UK lawmakers rally behind Ukraine, slam ‘Russian-led terrorists’ - Apr. 25, 2019

As the United Kingdom continues to be embroiled in Brexit, finding areas of cross-party agreement is harder than ever. But when it comes to Ukraine and Russia’s war against the country, there appears to be unanimous support for Kyiv, coupled with condemnation of Moscow.

On April 24, Conservative lawmaker John Howell convened a debate at the Palace of Westminster where British lawmakers strongly reaffirmed their commitment to Ukrainian sovereignty, and discussed ongoing Russian aggression against Ukraine and the Kremlin’s illegal occupation of Crimea.

Howell said he had convened the debate in light of a worsening humanitarian situation in occupied Crimea and the war-torn Donbas region, where some 13,000 people have been killed since 2014.

The United Nations says that 5.2 million people in Ukraine’s eastern Donbas region, a third of which is under the occupation of Russian-led forces, are exposed to the dangers and misery of war.

In Crimea, illegally annexed by Russia in March 2014, Howell said the humanitarian situation is also dire.

Through 2018, there were 367 separate instances documented in which people were denied the right to a fair trial, he said. Throughout the year, at least 90 people had been sentenced on charges seen as politically motivated. And many have been transferred to prisons in Russia where some have faced torture and been denied medical treatment, Howell added.

Stewart McDonald, a Westminster lawmaker from the Scottish National Party, said that the 2014 referendum held in Crimea was “a sham” and should be labeled as such.

A U.K. parliamentary research paper discredits the referendum in question, reporting that it was conducted in polling stations across Crimea that were under armed guard. Russian journalists said that they had been allowed to vote.

The Kremlin claimed that 97 percent of voters had said Crimea should join Russia and that turnout stood at 87 percent. But the Russian Human Rights Council later mistakenly posted what some alleged were the real referendum results on its website, before quickly taking them down. As reported by Forbes, that data showed that about 55 percent had voted to join Russia with a turnout of only 40 percent.

McDonald, who has visited the Donbas frontline, said that the language used to describe Russia’s war against Ukraine was more important than ever.

“These are Russian-led forces, they are not Russian-backed separatists… they are Russian-led terrorists, and nothing else,” he said, adding that U.K. members of parliament can act by themselves in support of Ukraine.

He suggested that not appearing on Russian television channels financed by the Kremlin, such as Russia Today and Sputnik, would be a good start for some British officials who continue to do so.

“For shame that they continue to appear on these (channels)… for shame that there are members of this house who not only appear but take money for appearing… it must stop, otherwise all of the poetic speeches given mean absolutely nothing,” McDonald said.

John Whittingdale, a lawmaker and former U.K. secretary of state who is a staunch advocate for Ukraine in London, told the Kyiv Post that he was pleased to see that the debate was very well attended by members of parliament. It shows strong cross-party support for Ukraine in Britain, he said.

“I hope this will demonstrate… that across the House of Commons there is unanimous support for Ukraine against the illegal occupation of part of their country and against the aggressive actions of the Russian Federation,” he said.

Alan Duncan, who is Minister of State for Europe and the Americas, said that Russia’s occupation of Crimea and its continued interference in Ukraine was illegal under international law.

Ukraine chose a Euro-Atlantic future, he said, and Russia must respect this, as well as the country’s sovereignty and territorial integrity.

Until that happens, there can be no normalization of relations with Russia, Duncan said. “We will stand firm in trying to keep Crimea in the spotlight and to expose Russia’s human rights violations.”