,” because, they say, “de jure there is no open aggression of Russia.” Moreover, Tenyukh stated that in such a situation “the use of the Armed Forces of Ukraine in Crimea entails criminal liability.”
At a time when the whole world condemns Russia’s military aggression against Ukraine, acting. the Minister of Defense makes a public statement that refutes the obvious facts,” Vasilenko is indignant on the official website of the People’s Movement.
“The statement of Igor Tenyukh disavows the statements of the acting. President of Ukraine Alexander Turchynov and acting Prime Minister of Ukraine Arseniy Yatsenyuk, who have repeatedly publicly stated that the actions of the Russian Federation in Crimea are acts of armed aggression against Ukraine.
This statement disorients the international community and creates grounds for refraining from applying large-scale international sanctions against Russia as an aggressor state.
Tenyukh’s statement misinforms Ukrainian society and demoralizes soldiers and officers of the Ukrainian armed forces, since it implies that repulsing an aggressor is a crime that entails criminal liability, and not a sacred duty.
In light of the above, the question of whether Igor Tenyukh can serve as the Minister of Defense of Ukraine is rhetorical,” sums up Vasilenko.