Ukrainian Foreign Minister Dmitry Kuleba said that Russians are a national minority in the country, but cannot be considered an indigenous people.
Russian President Vladimir Putin on Wednesday during a direct line called it “incomprehensible” that the Russians in the bill of Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky are not indicated as the indigenous people of Ukraine.
“The indigenous peoples of Ukraine are the Crimean Tatars, Krymchaks, Karaites. Russians are a national minority whose rights are protected by the Constitution on an equal basis with others. They cannot be an indigenous people, since they have their own state. Alternative inventions are a classic of Russian manipulations”, – wrote Kuleba on Twitter.
Zelensky previously submitted to the Verkhovna Rada a draft law “On the indigenous peoples of Ukraine”, which defines the rights of indigenous peoples in the state and the specifics of their implementation, it is marked as urgent. Russians are not included in the list of indigenous peoples in the draft law. Only representatives of those ethnic communities that do not have their own state outside of Ukraine will be recognized as indigenous peoples.