Kasparov: Opposition candidates should not run in Crimean elections
Russian oppositionist Garry Kasparov declared that candidates of opposition parties should not run in Duma elections in Crimea. He wrote about it on his Facebook page.
"The participation of opposition parties from the annexed territory in the elections looks bad from both political and moral points of view. Whatever the 'oppositionists' say in their defense, they wittingly or unwittingly help Putin to give a veneer of legitimacy to the criminal seizure of the territory of a neighboring state", he posted.
He also condemned the oppositionists who are trying to play up to the electorate by recognizing Crimea as a part of Russian territory in one form or another. Crimea was annexed by Russia in the beginning of 2014.
The Verkhovna Rada of Ukraine officially declared the beginning of temporary occupation of Crimea and Sevastopol by Russia on the 20th of February 2014. On the 7th of October 2015, the President of Ukraine, Petro Poroshenko, signed the law confirming this occupation. International organizations have determined the annexation and occupation of Crimea to be illegal and have condemned Russia’s actions. Western countries have also imposed various economic sanctions. Russia has denied its occupation of the peninsula and instead refers to it as “correcting a historical injustice.”