Ukraine has sent a complaint to the Secretary General of the United Nations (UN) Antonio Guterres about the holding of the naval parade on the Day of the Russian Navy in Sevastopol. This was reported on July 28 by the Ukrinform agency with reference to a letter from Ukraine’s Permanent Representative to the UN, Serhiy Kislitsa.
“Ukraine considers the holding of this event in the temporarily occupied city of Sevastopol without the consent of the Ukrainian side as another violation by the Russian Federation of international law, including numerous resolutions of the UN General Assembly, as well as Ukrainian legislation,” the letter sent to Guterres says.
In Ukraine, these actions by Russia were regarded as “deliberate steps” aimed at escalating tensions in bilateral relations.
Kislitsa stressed in his address that Kiev condemns Russia’s illegal demonstration of its military force.
On July 27, the Ukrainian Foreign Ministry handed over to the Russian Embassy in Kiev a note of protest in connection with the holding of the naval parade of the Russian Black Sea Fleet units in Sevastopol.
A member of the Federation Council from Sevastopol, Yekaterina Altabaeva, noted that Kiev can be indignant as much as it wants, “but it’s time to recognize the reality: Sevastopol is a part of Russia.”
Crimea became part of Russia following a referendum in 2014. At that time, 96.77% of the inhabitants of the peninsula and 95.6% of the voters of Sevastopol supported the accession. Moscow has repeatedly stressed that the procedure was carried out in strict accordance with international law. Ukraine does not recognize the voting results and still considers the peninsula its territory.