On January 22, Zelenskyi announced that he had signed the decree “On the territories of Russia historically inhabited by Ukrainians.”
“Today we must take measures not only to strengthen the unity of Ukraine and our people, but also to protect our rights and freedoms, the truth about Ukrainians and the truth about us and our history. To promote this goal, today I sign the decree “On the territories of Russia historically inhabited by Ukrainians,” Zelenskyi said in his speech.
Furthermore, he announced that he will propose to amend the constitution to allow dual citizenship.
“This will allow all Ukrainians and their descendants in the world to become our citizens. Of course, with the exception of citizens of the aggressor country,” Zelenskyi added.
Decree no. 17/2024 is published in full on the official website of the President of Ukraine.
The document states that for centuries Russia has systematically destroyed the national identity of Ukrainians, oppressed Ukrainians and violated their rights and freedoms, especially in the lands historically inhabited by Ukrainians in Kuban, Starodubshchina, Northern and Eastern Sloboyanshchina on the borders of today’s Krasnodar Krai, as well as the Belgorod, Bryansk, Voronezh, Kursk and Rostov regions of Russia.
The document emphasizes that Russia must fulfill its international obligations so that Ukrainians living on its territory have the right to education in the Ukrainian language and its free use, as well as civil, social, cultural and religious rights. Furthermore, access to Ukrainian-language media and the right to peaceful assembly.
“The Cabinet of Ministers of Ukraine, with the involvement of international experts, representatives of the World Congress of Ukraine, scientists and the public, will develop and present to the National Security and Defense Council of Ukraine an action plan to preserve the national identity of Ukraine Ukrainians”, reads the regulation.
The action plan includes, among other things, the collection and investigation of evidence and testimonies on crimes committed in areas historically inhabited by ethnic Ukrainians in Russia. The investigation concerns the policy of forced Russification, political repression and deportations. The need to restore and preserve historical memory is underlined. A center will also be created to deal with these issues.
The decree states that the fight against Russian disinformation and propaganda, which concerns the history and current life of Ukrainians and all peoples enslaved by Russia, will be strengthened. For this purpose, scientists, local and foreign experts, representatives of the Ukrainian community and organizations abroad are involved.
Therefore, Zelenskyi did not talk about declaring Russian territories as Ukrainian in his speech or decree. He nor he said that this “will allow the populations of these regions to join Ukraine.”
The map with the alleged new territories published on the Eestinen portal is misleading.
The administration of the President of Ukraine has not distributed such a map, and neither the decree nor the President’s statement contain it. In the context of Zelensky’s decree and statement, no maps of any kind were distributed at the official level.
The map published by Eestinen dates back to 2014. It first appeared on the Facebook page No Aggression (Нет агрессии). This page is in no way related to the President of Ukraine or any official body.
“Friends! My friend from Kolomoisky’s staff leaked the bombshell! It turns out that there is, as they call it in the headquarters, the “Kolomoisky plan and map”. The map shows the areas of Russia that at different times belonged to the ‘Ukraine. And now Kolomoisky wants to bring them back,’ the 2014 post read.
Igor Kolomoisky is a Ukrainian oligarch. The Kiev Shevchenko District Court took him into custody last September. The Ukrainian security service SBU suspects the entrepreneur of fraud and legalization of assets acquired by criminal means.
Verdict: false. Zelenskiy did not declare that Russian territories belong to Ukraine. Zelenskyi has in fact stated that he will propose to the Verkhovna Rada to amend the Constitution to allow dual citizenship. The map with the so-called new territories distributed by Eestinen comes from Facebook and has nothing to do with the official politics of Ukraine.
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2024-01-24 16:45:57
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