Fake: The Sea of Azov has changed its status and now belongs to Russia and the so-called DPR

Islamabad: Editor’s Monitoring Desk – The Russian media are massively disseminating the statement of the Kremlin official, the so-called permanent representative of the Crimea under the President of Russia, Georgy Muradov, about the ownership of the Azov Sea by Russia. Muradov claims that the status of the Sea of Azov has changed and now its water area allegedly belongs to Russia and the DPR.

https://lenta.ru/news/2022/05/23/muradov/

Georgy Muradov, permanent representative of Crimea under the President of Russia, Deputy Prime Minister of the Crimean government, announced a change in the status of the Sea of Azov after the liberation of Mariupol. He is quoted by RIA Novosti.
According to Muradov, the Sea of Azov “has become a sea of joint use between Russia and the DPR.” He also stressed that after the liberation from the Ukrainian fighters of the Kherson and southern parts of the Zaporozhye regions, the Kyiv authorities will obviously lose access to the Sea of Azov.

https://www-moscowtimes-ru.translate.goog/2022/05/23/v-krimu-zayavili-o-perehode-azovskogo-morya-pod-kontrol-rf-i-dnr-a20584?_x_tr_sl=ru&_x_tr_tl= en&_x_tr_hl=en&_x_tr_pto=op,sc

The Russian authorities have announced a change in the status of the Sea of Azov amid the war in Ukraine. According to the Deputy Prime Minister of the Crimean government, Permanent Representative of the Crimea under President Georgy Muradov, now the sea is in the joint use of Russia and the DPR. The special operation allowed the DPR to reach Mariupol and liberate the southern part of the republic occupied by Ukrainian nationalists, thereby securing access to the Sea of Azov. So, this is already a sea of our joint use with the DPR.

https://www-souzveche-en.translate.goog/news/64056/?_x_tr_sl=en&_x_tr_tl=en&_x_tr_hl=en&_x_tr_pto=op,sc

As Georgy Muradov, permanent representative of Crimea under the President of Russia, stated, the Sea of Azov is now in the joint use of Russia and the DPR — since March 1, the Russian armed forces have been blocking the access of the Armed Forces of Ukraine to the Sea of Azov. About it writes RIA Novosti.

In fact, the Russian armed blockade of the coast of the Sea of Azov and local ports does not at all deprive Ukraine of the right to internal seas. According to all international standards, Ukraine has the full right to use the Black and Azov Seas. The pro-Russian media once again repeated Russia’s classic “inland seas” narrative, as propaganda began to refer to the Black and Azov Seas after the start of armed aggression against Ukraine in 2014 and the Kremlin’s temporary occupation of Ukrainian Crimea.

Narratives that Ukraine allegedly lost the rights to both the peninsula and the nearby Black and Azov Seas in 2014 are disinformation narratives. According to all international standards, Ukraine has the full right to use the Black and Azov Seas. Even the status of the Ukrainian Crimea – temporarily occupied, as well as the Russian armed blockade of the coast of the Sea of Azov and local ports do not deprive Ukraine of the right to use inland seas.

RF appeals to the fact that after the armed aggression against Ukraine and the blockade of a number of coastal cities on the coast of Azov, the Ukrainian state allegedly lost any rights to the Sea of Azov. However, in accordance with all international norms, in particular, with the fundamental United Nations Convention on the Law of the Sea of 1982, Ukraine has the full right to the Azov water area.

Moreover, Ukraine and Russia did not demarcate the Black and Azov Seas. There are a number of interstate agreements, laws and regulations that guarantee the free use of water areas both in Ukraine and in Russia. In December 2003, the countries signed the main agreement “On Cooperation in the Use of the Sea of Azov and the Kerch Strait”, ratified it and recognized it as legal.

According to the document, any ships, including warships, can freely use the waters of the Sea of Azov. Also, the right of Ukraine to the waters of the Black and Azov Seas is determined by a number of United Nations resolutions. These documents still refer to existing agreements and treaties.

Accordingly, Russia violated the main provisions of a number of documents on the use of the Azov and Black Seas, as well as the Kerch Strait, not only in accordance with international conventions, but also interstate agreements.

Not to mention Russia’s aggressive war against Ukraine, the horror of which can already be classified as war crimes: an investigation by the International Criminal Court of Russian wrongdoing in Ukraine began in early March.