KIEV, September 21. /TASS/. Ukraine’s parliament Verkhovna Rada has demonstrated low level professionalism voting for non-recognition of elections to Russia’s lower parliamentary house and also failed to calculate its consequences for the country, a Ukrainian lawmaker said on Wednesday.
"In yesterday’s heroic voting with the aim not to recognize the elections to State Duma the Ukrainian parliament again proved its professional inadequacy," Yevgeny Murayev wrote on his Facebook page. "Legal consequences of the game for empty-headed audiences might be catastrophic if the other side [Russia - TASS] made a decision to support the policy of severing diplomatic ties."
The member of parliament is certain that in Tuesday’s voting the lawmakers "crossed out Ukrainian representatives from any processes that Russian representatives delegated by the State Duma would take part in."
"Those situations will be unavoidable," Murayev said with confidence. "As representatives of foreign states and various associations have announced they do not recognize elections in Crimea but cast no doubts on legitimacy of the newly-elected State Duma on the whole."
On Tuesday, Rada passed a resolution on non-recognition of the legitimacy of Russia’s parliamentary elections. The document won support from 264 Ukrainian lawmakers whereas 226 votes are needed to pass a bill or a resolution. The resolution says that Rada lawmakers will turn to the United Nations Security Council and General Assembly, to parliaments of foreign states, parliamentary assemblies and international organizations with a "call not to recognize legitimacy" of these elections. Moreover, the Ukrainian Prosecutor General’s Office opened criminal inquiries on charges of infringement on Ukraine’s territorial integrity and inviolability after the elections were held in Crimea.
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The Republic of Crimea and Sevastopol, a city with a special status on the Crimean Peninsula, where most residents are Russians, refused to recognize the legitimacy of authorities brought to power amid riots in Ukraine in February 2014 during a coup when President Viktor Yanukovich was forced from power.
Crimea and Sevastopol adopted declarations of independence on March 11, 2014. They held a referendum on March 16, 2014, in which 96.77% of Crimeans and 95.6% of Sevastopol voters chose to secede from Ukraine and join the Russian Federation. Russian President Vladimir Putin signed the reunification deals on March 18, 2014 and three days later, on March 21 they were ratified by the Russian parliament.
Despite the absolutely convincing results of the referendum, Ukraine has been refusing to recognize Crimea as a part of Russia.