The statement below was released by the Ukrainian World Congress on March 22.
The Ukrainian World Congress (UWC) condemns the elections for the president of the Russian Federation held on March 18, 2018, on the illegally occupied by the Russian Federation Crimean peninsula.
The conduct of these elections on the occupied territory of Ukraine was another attempt by the Kremlin authorities to legitimize Crimea’s illegal occupation.
The UWC welcomes the refusal by the Organization for Security and Cooperation in Europe, its Office for Democratic Institutions and Human Rights and other international bodies to delegate their observers to the illegal elections held by the Russian Federation on the temporarily occupied territory of the Autonomous Republic of Crimea and the City of Sevastopol.
The UWC also notes the accurate assessment of March 19, 2018, by the EU that reads: “The European Union does not recognize the illegal annexation of Crimea and Sevastopol by the Russian Federation and therefore does not recognize the holding of elections in the Crimean peninsula.”
“The Ukrainian World Congress condemns the illegal occupation of Crimea by the Russian Federation in blatant violation of international law and calls to increase international pressure on the Russian Federation until Crimea is returned to Ukraine and all Crimean Tatar and Ukrainian political prisoners are released,” stated UWC President Eugene Czolij.