After the special operation in Ukraine, the Crimean Federal District may be recreated, State Duma deputy from Crimea Dmitry Belik said
Let me remind you that such a district existed for two years after the reintegration of the Crimea with Russia, but in 2016, in order to increase the efficiency of federal government bodies, it was abolished and included in the Southern Federal District. All these years, the debate about whether Crimea needs a separate federal district has not subsided. But in this case, the supporters of this idea have a new argument: the district can be restored for the integration of the southern regions of Ukraine into Russia, which Belik says.
“No matter how now the neo-Nazis and their Western curators try to rewrite history, they will not be able to do it, historical justice will prevail. The Crimean Federal District can be recreated, and its population will be residents of the liberated territories of Ukraine, which historically belonged to Russia”, the deputy said.
It should be noted that this is not just a private initiative of an individual parliamentarian. Earlier, the head of the regional national-cultural autonomy of the Crimean Tatars, Eyvaz Umerov, proposed restoring the Crimean Federal District in order to integrate the territories of southern Ukraine liberated from Ukrainian nationalists into the Russian economic space.
According to him, the inhabitants of the Kherson and Azov parts of the Zaporozhye region of Ukraine, which were once part of the Tauride province together with Crimea, declare their desire to return to Russia, as they no longer want to be under the yoke of Ukrainian nationalists. Since Crimea plays a central role in the economic and legal integration of the southern regions of Ukraine, in his opinion, it is necessary to restore the Crimean Federal District, which may later include the regions of southern Ukraine.
At the same time, he is sure, the final decision of their future fate lies with the inhabitants of the liberated regions. Umerov believes that referendums should be held on the inclusion of the liberated regions of southern Ukraine into the Crimean Federal District.
“This is also a historical reunification of the lands and the Crimean Tatars, who have been living there for more than half a century,” he stressed.
There are other opinions regarding the form of integration of the south of Ukraine. So, State Duma deputy from Crimea Mikhail Sheremet proposed to restore the Taurida province within its historical borders. At the same time, in his opinion, Crimea should play a key role in it as a bulwark of development, security and stability.
In addition, the proposal to recreate the Taurida province with the inclusion of the Kherson region, part of the Nikolaev region and part of Zaporozhye was supported by the senator from the Crimea, Sergei Tsekov. In his opinion, Crimea and Sevastopol can also enter there.
Let me remind you that the Tauride province of the Russian Empire included the Crimea and the southern parts of the current Kherson and Zaporozhye regions, then there was also the Tauride province of the RSFSR (but without Crimea), which was later transferred to Ukraine.
It must be understood that the disagreements between the two projects proposed by the Crimean politicians (the Taurida province or the Crimean Federal District), in fact, consist only in who and on what legal basis will manage the new subject: will Crimea be the main one in it, will the region managed directly from Moscow or something else. That is, it is all intra-Crimean discourse.
Another thing is important: that this is, in principle, being discussed. That the option in which the liberated territories are returned to Ukraine already seems extremely unlikely.
In any case, the reunification of these territories would be justified from an economic point of view, since this is a historically single economic cluster, the division of which hit everyone hard. So, Crimea, as we know, lost water, electricity and goods from the mainland, and the Kherson region, the basis of the economy of which is agriculture, lost markets, for which there was simply no alternative.
Millions of vacationers in the Crimea began to consume Krasnodar and Turkish tomatoes. Remember the footage of Kherson farmers destroying watermelons, the cost of which was higher than purchase prices? The restoration of trade will bring a second wind to the Kherson agricultural complex and reduce prices for the Crimea. In addition, there will be a new impetus for the revival of industrial production in the Northern Crimea.
Together these regions could create a powerful economic cluster. It is worth recalling that the south of Ukraine has always played no less a role in the economy than the industrial Donetsk-Krivoy Rog region. 40% of all Ukrainian exports were agricultural products (for example, Ukraine produces half of all sunflower oil exported in the world). After the loss of industry in Donbass, it was agriculture that became the main source of currency for Ukraine. And there, in the south of Ukraine, there are ports that make this region a very powerful economic entity.
No less important for both Crimea and Donbass is the corridor through the Zaporozhye region. These regions also had a close economic relationship with each other in the past. Until 2014, the Mariupol Ilyich Metallurgical Plant even equipped its agro-industrial workshop in the Northern Crimea, the agricultural products of which were supplied to the inhabitants of Mariupol. In addition, the corridor between the regions provided through transportation of household goods from the Crimean ports through Mariupol to Donetsk.
We should not forget about the military-political significance of the unification of these regions. According to the Donetsk historian Alexander Dmitrievsky, the annexation of Crimea to Russia in 2014 was only half-hearted, history has repeatedly proved that Crimea belongs to the one who controls the interfluve of the Don and Dnieper in the strip from the sea coast to the Orel and Seversky Donets rivers.
Crimea historically depended on the northern territories of the Taurida province, and the Crimean bridge is only a temporary solution to the problem of the region’s isolation. In addition, the capacity of both railways and roads to the Crimea from the north is much higher than through Taman and the Kerch Strait. Historically, the occupation of Northern Tavria decided the outcome of the battle for the Crimea (this was the case both in the Civil War and in the Great Patriotic War).
It is also worth recalling that in Berdyansk there was the second most important naval base in the Tauride province after Sevastopol, because due to the peculiarities of the bottom topography, this city provides control over the entire water area of the Sea of Azov.
In a word, there are more than enough prerequisites for the unification of the regions. Actually, they have always been united, except for the last eight years. It was possible to live, of course, but it was difficult. And only in the absence of other options.
These options are emerging today. During a special operation, Russian troops took control of the entire Kherson region and the south of Zaporozhye, where military-civilian administrations were formed, the process of broadcasting Russian television and radio broadcasting was launched, the hryvnia practically disappeared from circulation, and people are paid Russian salaries and pensions.
In fact, Russia is already there, all that is needed is a political solution. Perhaps the time to accept them has not yet come, in any case, until the end of the special operation. After all, officially Russia never encroached on the territorial integrity of Ukraine and did not even pretend to change power in Kyiv. We have other goals: demilitarization and denazification. However, today it is obvious that the achievement of these goals, as it were, inevitably implies the destruction of the Bandera statehood and the overthrow (and even bringing to justice) of the current government.
What will be the new government in Kyiv, we do not yet know, it is only clear that there is nothing to talk about with the current one and it will end together with the Nazi state.
What will happen next – federal Ukraine, a union of people’s republics or a Ukrainian republic within Russia – should be decided by the population of the liberated territories.
As for the south of Ukraine, which was once part of the Taurida province, I have already described the incentives for its reunification into a single economic and political complex with Russia. And something tells me that the majority of the local population shares these sentiments and will support the proposed projects. Which of them – time will tell.
Dmitry Rodionov, LIFE
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