Crimea without Russia? A senior Ukrainian official puts forward a plan
Kerch Bridge
A senior Ukrainian official has detailed everything that Kyiv will do after the country reclaims control of Crimea. Oleksiy Danilov, the secretary of Ukraine’s National Security and Defence Council, published the plan on Sunday as Ukrainian forces try to snatch away a victory from Russia in Bakhmut. The troops are also preparing for a spring counter-offensive. Notably, peace talks between Russia and Ukraine are bound to feature Crimea's future position.
Moscow annexed Crimea from Ukraine in 2014, but most of the world doesn't accept it as a part of Russia. Moscow has been adamant that Ukraine accept Crimea as a Russian territory, besides other gains made in Ukraine during the invasion.
Danilov's plan says that Kerch Bridge, the strategic bridge that links the seized Black Sea peninsula to Russia, should be dismantled once Ukraine claims back Crimea. The 19-kilometre bridge was built by Russia to connect its mainland with Crimea. The bridge suffered considerable damage after a truck bomb went off on Europe’s longest bridge in October. While Moscow blamed Ukrainian military intelligence for the attack, Kyiv never accepted that it had any role to play in the attack.
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Moscow later repaired the bridge that has served as a key hub for Russia during its invasion of Ukraine for the supply of crucial items to its troops.
Other portions of his plan say that Ukrainians who worked for the Moscow-appointed administration in Crimea should be prosecuted, with some facing criminal charges. Others should lose government pensions and be banned from public jobs, he added.
Further, all Russian citizens who moved to Crimea following the annexation in 2014 should be expelled and all real estate deals made under Russian rule nullified, Danilov wrote on Facebook.
He also called for renaming the city of Sevastopol, the main base for the Russian Black Sea Fleet since the 19th century. Danilov suggested that it could be called Object No. 6 until another name is finalised. He also gave his choice of name as Akhtiar, the name of a village that once was where the city is now.
Reacting to his plan, Moscow-appointed head of Sevastopol, Mikhail Razvozhayev, told the Russian state news agency Tass, “It would be wrong to seriously treat comments by sick people. They must be cured, and that’s what our military is doing now."
(With inputs from agencies)
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