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Scoop of the day: EU, USA, Ukraine condemn Russian elections in Crimea, Donbas

Scoop of the day: EU, USA, Ukraine condemn Russian elections in Crimea, Donbas

Russian elections

The EU does not and will not recognise the illegal annexation of Crimea and the city of Sevastopol by the Russian Federation, and therefore does not recognise the so-called elections held in the occupied Crimean peninsula, the Council of the EU has said in a press release.

The Russian Federation's decision to involve residents of the non-government controlled territories of Donetsk and Luhansk regions in Ukraine in the State Duma, regional and local elections runs counter to the spirit and objectives of the Minsk agreements, it said. The EU remains unwavering in its support for the territorial integrity and sovereignty of Ukraine.

The US Department of State also said that it does not recognize holding elections for the Russian Duma on sovereign Ukrainian territory and reaffirmed its unwavering support for the territorial integrity and sovereignty of Ukraine.

Russia engages in wishful thinking by calling several marginal politicians "international observers" at the Crimean election, Ukrainian Foreign Ministry spokesman Oleh Nikolenko has told LB.ua.

"Foreign governments have clearly stated that they will not recognize the results of the Russian vote in the temporarily occupied territories of Ukraine. Moreover, according to our information, our partners warned their politicians against visiting the Crimean peninsula. There is no reason to question the consolidated international position on Crimea," he said.

The Security Service of Ukraine opened criminal proceedings over the illegal elections to the Russian State Duma held in occupied Crimea.

Belarus

The Ukrainian Foreign Ministry has demanded that Belarus release Ukrainian national Mykhaylo Ferents. Today a district court in Minsk sentenced him to a three-year term over "the actions that grossly violate public order and deliberate damage of property". He has been kept in a Belarusian remand centre for seven months. Earlier, the Belarusian Investigation Committee said that he had taken part in the anti-government protests in Minsk.

Military exercise

The multinational Ukrainian-US military exercise Rapid Trident 2021 began at the International Peacekeeping and Security Centre in Lviv Region today, the Ukrainian Defence Ministry has said. Around 6,000 servicemen from over 15 countries and the Lithuanian-Polish-Ukrainian brigade are taking part in the drill.

Security

Joint Forces Commander Lt-Gen Serhiy Nayev has told RBC-Ukraine that Russia may go on the offensive from annexed Crimea is growing "every year" but there are no direct indications for now that it would start military aggression from the region anytime soon.

A Ukrainian serviceman was wounded in Donbas on 19 September amid eight ceasefire violations by the Russian occupying troops, the Joint Forces Operation HQ has said.

By-elections

The pro-presidential Servant of the People party has fielded the head of the Kherson regional state administration, Serhiy Kozyr, in the by-elections to parliament in constituency No 184. The by-elections in constituencies No 184 (Kherson Region) and 197 (Cherkasy Region) will be held on 31 October 2021 after the previous MPs gave up their mandates.

Crime

The Security Service of Ukraine (SBU) has detained a militant of the separatist Luhansk People's Republic who took part in the storming of the SBU office in Luhansk Region in 2014.

In Kherson Region, the SBU counterintelligence has detained a so-called deputy director of the Russia-seized Simferopol International Airport. He helped Russian troops to control the airspace above Crimea during its annexation. In 2014, he was involved in the seizure of Ukraine's trategic facilities on the peninsula, including the airport and the regional office of the Krymaerorukh aviation navigation agency.

Coronavirus

Ukraine will move from the green to yellow coronavirus zone as of 22 September, the Health Ministry has said.

According to the Health Ministry, 98.1% of all patients who have been hospitalised with Covid-19 were not vaccinated.

On 19 September, Ukraine registered 2,265 new Covid-19 cases. Some 1,255 patients were hospitalised, 565 recovered and 44 died of complications.

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