Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky's permanent envoy for the Autonomous Republic of Crimea Anton Korinevych has said the special status of the city of Sevastopol will remain in force in Ukrainian legislation until the Russian occupation of Crimea ends.
"We remain in the position that no city in Ukraine should have a special status. But while the Autonomous Republic of Crimea and the city of Sevastopol are temporarily occupied territories and both are mentioned in the resolutions of international organizations, and while the status of Crimea at the level of the Constitution has not been changed, it seems appropriate, in order to maintain the constancy of Ukraine's position in the international arena, to keep the city of Sevastopol as a separate administrative-territorial unit in the Constitution of Ukraine," he wrote on Facebook.
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According to Korinevych, the city of Sevastopol is mentioned as a separate administrative-territorial unit of Ukraine in the finalized draft law on amendments to the Constitution regarding decentralization of power.
"The relevant amendment was made at the request of the president's permanent envoy for Crimea, which was sent to the Legal Reform Commission from the head of the working group on reintegration of the temporarily occupied territories in November 2019," he added.
As UNIAN reported earlier, on December 13, Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky submitted to the Verkhovna Rada, Ukraine's parliament, an urgent draft law on amending the Constitution of Ukraine (regarding decentralization of power).
The amendments, among other things, proposed abolishing the special status of the city of Sevastopol, leaving only Crimea as a separate unit, and making the city its full-fledged component.
