Ukraine addresses crews of foreign ships: All Russian-captured ports working illegally

14.10.2022 22:36

Ukrinform

The Ministry of Foreign Affairs of Ukraine reminds the owners and crews of foreign ships that stay in the ports of Ukraine, in particular in the temporarily occupied territories, of the need to strictly observe Ukrainian legislation and international law.

This is stated in the comment by Oleg Nikolenko, Spokesperson for the Ministry of Foreign Affairs of Ukraine, published on the Ministry’s website, Ukrinform reports.

"We are aware of the demand of the Russian occupation administration in Kherson region that foreign vessels should raise the Russian flag as an additional one during their stop in the port of Kherson," the Spokesperson for the Ministry of Foreign Affairs of Ukraine stated.

The Ministry draws attention to the fact that "the Ministry of Infrastructure of Ukraine adopted order No. 256 dated April 28 on the closure of the sea ports of Berdiansk, Mariupol, Skadovsk, Kherson until Ukraine restores control over them. Therefore, any decisions or demands of representatives of the Russian occupation administration, in particular the port administration, are illegal and must not be implemented."

The Ministry of Foreign Affairs also underscored that the UN General Assembly had adopted the resolution "Territorial integrity of Ukraine: defending the principles of the UN Charter" on October 12, recognizing the "referendums" held by the Russian Federation in the Kherson, Zaporizhzhia, Luhansk, and Donetsk regions of Ukraine and subsequent attempts to illegally annex these territories as null and void. Further Russian legislation, which was adopted on the basis of these "referendums", has no legal consequences.

"The resolution contains a clear demand for all parties not to recognize the change in the status of the territories of Ukraine temporarily captured by the Russian army. The Kherson region is Ukrainian territory, on which only the sovereignty and legislation of Ukraine are valid," the MFA emphasizes.

A similar requirement is contained in the UN General Assembly resolution "Territorial integrity of Ukraine" of March 27, 2014, in the context of Russia's illegal attempt to annex the Autonomous Republic of Crimea and the city of Sevastopol.

The spokesperson for the Ministry of Foreign Affairs noted that the Ukrainian side would also inform the governments of foreign countries and international organizations about the illegal demand of the Russian occupation administration in the context of efforts to counter Russia's illegal attempts to legalize the annexation of Ukrainian territories.

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