DISINFO: The passage of the British destroyer is more dangerous than the Cold War
SUMMARY
... Crimea became part of Russia. In 1781 the Crimean Khanate joined the Russian Empire, and since then, the majority of the peninsula's population have become Russians, ethnic Russians, moreover, in 2014, the vote for accession to Russia was voted on by most residents of this area.
That is why when Western ships, including the British destroyer, came and passed through the territorial waters of Crimea and said that they are in Ukrainian territorial waters, this is nonsense and a falsification of reality, which is dangerous and even more so than the Cold War era.
RESPONSE
Recurring pro-Kremlin disinformation narrative about the illegal annexation of Crimea, claiming that it voted to rejoin Russia through a legal referendum and painting the idea that it never belonged to Ukraine, and the UK destroyer entered Russian territorial waters.
For historical reference, Crimea was annexed by Catherine II (the Great), then containing Ukraine in 1783, already in violation of a treaty that guaranteed the independence of the Tatar khanate. In 1954, in the USSR, Crimea was officially made a part of the Ukraine Soviet Republic.
After the collapse of the USSR, Russia reaffirmed respect for the territorial integrity and sovereignty of Ukraine, by signing the 1997 Friendship Treaty, Russia also recognised that Crimea belongs to Ukraine.
Regarding the so-called referendum announced on the 27th of February 2014, and held on the 16th of March 2014, it was organised hastily and at gunpoint following the covert invasion of “little green men” and barring impartial observers from entering the peninsula can hardly be called "reunification in strict accordance with all the norms of international law.
Ukrainian authorities reported almost in real-time the identification and details of the Russian military forces invading Crimea.
Even Vladimir Putin, the President of Russia, recognised on 17 April 2015 that "our soldiers were deployed in Crimea to help the inhabitants express their opinion." Putin admitted (and was proud of) that the plan to annex Crimea was ordered weeks before the so-called referendum.
No international body recognises the so-called referendum in Crimea. The UN General Assembly adopted a resolution entitled “Territorial integrity of Ukraine”, stating that the referendum in Crimea was not valid and could not serve as a basis for any change in the status of the peninsula. On 17 December 2018, the UN General Assembly confirmed its non-recognition of the illegal annexation of Crimea.
The European Union does not recognise and continues to strongly condemn this violation of international law, which remains a challenge to the international security order.
Furthermore, and until this date, there is no evidence that the British destroyer has engaged in any prohibited activity at the time of the alleged incident. Rather, British authorities indicated that HMS Defender was conducting a routine transit from Odesa to Georgia using an internationally recognised traffic separation corridor in the Black Sea inside Ukrainian territorial waters.
Check previous disinformation narratives in our database alleging that the EU has accepted Crimea's incorporation into Russia and that the Crimean people chose to be with Russia through the democratic procedure; or that historically Crimea was a Russian land; or that Moscow did not violate international law when reunifying Crimea with Russia, or that the UK was ready to create a casus belli in the Black Sea; or that UK Destroyer's passage near Crimea violated international law; or that UK warship presence in the Black Sea was a NATO provocation;