KIEV, December 29. / TASS /. The Prosecutor General’s office of Ukraine has filed a court indictment against several Crimean high-ranking officials, including region’s head Sergey Aksyonov and former Prosecutor Natalia Poklonskaya, the office stated on its official website, noting that they were accused of high treason.
"The Prosecutor General’s office sent to the court an indictment against eight people - the leaders of the Russian occupation administration in Crimea (Ukraine considers Crimea to be occupied by Russia) and Sevastopol," the statement reads. As Kiev clarified, the cases were also launched against Chairman of the State Council Vladimir Konstantinov and five other officials.
According to the Prosecutor General’s office of Ukraine, the officials are accused of "high treason, violation of the territorial integrity and inviolability of Ukraine, actions aimed at forced change or the overthrow of the constitutional order, attempts to seize state power as part of a criminal organization."
As the Ukrainian side noted, in February and March 2014, those accused allegedly set up "a criminal organization" in Crimea and "assisted Russia in carrying out subversive activities against Ukraine," participated in creating occupation bodies and were leading them.
On November 30, the Kiev Court of Appeal granted permission to detain Aksyonov, while on December 7, a similar verdict was made against Poklonskaya. However, such decisions remain only on paper, it is impossible to arrest the Crimean officials as they are outside Ukraine.
After the February 2014 government coup in Ukraine, the authorities of Crimea and Sevastopol held referendums on the issue of reunification with Russia. The voting took place on March 16, with turnouts exceeding 80%. Reunification with Russia was supported by 96.7% in Crimea and 95.6% in Sevastopol. On March 18, the Russian president signed a treaty on the accession of the Republic of Crimea and Sevastopol to the Russian Federation. Russia’s Federal Assembly ratified the treaty on March 21. Despite the unequivocal outcome of the referendum Kiev has refused to recognize Crimea as part of Russia.