REUTERS

Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky's permanent envoy for the Autonomous Republic of Crimea Anton Korinevych says any results of the so-called "vote" regarding amendments to the Constitution of Russia in the temporarily occupied territory of Crimea will not be considered legitimate either by Ukraine or the international community.

"It has long been a rule for irremovable authorities in the Russian Federation to cover up their own crimes with referenda, transferring responsibility for such crimes from the country's political elite to 'people.' In 2014, we saw how a military operation was conducted and Ukrainian Crimea was occupied under the guise of a 'referendum,'" according to a statement by the Office of the President of Ukraine in the Autonomous Republic of Crimea.

Until July 1, an all-Russian vote continued to amend the Russian Constitution to legitimize the continued reign of Russian President Vladimir Putin. "And even though everyone already understood that the Kremlin knew the required result even before the start of the vote, throughout this week, from June 25, Russians were voting at polling stations, in backyards, in drive-through mode; with Russian IDs and Soviet-era passports," reads the statement.

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In addition, representatives of the Office of the President of Ukraine in the Autonomous Republic of Crimea emphasized they would like to leave the issue of protecting the Constitution of the Russian Federation to Russian citizens, and stressed the inclusion of the temporarily occupied Crimean peninsula into the all-Russian voting map.

"The holding of vote for amendments to the Constitution of the Russian Federation by the occupation power on the temporarily occupied territory of Ukraine in the Autonomous Republic of Crimea and the city of Sevastopol is unlawful in terms of international law, since Crimea and the city of Sevastopol are integral parts of the territory of Ukraine, and the Russian Federation as an occupying state exercises no sovereignty over them," the statement says.

Read alsoNo amendments to Russian Constitution can prevent Crimea de-occupation – Ukraine's FM

"Any 'results' of such a vote in the temporarily occupied territory of Ukraine shall not be considered legitimate by either Ukraine or the international community. The consolidation in the Russian Constitution of provisions stating that actions aimed at alienating part of the territory of the Russian Federation, as well as calls for such actions, shall not be allowed, are deemed void with respect to the temporarily occupied territory of the Autonomous Republic of Crimea and Sevastopol, since they are integral parts of the territory of Ukraine, not parts of the territory of the Russian Federation. In terms of international law, its basic principles, and the UN Charter, Russia is not a sovereign of the territory of the Autonomous Republic of Crimea and Sevastopol and, accordingly, the so-called 'accession' of this territory into the Russian Federation is unlawful and void," Korinevych said.

The representative office reiterated the UN General Assembly in Resolution 68/262 "Territorial Integrity of Ukraine" adopted on March 27, 2014, called on all states, international organizations and specialized agencies not to recognize any changes in the status of Crimea and Sevastopol on the basis of the so-called "referendum" held on March 16, 2014, and refrain from any actions or steps that could be construed as recognition of such amended status.

Read alsoRussia's Black Sea naval fleet defiant over constitutional amendments vote

As UNIAN reported earlier, Russian President Vladimir Putin scheduled a vote on amendments to the Constitution of the Russian Federation for July 1. The amendments provide that Putin will be able to run for another two presidential terms after 2024.