MOSCOW, January 22. /TASS/. Ukrainian President Vladimir Zelensky’s decree on so-called territories of Russia historically inhabited by Ukrainians could provide a legal basis for protecting Russian and Russian-speaking people in their historical lands, Rodion Miroshnik, Russia’s special envoy for the Kiev regime's crimes, has said.

"Kiev has given us an excellent opportunity, now that this issue has been brought up, to firmly and constructively determine practical measures, including at the international level to protect the rights and freedoms of ethnic Russians, Russian-speaking, Russians by origin, identifying themselves as Russians, and living on historical Russian lands. And to begin right away with the 12th century's Tale of Bygone Years. From the question of Nestor the Chronicler: ‘From Whence came the Russian land.’ Unlike the self-styled historians in Kiev, we will not have to invent anything either in the search for historical grounds and evidence, or in presenting blood-curdling contemporary evidence of oppression organized by the Kiev regime against people classified as ‘non-titular nations and nationalities’ in the territories still controlled by Ukraine," Miroshnik said.

He explained that he was referring, in particular, to Ukrainian laws - on indigenous peoples, on the state language, and on education. "We could go on and on with the long list of rules generated by the neo-Banderite regime that only serves to disadvantage millions of people. Among the most important is the issue of practical responsibility of the regime that violated international law," Miroshnik added.

According to the decree published on the president's website, the Cabinet of Ministers "is instructed to develop and submit to the National Security and Defense Council a plan of action for preserving the ethnic identity of Ukrainians in Russia, including the lands historically inhabited by them in Kuban, Starodubshchina, and Northern and Eastern Slobozhanshchina within the present-day Krasnodar, Belgorod, Bryansk, Voronezh, Kursk and Rostov regions of Russia."

In particular, the decree envisages a probe into what is described as "crimes" allegedly committed against Ukrainians who live or lived in these territories, "forced Russification, political repression and deportations." It is also instructed to create a center for such studies.

The decree mentions preparations for holding events "aimed at debunking Russian myths about Ukraine.".