On 15 January 2019 the First Deputy of the Permanent Representative of the President of Ukraine in the Autonomous Republic of Crimea Izet Gdanov held a working meeting with the Kherson team representatives of the OSCE Special Monitoring Mission to Ukraine.

The participants of the meeting discussed a great range of issues concerning Crimea, particularly activity and collaboration between the bodies of state power, self-governmental bodies and services, which authorized to provide their activity in Crimea.

Izet Gdanov emphasized the major steps of the Mission to concentrate the law enforcement bodies of AR Crimea in order to establish the effective cooperation and streamline   monitoring, security activities as well as protection of the citizens’ rights and fulfillment of juridical process in Kherson region as the territory adjacent to the temporarily occupied peninsula.

The First Deputy highlighted the Mission’s attitude in relation to various issues such as:

• the equipment of the checkpoints in the context of the need to create a minimum level of infrastructure for the citizens crossing the administrative boundary line;
• establishment of the administrative service centers exactly in the municipalities, adjacent to the administrative boundary line;
• violation of the rights of the citizens of Ukraine in the occupied territory, exerting pressure on the ethnic Ukrainians and Crimean Tatars, holding of the illegitimate searches, harassment of the activists, exerting pressure and intimidation of the population due to their Ukrainian position;
• ecological situation that occurred as the result of the activity of the chemical enterprises of JSC “Crimean Titan” in the city of Armyansk and neighboring districts in Kherson region;
• measures taken by the Mission together with the Main Directorate of Security Service of Ukraine in ARC to prevent the illegal work of the pumping station “Kutaranska Damba”, located in mainland Ukraine in Novotroitsky district of Kherson region and which was supplied with energy from the TOT of Ukraine in ARC. It was pumping salt water from the Central Syvash Lake to two enterprises in the temporarily occupied territory of Ukraine in AR Crimea (JSC “Crimean Soda Plant”, JSC “Brom”).

Due regard was given to armed attack against the Ukrainian military vessels in violation of the national and international legislation by the occupying authorities of the RF.

Izet Gdanov once again stressed on the situation that happened in the Sea of Azov and pointed out the need to reconsider all the treaties and agreements on the use of the sea with the PF, reclassification of the Sea of Azov from “the inland waters between the two countries” into “the international one” in accordance with the Rules of the Law of the Sea.

In conclusion, the Deputy Kherson Team Leader of SMM OSCE to Ukraine proposed to continue further cooperation regarding Crimea by involving the monitoring officers of Kherson Team into coordinative events, held by the Mission to have a clear picture about what actually happens.