DISINFO: UN recognised the Russian status of Crimean deputies and will cooperate with them
SUMMARY
The UN demanded information on the issue of water supply and Kyiv’s blocking of water supplies to Crimea through the North Crimean Canal. The UN has recognised the status of State Duma MP Nataliya Poklonskaya as a representative of the Crimean people in the Russian parliament and will cooperate.
RESPONSE
Recurring pro-Kremlin disinformation narrative on the illegal annexation of Crimea, attempting to paint a picture of international - and even Ukrainian - recognition of the annexation of Crimea by Russia. State Duma MP, former Russian prosecutor of the temporarily occupied Crimea, Nataliya Poklonskaya, claims that the UN offered her "cooperation" on access to water in Crimea. The UN refutes the interpretation of Poklonskaya about the attitude of an international organisation to the status of Crimea. The UN did not recognise the Russian status of the temporarily occupied Crimea or any Russian representatives from the peninsula. The UN does not recognise Russia's annexation of the peninsula annexation. Moreover, the UN Monitoring Mission in Ukraine insists that, given the annexation of the Crimean Peninsula, it is Russia that is responsible for ensuring civilian access to water in Crimea. The UN mission reported that, in response to Poklonskaya's request, the Director of the Field Operations and Technical Cooperation Office of the UN High Commissioner for Human Rights asked Poklonskaya to provide information to the UN Monitoring Mission in Ukraine, which reports on the human rights situation throughout Ukraine, including Crimea. The North Crimean Canal is the only structure through which Crimea received water from the Dnipro River. After the annexation of the peninsula, the Ukrainian leadership closed the locks of the North Crimean Canal and stated that it would resume the water supply to the peninsula only after the de-occupation of Crimea. The international community, including the European Union, recognises and condemns clear violations of Ukrainian sovereignty and territorial integrity by acts of aggression by the Russian armed forces since February 2014.