MOSCOW, April 23. /TASS/. The Russian Foreign Ministry returned two diplomatic notes on Crimea to Ukraine, the ministry’s spokeswoman, Maria Zakharova said Thursday.

"This week, the Russian Ministry of Foreign Affairs returned two [diplomatic] notes to Ukraine," she said. "In the first one, Kiev protests against archaeological excavations and earthworks in Crimea. In the second one, Kiev demands a report on measures taken to fight the coronavirus epidemic in Crimea and Donbass."

"Such steps of the Ukrainian diplomacy never cease to surprise us," the diplomat said. "At the time when a pandemic is rampant in the country, wildfires ravage Chernobyl, when Russian planes repatriate Ukrainian citizens from third countries and Russian diplomats help them to return home, the Ukrainian Foreign Ministry put all efforts into bombarding the aggressor state, as they call us, by fearsome notes of protest."

In this regard, the Russian Foreign Ministry spokeswoman called on the Ukrainian colleagues to "save paper."

"It feels like the Ukrainian authorities live in a parallel universe," she continued. "First, they cut Crimea off water and power supply, blockade Donbass, and then demand reports from Russia on how it protects people of these regions from the coronavirus infection. It’s actually pretty funny at this point."

She recalled that "Kiev has an option of direct dialogue with Donetsk and Lugansk, in case the Ukrainian authorities are really concerned about the destiny and health of the people living there."

"Russia is not a side of the conflict in southeastern Ukraine and does not control the Donbass territory," she added.

"The issue of Crimea’s identity is closed," she concluded. "The Republic of Crimea and the city of Sevastopol have voluntarily reunited with Russia in 2014. All notes of protest regarding actions of the Russian government for the exercise of sovereignty over the Crimean Peninsula — be it visits of officials, construction of infrastructure facilities, including archeological excavations, or elections — will be returned to the Ukrainian side due to absence of grounds for their review."