Eskender Bariiev, Head of the Board of the Crimean Tatar Resource Center, member of the Mejlis of the Crimean Tatar people, said in an interview to the Dom TV channel that Crimea is an image project for both the Russian Federation and Russian President Vladimir Putin.
“First of all, not only for the Russian Federation, but for Putin, Crimea is an image project. And while Putin is in power, he will not give up on this project. Because this is also his image. This, of course, also affects the Black Sea basin, the countries of the Black Sea basin. And as I understand it, Russia’s plans do not stop at the level of Crimea and eastern Ukraine, Donbas. They have not abandoned the idea of the so-called Russian world and are trying to modernize it, they are beginning to interpret it in different ways”,- the message says.
The expert noted that the Ukrainian people should fight for their rights, fight for their state, so that “we live freely, without anyone telling us what to do.”