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Crimea and Sevastopol

Russian control of Ukraine’s Black Sea coast essential for Crimea’s security — speaker

According to Vladimir Konstantinov, if Ukraine is left as is, Kiev will be able to deliver strikes on the peninsula and stage subversive acts

SIMFEROPOL, March 18. /TASS/. Crimea’s security will be safely ensured only after Russia takes control of Ukraine’s Black Sea coast, Vladimir Konstantinov, speaker of Crimea’s legislature, told TASS.

"I am speaking on behalf of Crimea and Crimean residents. We want the danger from Ukraine to go away. We feel it every day," he said. "I think that one of the priority tasks of the special military operation is to establish control over [Ukraine’s] Black Sea coast. By the way, this will give direct access to Transnistria and make its blockade impossible."

According to Konstantinov, if Ukraine is left as is, Kiev will be able to deliver strikes on the peninsula and stage subversive acts.

"We know Minsk-1 and Minsk-2 (packages of agreements for the settlement in Donbass - TASS), all these lofty words, guarantees of international mediators, but this does not work in real politics. Let us be frank. If NATO’s fleet calls at Odessa tomorrow to make its home base, what would we think about this? What kind of security can we, Crimean residents, speak about when a NATO missile is able to reach any village in Crimea," he stressed.

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Crimea and Sevastopol

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