While hundreds of Russian and Ukrainian soldiers are dying in battle, the two countries' political elites are using war to conduct a vendetta on each other. Representatives of the State Council of Crimea support the seizure of the properties of Ukrainian politicians and businessmen in Crimea who have committed “unfriendly acts” against Russia. The amendment to the law would pave the way to nationalising, among other things, Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky's luxury apartment in the Crimea.

Representatives of the State Council of Crimea have expressed their support of an amendment to the Civil Code designed to confiscate the assets of Ukrainian politicians and businessmen who have committed unfriendly acts against Russia, the Russian language crimea.kp.ru writes. The portal adds that the move comes after Ukrainian authorities had announced the confiscation of Russian assets.

Yefim Fiks, first deputy chairman of the State Council, told the portal that the amendment would also result in

the nationalisation of a luxury penthouse apartment owned by Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky.

Mr Zelensky’s family owns a three-room apartment in Livadia on the shore of the Black Sea near Yalta on the Crimean peninsula.

The five-storey luxury residence in which the apartment is located is called the „Emperor” complex. Although the Crimea has been under Russian rule since 2014, the Zelenskys would not give up their seashore apartment, which comes with a green park and a pool.

Sergey Aksyonov, PM of the Republic of Crimea, said that Mr Zelensky will not give up the luxury apartment so that he would have somewhere to live when he has to apply for asylum in Russia.

Source: crimea.kp.ru

Mr Zelensky’s staff said earlier that Ukraine’s president would not visit the apartment while Crimea was under Russian rule. The Zelensky family never used this property due to the illegal annexation of Crimea by Russia, they added. The sales contract was signed in Kyiv. The Zelensky family intends to use this property only after Crimea’s return to Ukraine.

Collaborating with the invaders is dangerous

Shortly after the outbreak of the Russia-Ukraine war, the Ukrainian parliament passed a law that prescribes the confiscation of the properties of Ukraine’s Russian residents „without any compensation.” At the same time, lawmakers also adopted the so-called “anti-collaboration law,” later signed by President Volodymyr Zelensky himself, to punish those who are proven to be collaborating with Russia in any way with imprisonment of up to 15 years or, in serious cases, life imprisonment. Yefim Fiks, deputy chairman of the Crimean State Council, said the Ukrainian president was applying double standards as the Zelensky family owns a luxury apartment in Crimea.

Since its adoption, the law has already led to the persecution and imprisonment of several Ukrainian citizens.

Just days after it entered into force, in the Kharkiv region alone, some five hundred Ukrainian citizens were detained on charges of collaboration with Russian forces, „public denial of Russian aggression” and supporting Moscow, and they could face up to fifteen years in prison, or even life imprisonment, in more serious cases.

Alina Pash, the original winner of the Ukrainian selection for the recent Eurovision Song Contest, has been forced to withdraw from the competition because she is accused of having visited Crimea “illegally.”

In addition, Ms Pash has been listed as an enemy of Ukraine on the Ukrainian Myrotvorets site.

In 2019, even the crew of an aircraft which had to perform an emergency landing were added to the death list. The crew members’ „sin” was that they performed the emergency landing near Moscow – on Russian soil – after encountering a flock of birds following take-off, which caused a major disruption to the engines. There were 226 passengers on board.