Statement by YABLOKO Chairman, 02/03/2014

The YABLOKO party is categorically against the steps undertaken by Russia’s leadership targeted at unleashing a war with Ukraine.

A war between Russia and Ukraine in any form and of any scope is unacceptable and inadmissible.

Such a war will be a crime of a historic scope. Neither disputes over the territory of the Crimea nor the fate of the military bases of the Russian Black Sea Fleet, nor any other “reasons” can be an excuse for a fratricidal war with many thousands of deaths and countless victims.

At present there is no immediate threat to life, health or safety of Russian nationals, Russians, the Russian-speaking population and all the people either in the Crimea or in the East of Ukraine, thus, there is no reason for the outbreak of war and attempts of military occupation of Ukraine.

All the issues of protection of the rights of the Russian-speaking population can be resolved peacefully.

Moreover, preparations for the war and search for the reasons to start it represent a dangerous provocation that can provoke intentional criminal acts against Russian-speaking population from those forces who are interested in the war and are looking for just an excuse. History knows many examples of such kind.

Bringing Russian troops to all (or most) of the Crimea, and especially into the Eastern part and other regions of Ukraine will become a criminal political miscalculation endangering not only the lives of a huge number of people, not only Ukraine’s future, but also the future of Russia .

Russian-Ukrainian military operations of any scale, even creation of a possibility for such hostilities and conversion of Russians and Ukrainians into opposing forces in an armed conflict will be a very serious, hard and inescapable ever-bleeding injury to our people for centuries.

Due to the military intervention in Ukraine, our country will remain alone, without allies, labelled as an aggressor and condemned by the whole world.

The socio-political developments that will emerge in Russia due to the fratricidal war will beyond all doubt be fatal to the very existence of Russia, as brining of troops into Afghanistan became fatal for the USSR.

Our state still has all the political and diplomatic tools to prevent even the slightest possibility of a direct and imminent threat to our compatriots by any criminal elements including fascist Nazis.

We reiterate our stance that Ukraine’s territorial integrity must not be questioned.

We believe that Russia must refrain from any actions of political, economic and informational nature targeted at destabilization of the situation in some regions of Ukraine and throughout its territory.

We believe that any use of Russian armed forces in Ukraine should not be implemented.

Those who will unleash a real war between Russia and Ukraine will be cursed forever by the Russian people.

Sergei Mitrokhin,

YABLOKO Chairman