President of Ukraine Petro Poroshenko has ordered that the authorities sue Russia over the construction of a bridge across the Strait of Kerch, the project causing significant environmental damage, that’s according to president’s spox Svyatoslav Tsegolko.
"The president instructed to sue the Russian Federation because of environmental damage from the construction of the Kerch bridge," Tsegolko wrote on Twitter.
As UNIAN reported earlier, right after the illegal seizure by Russia of the Crimean peninsula, on March 19, 2014, Russian President Vladimir Putin voiced the need to build a bridge which would connect the territory with Russia’s mainland Krasnodar Krai. Subsequently, Russian Prime Minister Dmitry Medvedev signed off an order to appoint Stroygazmontazh, a company owned by Putin’s crony Arkady Rotenberg, as a general contractor for the project.
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In May 2017, the Prosecutor's Office of the Autonomous Republic of Crimea (Ukraine) launched criminal proceedings to probe the fact of the bridge construction. "The construction of a bridge in the Strait could lead to an environmental disaster in the region. In violation of the requirements of the Water Code of Ukraine and the norms of international law, an object is being constructed posing a serious threat to the environment of the Black and Azov seas: pollution, violation of natural reproduction of aquatic biological resources and their destruction," the prosecutor's office said.
Also, the office noted that the construction would lead to a deterioration of navigation conditions across the Strait, and cause risks in the passage of vessels between bridge supports.
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On August 22, the Ukrainian Crimea’s prosecutor's office announced its intention to apply to NASA for expert assistance in the investigation process.
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