The history of the Mission of the President of Ukraine in the Autonomous Republic of Crimea dates back to the declaration of Ukraine’s independence in 1991 and the emergence of the President of Ukraine in the constitutional system, as well as the restoration of the Crimean Autonomous Republic as part of the Ukrainian state in 1991.

On March 5, 1992, the Law of Ukraine No. 2167-XII “On the Representative of the President of Ukraine” was adopted. Article 18 of this act stipulated that the President of Ukraine has a Representative Office in the Republic of Crimea, the status of which is determined by a separate law.

On December 17, 1992, the Verkhovna Rada of Ukraine adopted the Law of Ukraine “On the Representative Office of the President of Ukraine in the Republic of Crimea” No. 2875-XII. The date of adoption of the Law historically became the date of foundation of the Mission.

On March 31, 1994, Presidential Decree No. 119/94 established a permanent Mission of the President of Ukraine in Crimea and appointed a Permanent Representative of the President of Ukraine. The Presidential Decree No. 119/94 of May 12, 1994 approved the structure and maximum number of staff of the Mission, which was subsequently adjusted several times.

On January 31, 1996, the Decree of the President of Ukraine No. 100/96 introduced the current name of the Mission of the President of Ukraine in the Autonomous Republic of Crimea, extended its powers and approved the Regulations on the Mission for the period until the adoption of the new Constitution of Ukraine in 1996.

In Section X of the 1996 Constitution of Ukraine “Autonomous Republic of Crimea”, a separate Article 139 was introduced, according to which the Mission of the President of Ukraine operates in the AR of Crimea, the status of which is determined by a separate law. The Mission becomes a constitutional authority of Ukraine.

The activity of the Mission as a state control body over the compliance of the Constitution and legal acts of the Autonomous Republic of Crimea with the Constitution and laws of Ukraine is enshrined in Article 5, paragraph 4 of the current Constitution of the AR of Crimea, adopted at the second session of the Verkhovna Rada of Crimea on October 21, 1998 and approved by the Law of Ukraine No. 350-XIV of December 23, 1998.

Personnel powers of the Permanent Representative of the President of Ukraine in the Autonomous Republic of Crimea regarding the organization of local state power in Crimea are enshrined in part 3 of Article 37 of the current Constitution of the AR of Crimea of 1998.

Subsequent changes in the status of the Mission were caused by the constitutional powers of the President of Ukraine as the head of state, guarantor of state sovereignty and territorial integrity of Ukraine, observance of the Constitution and laws of Ukraine, human and civil rights and freedoms.

By the Decree of the President of Ukraine No. 68/98-rp dated March 27, 1998, the Department for International Relations was established within the Mission. Pursuant to the Decree of the President of Ukraine No. 573/2000 of April 7, 2000, the Secretariat of the Council of Representatives of the Crimean Tatar People was established within the Mission as a form of recognition of the Mejlis of the Crimean Tatar People by Ukraine.

The current constitutional status of the Mission was developed by the special Law of Ukraine No. 1524-III of March 2, 2000 in the current version. According to Article 4, the activities of the Mission are based on the principles of the rule of law, legality, transparency, and the combination of national and local interests.

The Law of Ukraine No. 1524-III stipulates that the Mission is a state body established to facilitate the exercise of the powers vested in the President of Ukraine and directly subordinated to him in the AR of Crimea. This act establishes the functions of the Mission.

According to this law, the Mission is headed by the Permanent Representative of the President of Ukraine in the AR of Crimea. The Permanent Representative and his deputies are appointed and dismissed by the President of Ukraine.

The main functions of the Mission are representative, personnel, analytical, informational and human rights protection, which is to promote the observance of constitutional rights and freedoms of man and citizen and to achieve interethnic harmony, socio-economic and political stability in the AR of Crimea.

After the armed seizure of the Crimean peninsula by the aggressor state in February 2014, the activities of the Mission in Simferopol were forced to be suspended – the management of the Mission left the occupation.

The international community and the Ukrainian authorities have not recognized the illegal occupation and criminal attempt of the Russian Federation to annex the Crimean peninsula. Russia’s massive and cynical violations of international humanitarian and human rights law in Crimea have been recognized in legal documents of the UN General Assembly, Council of Europe, OSCE and the European Union. In fact, this has set fundamentally new tasks for the Ukrainian authorities in relation to the Autonomous Republic of Crimea.

According to the Order of the President of Ukraine No. 865/2014-rp dated May 16, 2014, in order to ensure the resumption of the Mission’s activities under the temporary occupation of the territory of Ukraine, the Mission was located in Kherson, which is geographically close to the administrative border with the occupied Crimea. On May 24, 2014, the structure of the Representative Office was approved by the Decree of the President of Ukraine No. 487/2014, which should ensure the work of the body under the occupation.

The new stage of the Mission’s functioning was defined by the Decree of the President of Ukraine No. 16/2016 of January 20, 2016. This act significantly strengthened the human rights and international dimension of the Mission’s activities, provided for the establishment of separate structural units in Kyiv, but retained the location in Kherson.

