Babaryka spent three minutes answering the question of whose Crimea it is. He still didn't answer

Viktar Babaryka. Photo: Lookby.media

Ukrainian blogger Volodymyr Zolkin published an interview with Viktar Babaryka, recorded after a press conference of Belarusian political prisoners in Chernihiv.

One of the questions concerned whose Crimea it actually is. This is what Babaryka answered:

— This is generally the most difficult question, because, if you go back to history, there is such darkness there that I am also not ready to answer this question unequivocally, because my answer, it seems, was back in 2020... And I was criticized for it, for not knowing history, so I shut up and said: I don't know. (laughs).

— What history? Do you recognize the collapse of the USSR and the sovereign borders of certain countries?

— Stop, stop, stop. You are then starting the history of «whose Crimea is it?» very correctly. I started it much earlier, because Crimea existed before the Soviet Union. So from what moment do we talk about whose Crimea it is? If we are talking from the moment of the collapse of the Soviet Union…

— We are talking from 1991. There were mutually — I emphasize — mutually recognized borders, and so it is to this day.

— And, it seems, someone from the Ukrainians very accurately said it: there are certain legal aspects, there are historical aspects. The same here. «Whose Crimea» breaks down into several such components. Therefore, unfortunately... From a legal point of view, Crimea — if the agreements by which this annexation was formalized and agreed upon are not revoked…

— Russia entered and annexed Crimea by armed force, and you should know this. Because you were not yet in isolation then.

— I was not in isolation (laughs). But in details, I will also evade a direct answer, because, again, if I talk about the referendum, they will tell me about its illegality, about the invalidity of this referendum.

— Have you ever seen a referendum conducted at gunpoint and with a machine gun?

— This is exactly the topic I am talking about. I will try to evade answering many questions in the following way. It is very difficult to comment on the relationships between neighbors. Therefore…

— Do you have no allegiance even in this question? Do you not take any side in this question?

— Yes, yes.

— «Something happened there — and it happened»?

— I am not ready to comment on this in the public space. Let's do it this way.

— Please tell me, can you answer vaguely, indirectly? Is someone pressuring you? Do you feel that…

— This is my internal position: it is inappropriate to answer this question directly now. That's it.

***

Zolkin is 44 years old. He is a lawyer by education. He was sentenced to 14 years for intentional murder. Zolkin did not admit guilt, trying to prove that it was an ordinary fight that ended with the victim's unsuccessful fall. After conditional early release, he became a blogger. Zolkin gained popularity thanks to his channel, where he publishes interviews with Russian prisoners of war. He talks to people, and then calls their relatives in Russia and asks why they sent their loved one to kill Ukrainians. These videos gather millions of views.

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