Russia responded to the statement of the Ukrainian ex-President Petro Poroshenko, who promised "in a year to return Crimea to Ukraine."

So, the State Duma deputy from Crimea Ruslan Balbek, in a conversation with RT, called Poroshenko's words an attempt to "get out of political oblivion", noting that Crimea in such a situation is a "password for passage."

“Of course, the ex-president of Ukraine today sorely lacks attention and influence.

Therefore, a statement was made about the peninsula, since it is not necessary to fulfill it, all failures can be blamed on the current government, ”the deputy noted.

The parliamentarian stressed that Crimea is "part of the granite of the Russian state."

Earlier, Poroshenko, in his address to Muslims of Ukraine on the occasion of the holiday of Eid al-Adha, said that next year the peninsula will celebrate this holiday as part of Ukraine: “Next year - in Bakhchisarai!

Crimea is Ukraine! "

“I believe that by joint efforts we will surely defeat the aggressor and return Crimea home,” the ex-president wrote on his Facebook.

Recall that Crimea became a Russian region after a referendum was held there in March 2014, in which the majority of residents spoke out in favor of reunification with Russia.

The head of the Crimean parliament's committee on interethnic relations, Yuri Gempel, in an interview with RT, expressed the opinion that the statement of the former Ukrainian leader is nothing more than "pure PR, which is designed to be featured in the media again."

"Such a statement is not based on anything, it is a shaking of the air ...", - noted Gempel.

He called on the Ukrainian side to stop such provocations against Crimeans.

“Crimea has returned to Russia forever,” the RT interlocutor concluded.

  • Petro Poroshenko

  • Reuters

  • © Gleb Garanich

In turn, the head of the regional national-cultural autonomy of the Crimean Tatars of Crimea, Eyvaz Umerov, commenting on Poroshenko's words, called the promise of the former leader of the country stupid.

“For five years of his presidency, Pyotr Alekseevich has already“ visited ”“ Ukrainian Simferopol ”,“ Ukrainian Yalta ”and now in“ Ukrainian Bakhchisarai ”.

Only these virtual visits and stupid statements amuse the Crimeans, and the whole world, ”he said in a conversation with RIA Novosti.

Poroshenko's statements represent cheap populism, and the inhabitants of the peninsula feel "much better" in Russia, said Leonid Slutsky, head of the State Duma's international affairs committee.

“Poroshenko said that Crimea will be returned to Ukraine within a year.

Well, they say, dreaming is not harmful, but in this case it is absolutely useless ... And various statements about the return of the peninsula to Ukraine, which are heard from Kiev every year, are cheap populism hoping to somehow revive their rating.

Crimea and Sevastopol forever returned to their native harbor, to Russia.

And it's time to accept this fact, ”the deputy wrote in his Telegram channel.

Crimea at home

Moscow has repeatedly emphasized that the territorial affiliation of the peninsula is not being discussed.

In particular, in 2018, President Vladimir Putin, in a film by journalist Andrei Kondrashov, said that there would never be any circumstances under which Crimea could be returned to Ukraine. 

At the same time, since the reunification of the peninsula with Russia, Kiev has systematically expressed the idea of ​​"returning Crimea." 

In July, Ukrainian Deputy Prime Minister Oleksiy Reznikov said on the air of the Ukraine 24 channel that the government was considering several options for dealing with Russians who were “illegally staying” in Crimea.

According to him, the option of “expelling” from the peninsula of those who came to the peninsula “illegally” from the point of view of Kiev, that is, not through the border points “Chongar”, “Kalanchak” or “Chaplinka”, is being considered. 

The head of the Public Chamber of Crimea, Alexander Formanchuk, then stressed that the peninsula was, is and will be Russian.

“The issue of Crimea has been resolved by Russia once and for all.

Crimea historically belongs to Russia, ”he said.

In March 2021, Reznikov also stated that as part of an “attempt to assimilate” and “erode” the ethnic population of the region, 500 thousand Russians were “brought” from the mainland of the Russian Federation to Crimea.

Also in March, Ukrainian Foreign Minister Dmitry Kuleba demanded that Russia "provide full access to Crimea" and "not politicize" the situation with the peninsula. 

Then the State Duma deputy from Crimea Mikhail Sheremet recalled that citizens from various countries of the world, including politicians and deputies, repeatedly came to Crimea after the reunification of the peninsula with Russia.

Kiev's desire to block access to the republic, in his opinion, is due to the fact that Ukraine "is afraid that more and more people in the world will learn the truth about the Russian Crimea and Crimeans who happily live at home in Russia."