Presidential Decree No. 221/2017 of August 17, 2017, provides for special official duties of the First Deputy Permanent Representative on the issues of the Crimean Tatar people. In accordance with the new legislation on civil service, the position of the Chief of Staff was introduced in the staff of the Mission.

The Mission has clearly defined the areas of its work, established cooperation with the central and regional authorities of Ukraine, introduced a mechanism for monitoring the situation with internally displaced persons and the population of the temporarily occupied territory, analyzes legislation in the context of the Crimean issues, systematically studies socio-economic and political processes in the temporarily occupied territory of Ukraine, and provides information support for its activities.

The Mission submits to the President of Ukraine, the Cabinet of Ministers and central executive authorities the proposals and submissions aimed at minimizing the consequences of the temporary occupation and improving the level of human and civil rights and freedoms provided for by the Constitution, laws of Ukraine and international treaties.

According to the Decree of the President of Ukraine No. 758/2019, the office of the Mission is moved to Kyiv for more efficient interaction with central executive authorities, advisory and consultative auxiliary bodies and services, etc. Meanwhile, the Deputy Permanent Representative and some staff members remain in Kherson.

On March 24, President of Ukraine Volodymyr Zelenskyy approved the Strategy for the De-occupation and Reintegration of the Temporarily Occupied Territory of the Autonomous Republic of Crimea and the City of Sevastopol by his Decree No. 117/2021.

The Strategy is the first document since 2014 to comprehensively define the directions of Ukraine’s policy on the liberation of the occupied Crimea from the occupiers and further reintegration. It was also a powerful signal to our international partners on the eve of the launch of the Crimean Platform, as it has become our key foreign policy tool for consolidating international efforts to de-occupy the peninsula.

In 2021, at the initiative of President Volodymyr Zelenskyy, Ukraine established the Crimean Platform, an international consultative and coordination format aimed at improving the effectiveness of the international community’s response to the ongoing occupation of Crimea, addressing growing security threats, increasing international pressure on the Kremlin, preventing further human rights violations and protecting victims of the occupation regime, and achieving the main goal of de-occupying Crimea and returning it to Ukraine’s control.

On August 23, the Crimean Platform held its inaugural summit, which was attended by 47 countries and international organizations. The event approved a Joint Declaration that outlined the main parameters of international policy toward Crimea.

To fulfill the tasks of the internal track of the Crimean Platform, the National Office of the Crimean Platform was established on the basis of the Mission. The Office actively cooperates with parliamentarians, especially with members of the Crimean Platform inter-factional association, who are also members of Ukraine’s delegations to parliamentary assemblies.

After Russia’s full-scale invasion of mainland Ukraine on February 24, the Crimean agenda fell to the background of international attention. In this regard, the Mission started even more intensive work to keep the occupation of the Crimean peninsula in the focus of international attention: high-level events within the framework of the Crimean Platform, work on draft laws, monitoring and regular informing of international partners about the situation in the occupied Crimea and, of course, maintaining contacts and providing consultations to Ukrainian citizens in the occupied Crimea and IDPs.

The Crimean Platform held the Second Summit on August 23 at the level of heads of state and organizations, and the First Parliamentary Summit on October 24-25 at the level of speakers of parliaments. Within the framework of the Parliamentary Summit, on October 24, the Mission together with the CP Expert Network organized a discussion program with the participation of Ukrainian officials and international experts on the future reintegration of Crimea, which is important in view of the experience of the host country, Croatia, in reintegration issues.

On December 17, the Mission celebrated its 30th anniversary.

In the framework of strengthening cooperation and interaction with the countries of the Global South, the Ukrainian delegation headed by the Permanent Representative Tamila Tasheva visited India, Malaysia and the Republic of Indonesia from February 27 to March 5.

The delegation focused on establishing cooperation with potential partner organizations in Southeast Asia by promoting the Crimean Platform, as well as raising the issue of politically and religiously motivated persecution in the temporarily occupied Crimea. The Ukrainian side held more than 20 substantive talks, including meetings with high-ranking Indonesian officials: the Chairman of the Interparliamentary Cooperation Committee of the Council of People’s Representatives, the Chairman of the National Human Rights Commission, the Advisor to the Minister of Justice, the Head of the International Relations and Investment Service of the Government of the Special District of Yogyakarta, the Chief Ombudsman, etc.

The Permanent Representative Tamila Tasheva together with other members of the delegation delivered four public lectures and met with the rectors of major academic centers of the region.

The visit of the Ukrainian delegation to these countries aroused great interest of the leading media in the region: interviews, press conferences, cultural events and simply coverage of a number of meetings with representatives of parliaments, religious organizations and civil society. The topic of occupied Crimea, massive human rights violations, and the destruction of the historical heritage of the Crimean Tatars by the occupiers touched and captured the information space of Malaysia and Indonesia.

(the section is being updated, de-occupation is coming)