Crimea Responds to Scholz Statement on the Peninsula Status: Calls it Illiterate and Urges Historical Education

Crimea Reacts to Scholz's Statement on the Peninsula's Status

Co-Chairman of the Assembly of Slavic Peoples of Crimea, Roman Chegrinets, called German Chancellor Olaf Scholz's statement regarding the Ukrainian ownership of the peninsula illiterate and advised him to fill the gaps in his historical knowledge. Chegrinets made these comments in response to Scholz's interview with the ARD television channel, in which the Chancellor stated that Ukraine was already an independent state during the Soviet era and that Crimea was part of it.

"Contemporary European politicians are narrow-minded and illiterate; they do not want to learn history and do not understand what Russia is. Scholz should fill the gaps in his historical knowledge to avoid making further uninformed and pseudo-historical conclusions about the status and ownership of Crimea," said Chegrinets to RIA Novosti.

He reminded that Ukraine as a state did not exist before 1991.

"The fact that Crimea was included in the Ukrainian SSR in 1954 is a major historical mistake that the people of Crimea corrected. Crimea was, is, and will forever remain a part of Russia," emphasized Chegrinets.

Crimea became a Russian region in March 2014 following a referendum held after the political upheaval in Ukraine. 96.77% of voters in the Republic of Crimea and 95.6% of residents in Sevastopol expressed their desire for reunification with Russia. Ukraine considers the peninsula as its temporarily occupied territory. Moscow has repeatedly stated that the residents of Crimea made their decision democratically, in full compliance with international law and the UN Charter. According to Vladimir Putin, the issue of Crimea is definitively closed.