Russia plans to abolish border zones along the border with the occupied territories of Ukraine - MFA reacted

Russia intends to abolish border zones in certain sections of the Rostov and Voronezh regions bordering Ukraine’s temporarily occupied territories. Ukraine’s Ministry of Foreign Affairs stated that this does not concern the cessation of border control, but another attempt to erase the border between the territory of the aggressor state and the territory of Ukraine occupied by it, reports UNN. 

Details 

"The Federal Security Service of the Russian Federation plans to abolish border zones in certain sections of Russia’s Rostov and Voronezh regions bordering Ukraine’s temporarily occupied territories, as well as between temporarily occupied Crimea and the temporarily occupied part of Ukraine’s Kherson region," the statement says. 

As noted, Russian draft departmental orders explain this by the alleged "incorporation" of Ukraine’s temporarily occupied territories into the Russian Federation. Thus, the Ministry of Foreign Affairs emphasized, Moscow is once again trying to pass off what it wants as reality and replace the internationally recognized legal status with its own inept administrative decisions, evidently believing that issuing an appropriate unlawful order is sufficient to appropriate the territory of a sovereign state. "However, the number of such decisions gives them neither legality nor international recognition," the Ukrainian Ministry of Foreign Affairs emphasized.

"In fact, this does not concern the cessation of border control, but another attempt to erase the border between the territory of the aggressor state and the territory of Ukraine occupied by it. According to the Kremlin’s plan, moving border control to the outer boundaries of Ukraine’s temporarily occupied territories is intended to create the appearance that the Ukrainian territories seized by Russia are allegedly an integral part of the Russian Federation and have been finally integrated into its administrative system," the Ministry of Foreign Affairs added. 

The ministry emphasized that "no law, decree, or departmental order of the Russian Federation is capable of changing the legal status of Ukrainian territories." "Occupation does not create sovereignty, and an attempt at annexation does not give rise to territorial rights," the Ministry of Foreign Affairs stressed.

"The Russian agency may move control points, rewrite its own documents, and redraw maps as much as it likes. This does not make occupied Ukrainian land Russian, and Ukraine’s internationally recognized state border does not shift by a single meter. The FSB’s decision should be regarded as another element of the consistent policy of administratively appropriating Ukraine’s temporarily occupied territory and creating the appearance of its "final integration" into Russia. It is telling that Moscow continues to change the wording in its own orders and draw new lines on maps, evidently counting on such steps being capable of changing the legal status of Ukraine’s territory. We confidently convey that they are not," the Ministry of Foreign Affairs stated. 

Let us remind you 

As reported, despite statements about "unity," a strict border regime with checks, interrogations, and queues lasting many hours operates between the occupied territories of Donbas and Russia.