Ukraine will raise the issue of illegitimacy of the Russian presidential election in the occupied Crimea on the international stage – in PACE, OSCE and NATO. First Deputy Chairman of the Verkhovna Rada Iryna Herashchenko said this in an interview to Holos Ukrainy parliamentary newspaper.
"A serious challenge for Ukraine is the election of president of the Russian Federation, in fact – the election of President Putin. Russia boldly wants to hold these elections in the occupied Crimea, pursuing there a policy of forcible passportization of Ukrainian citizens, handing them Russian passports and forcing them to take part in the elections", – Herashchenko said.
According to Herashchenko, "the issue of illegitimacy of the Russian presidential election in the occupied Crimea should be one of the key issues that the Ukrainian parliamentary delegation should raise at all levels". "And we will talk about this in the PACE at the April session, and at the parliamentary assemblies of NATO and the OSCE. This issue is very serious, and calls for serious attention to the occupation of the Autonomous Republic of Crimea, which lasts for the fourth year", – Herashchenko noted.