On Russia’s Ongoing Aggression against Ukraine and Illegal Occupation of Crimea
“Because if Brussels and the EU do not show iron support for the European aspirations of our three countries, then someone will show iron muscles of their weapons near our three state borders. And this, in my opinion, is a threat not only to our three countries, but also to the entire continent,” the Head of State of Ukraine said. The President added that every country is important for the future of Europe.
The OSCE which is monitoring the situation gives an update:
More than two months ago, Russia unilaterally built up its military forces in occupied Crimea and along Ukraine’s borders to levels unseen since its invasion in 2014. To date, Russia has failed to provide this Permanent Council with any reasonable explanation for its actions. While Russia has repositioned its military forces and equipment, its force posture remains elevated along the Russia-Ukraine border and on Ukrainian soil in Crimea, under Russia’s occupation.
Last week, our Russian colleague made a spirited effort to defend an indefensible position. From his Statement, we could gather Russia is frustrated with the complications resulting from its military adventure in Ukraine. On that point, we agree. The truth is every death, every injury, every instance of infrastructure damage reported in eastern Ukraine is directly attributable to the Kremlin, which launched this conflict in 2014 in an attempt to destabilize its neighbor and prevent Ukraine’s realization of its sovereign choice to integrate fully with Europe. Rather than pursue a serious effort to resolve the conflict it began, Russia doubled down on its same tired lines, denying its role as the aggressor and spinning fantasies about “foreign masters” and “coups d’état”.
The Special Monitoring Mission’s factual and dispassionate reports detail a volatile and worrying situation in eastern Ukraine. Last week, the SMM reported more than 1,000 ceasefire violations over a seven-day period. The SMM continues to observe heavy weapons in areas where they should not be per the Minsk agreements. The deteriorating security situation in the Disengagement Areas endangers civilians and impedes progress in the Trilateral Contact Group. The SMM continues to document civilian casualties, as well as damage to civilian infrastructure.
The SMM also continues to report on instances in which Russia-led forces restrict the Freedom of Movement of its monitors. The Mission also documents, on a near-daily basis, signals jamming or smalls-arms fire directed at its UAVs. Last week, several participating States noted SMM reports on the presence of a Russian-made electronic warfare system in eastern Ukraine. Ironically, this system was observed and recorded by one of the UAVs these Russian systems target. The United States calls on Russia to cease its efforts to impede the work of the SMM. The United States calls on Russia to afford SMM monitors unobstructed and full Freedom of Movement to fulfil its mandate, the mandate Russia endorsed, as did we all.
The United States remains deeply concerned about the deteriorating human rights situation in Russia-occupied Crimea. Although Russian occupation authorities block the SMM and other international monitoring organizations from Crimea, we receive constant updates on the occupation authorities’ harassment, detention, imprisonment—or worse—of Crimean Tatars, ethnic Ukrainians, and others. Journalists are particularly at risk. Russia’s occupation authorities essentially eradicated all independent Crimean Tatar media outlets from the peninsula and target for repression any that dare oppose the occupation. Server Mustafeyev—serving a 14-year sentence in retaliation for his leadership of the Crimean Solidarity human rights movement—has been unjustly held for years.
For others, like Vladyslav Yesypenko, who was detained in March on specious charges of espionage in retaliation for his independent journalistic activity, the nightmare is only beginning. He reportedly was tortured in the custody of Russia’s occupation authorities. Just last week, a prosecutor in Rostov on Don demanded four Crimean Tatars from the city of Alushta—accused of involvement in the Islamic group Hizb ut-Tahrir—serve draconian sentences of 14-19 years in prison. Without evidence, Russia designated Hizb ut-Tahrir as “extremist” and applied that designation in occupied areas of Ukraine. In reality, Russian authorities targeted these four Crimean Tatars, as they do other religious minorities, for their peaceful religious practice.
We call on Russia to cease its harassment of Crimean Tatars, ethnic Ukrainians, and others and to release all Ukrainian political prisoners it holds. We further call on Russia to end its occupation of Crimea and to remove all its forces and equipment from the territory of Ukraine in keeping with the commitments it made as a signatory to all three Minsk agreements.
Mr. Chair, the United States fully supports Ukraine’s sovereignty, independence, and territorial integrity within its internationally recognized borders, extending to its territorial waters. We do not, nor will we ever, recognize Russia’s purported annexation of Crimea. We join our European and other partners in affirming our Ukraine-related sanctions against Russia will remain in place until Russia fully implements its Minsk commitments and returns full control of Crimea to Ukraine.
