Ukrainian Deputy Minister for Temporary Occupied Territories and Internally Displaced Persons Yuriy Hrymchak says the construction of a fortification by Russian occupation authorities along the de-facto border between Crimea and mainland Ukraine will in no way change the status of the illegally annexed peninsula.
"This is more for 'domestic consumption' [influence operation], since it doesn't matter for Ukraine and in no way does it change the status of the peninsula," the official told 112 Ukraine TV Channel on December 28.
According to the official, the Russian Federation is trying to convince the local population that all issues related to the Crimea status have been settled, the border has already been established, and there will be no changes ever after.
Hrymchak added that the Ministry of Foreign Affairs of Ukraine would send a note of protest in connection with the incident.
"I think that our Foreign Ministry will definitely submit [protest] notes as they always do, despite Russia refusing to react to them in any way. However, in terms of international law, we must always remind and then prove that we have repeatedly tried to agree peacefully while the aggressor state hasn't responded to our appeals. This refers to the issue of conscripting residents in the annexed Crimea [to the Russian army], changing the demographic composition of Crimea, etc.," the deputy minister added.
Hrymchak says the construction of the fencing wall is a "rather strange" decision since Crimea is a peninsula and there are a lot of approaches to it.
He added that Ukraine had halted electricity supplies to the annexed peninsula.
As was earlier reported, the occupiers had completed construction in the northern part of Crimea of fortification barriers on the de-facto border with mainland Ukraine.
