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‘Ukrainian Community of Crimea’ to tell UN about Russian speakers’ situation in Ukraine

On May 21, 15:00 New York time, an informal video conference of the UN Security Council will take place, in which residents of Crimea will take part for the first time

SIMFEROPOL, May 21. /TASS/. A report on the situation concerning Russian-speaking population of Ukraine will be presented Thursday in the UN Security Council, within the framework of the informal video conference, organized by the Permanent Mission of the Russian Federation to the United Nations, one of the participants, Anastasia Gridchina, the chairwoman of the Ukrainian Community of Crimea public organization, told TASS.

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On Tuesday, Russia’s First Deputy Permanent Representative to the UN Dmitry Polyansky disclosed in his twitter that on May 21, 15:00 New York time, an informal video conference of the UN Security Council will take place, in which residents of Crimea will take part for the first time. He did not specify who exactly would represent the peninsula.

"I will speak at the UN Security Council video conference with a report on discrimination of the rights of the Russian-speaking population of Ukraine. I will be joined by my colleagues: the host of the Krym 24 regional TV channel Alexander Makar; ex-head of the Millet Crimean Tatar broadcasting company, deputy of the Bakhchisaray City Council Erwin Musayev; and Crimean Muslims’ Deputy Mufti Asadullah Bairov," Gridchina commented.

She noted that the UN Security Council meeting, called in compliance with the so-called Arria Formula, which allows participation of the representatives of the public, will be dedicated to the situation in Crimea.

On March 11, 2014, amid the political crisis and change of power in Ukraine, the Supreme Council of Crimea and the Sevastopol City Council adopted a declaration of independence. On March 16, a referendum took place, in which over 80% of the residents voted in favor of joining Russia: 96.77% of voters in the Republic of Crimea and 95.6% of voters in the city of Sevastopol supported the move. On March 18 a treaty of accession of the new regions to Russia was signed. Ukraine, the US and the EU refused to recognize the Crimean independence and its accession to Russia.

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