Ministry of Foreign Affairs of Ukraine expresses its strong protest against yet another uncoordinated with Ukraine visit of the Russian President and Russian officials on 18 March 2016 to Ukraine’s temporarily occupied territory – the Autonomous Republic of Crimea.

Attempts to celebrate the anniversary of Russian aggression against Ukraine and deceitful seizure of the Autonomous Republic of Crimea and the city of Sevastopol are cynical given the grave economic, social and humanitarian problems in the peninsula. In the course of the last two years, the Russian Kremlin occupants managed to bring Crimea back to Stalin’s times of authoritarian rule, lawlessness and repressions. The aggressor state continues to violate human rights in the occupied territory and terrorizes dissidents. In fact, there are no freedoms of speech, media and religion in the peninsula. Systemic abuses of the rights of Ukrainians and Crimean Tatar people take place on a daily basis.

The Russian Federation, as the aggressor state, its officials and illegal occupation authorities bear full responsibility for these and other violations in accordance with the norms of the international law.

These days, as it was two years ago, whole international community has clearly condemned the aggressor state’s irresponsible actions. Ukraine and all democratic nations of the world will double their efforts to free residents of the Ukrainian peninsula from authoritarian rule of the occupation regime and to make Crimea free again.