The submission to the Russian State Duma of a draft law on recognizing as "illegal" the decision of the Soviet authorities in 1954 to transfer Crimea to Ukraine is a despicable “attempt by the Russian dictatorship to legitimize its own gross violations of international law.”

“The submission to the Russian State Duma of a draft law on recognizing as ‘illegal’ the decision of the Soviet authorities in 1954 to transfer Crimea to Ukraine is a despicable attempt by the Russian dictatorship to legitimize its own gross violations of international law,” the Ministry of Foreign Affairs of Ukraine posted a comment on its official website on Tuesday.

As the comment says, “the aggressor has grossly violated and continues to violate its own obligations, as it once legally, documented and unequivocally recognized the borders of modern Ukraine at both bilateral and multilateral levels.”

“The Russian government, caught in a lie hundreds of times and compromised, can continue its propaganda, including under the guise of lawmaking, as long as it wants, but this will not change the reality recognized by the international community: Crimea is Ukraine,” the MFA’s document reads.

“This State Duma draft only confirms once again that this fact, as well as the inevitability of de-occupation, is clearly understood in Moscow, which is why such panic initiatives are being taken,” the Foreign Ministry concluded.