Sentsov: I will never recognize Crimea as part of Russia

The issue of recognizing Crimea as Russian territory cannot be discussed, Ukrainian film director Oleg Sentsov is convinced.

"I will never recognize Crimea as a part of Russia. This is out of question. The same refers to Donbas ‘republics’ which are the artificial satellites of the Russian Federation. This is also part of Ukraine, and I will never recognize the separatist sentiments, the desire to join Russia. We are one country, from which we were torn off, and we will never agree with this," Sentsov said in an interview with the Hromadske.

He noted that these issues are the “red line”, while everything else can be discussed.

On September 7, the prisoner swap took place between Ukraine and Russia in 35-for-35 format. Eleven illegally convicted Ukrainians returned to their homeland – Oleg Sentsov, Roman Sushchenko, Mykola Karpyuk, Oleksandr Kolchenko, Volodymyr Balukh, Stanislav Klykh, Oleksiy Syzonovych, Pavlo Hryb, Edem Bekirov, Yevhen Panov, Artur Panov – as well as 24 sailors who were captured by Russia in the Kerch Strait area in November 2018.

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