Although Russia tries to cast itself as a mere “mediator” in this conflict, Moscow unceasingly obstructs the paths to resolution. As Russia propagates disinformation in the Permanent Council and elsewhere, Russia-led forces impede the work of the Special Monitoring Mission via frequent restrictions of its Freedom of Movement. Russia and the forces it arms, trains, leads, and fights alongside target the Mission’s UAVs on a daily basis through signal interference or small arms fire. The Mission’s cameras are also targeted. SMM spot reports on 7 April, 9 April, 24 April, 6 May, 17 May, and 30 June all detail instances of GPS signal interference with Mission UAVs. According to your report, this “persistent strong GPS interference” has “further narrowed the corridor for SMM’s operations.”
Actions taken by Russia-led forces to hinder the work of the SMM are unacceptable. We call upon Russia to direct the forces it controls in eastern Ukraine to afford the SMM and its monitors the full Freedom of Movement needed to fulfil the mandate of their Mission and to cease targeting of UAVs and other technological assets paid for by the participating States of this Permanent Council.
Ambassador Grau, as this is your last PC, I would like to join the Chair and the other participating States, who have spoken, to thank you very much for your service to this Organization, and we commend your unwavering pursuit of peace and of tangible outcomes within Trilateral Contact Group: pressing for new disengagement areas, an updated demining plan, and new entry-exit crossing points. We recognize that the lack of progress on these and other issues is a clear result of Russia’s intransigence
Instead of engaging in good faith and taking concrete actions to improve the lives of the civilians residing in areas it temporarily controls, Russia used the TCG to stymie progress. We all see Russia’s ploy for what it is—an attempt to force Ukraine into direct negotiations with Moscow’s proxy forces. Russia’s obstructionist approach to peace negotiations exposes its true motive in fomenting violence in eastern Ukraine—a pointless attempt to obstruct Ukraine’s freely chosen path of full integration with the Euro-Atlantic community.
In March, Russia exacerbated tensions by launching a massive military buildup of troops and equipment in Russia-occupied Crimea and along its border with Ukraine. In 2014, Russia massed similar numbers of troops and equipment along its border with Ukraine before invading Crimea and unleashing aggression upon Donbas.
This year, Russia ignored all calls for transparency during its unilateral military buildup and failed to respond to Ukraine’s requests to explain its actions under Vienna Document mechanisms.
Just this week, a Human Rights Watch report detailed the torture and ill-treatment of individuals detained in the so-called “Donetsk People’s Republic.” Since May 14, de facto authorities have held Oksana Parshina on dubious espionage charges. She is pregnant. Three other women, Natalia Statsenko, Elena Zaitseva, and Olga Mozolevskaya, were reportedly denied necessary medical care while in the custody of Russia’s proxy authorities. Mozolevskaya was reportedly tortured and held in communicado for four years.
Ukraine’s sovereign territory of Crimea remains to this day under Russian occupation. Its residents have endured more than seven years of harassment and mistreatment at the hands of Russian occupation authorities, who routinely target Crimean Tatars, ethnic Ukrainians, and members of other ethnic and religious minority groups. Journalists, bloggers, and civil society activists face arrest, imprisonment—and torture—for voicing their opposition to Russia and its occupation of Crimea. On July 6, a court in Russia-occupied Crimea extended for another six months the pre-trial detention period for journalist Vladyslav Yesypenko, who was tortured in an attempt to coerce a confession. We reiterate our call for his immediate release
One thing is very clear. Russia is not and has never been a mediator in this conflict. The United States urges Russia to reverse its unhelpful and harmful approach to the conflict it foments and remove its forces and hardware from eastern Ukraine. We demand Russia end its occupation of Crimea and cease its mistreatment of Crimean Tatars, ethnic Ukrainians, and others. It is now time for Russia to end its adventurism in Ukraine, recall the commitments it has made to the principles of the OSCE, and fulfill its Minsk commitments and responsibilities under these agreements.
Madam Chair, the United States fully supports Ukraine’s sovereignty, independence, and territorial integrity within its internationally recognized borders, and within its territorial waters. We do not, nor will we ever, recognize Russia’s purported annexation of Crimea. We join our European and other partners in affirming our Ukraine-related sanctions against Russia will remain in place until Russia fully implements its Minsk commitments and returns full control of Crimea to Ukraine.
By U.S. Mission OSCE | 17 June, 2021 | Topics: Statements, Ukraine Crisis | Tags: Crimea under Russian Occupation, Russia, Ukraine