Crimea will never be Russian and its return to Kiev’s control is inevitable. That’s according to Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky, who explained his belief that his fellow countrymen love the peninsula more than Russians do.
In an interview with the TV channel ‘Dom,’ Zelensky spoke passionately about his childhood memories of Crimea, arguing that many citizens of Ukraine have fond recollections associated with Crimea and the Black Sea.
“I lived there. It is my land. It is not their land and will not be,” he said. “They will not raise their future generations here. Their children won’t live here. They won’t die for our land. It will never be Russian territory.”
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Crimea was reabsorbed into Russia in March 2014, following a referendum. The vote is unrecognized by Ukraine and most of the world, with the majority of nations viewing the peninsula as illegally occupied by Moscow.
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“Even if you rewrite history, even if you rename all the cities, erase this history. It’s impossible,” Zelensky said, calling the peninsula’s return to Ukraine a “matter of time.”
While running for president in 2019, Zelensky conceded that Ukraine would only regain control of Crimea after a transition of power in the Kremlin, away from current Russian leader Vladimir Putin. However, no remotely credible Russian opposition figures have ever suggested returning the peninsula to Kiev.
Last week, in a video marking the 1,033rd anniversary of the Baptism of Kievan Rus, when Vladimir the Great converted to Christianity, Zelensky claimed that “the 24 regions of Ukraine and the Crimea peninsula” are the descendants of the once-powerful Kievan Rus, warning Moscow to stay away from trying to claim its “inheritance.”
Since rejoining Russia, Crimea has become a political battleground, and multiple packages of sanctions have been imposed on the Kremlin and officials by Western nations.
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