“The statement itself is rather strange. Voloshin says the right words about the situation in the Donbass, about the absence of the Russian army there. But now, for some reason, he decided to declare that the territory of Crimea is almost a place of military operations between Russia and Ukraine. The statement is far-fetched and untrue, ”he said.
According to the senator, the peninsula returned to Russia solely because of the "desire of local residents."
“Of course, we all must remember how Crimea reunited with Russia. It was the desire of the Crimeans to reunite with their homeland. To do this, a referendum was held, Crimea from March 16 to March 18, 2014 was an independent state. Everyone understood the correct actions of the Russian side and the inhabitants of the peninsula. In Crimea, all this happened exclusively by peaceful means, ”Tsekov concluded.
Earlier, Voloshin said that Russia has become a "warring party."
He emphasized that neither the General Staff of the Armed Forces of Ukraine, nor the Ukrainian military have “fair grounds” to talk about the war in the Donbass “with the Russian army”, and not with their citizens.
Crimea became the Russian region after a referendum held in March 2014, in which the majority of the inhabitants of the peninsula called for reunification with Russia.