Ukrainian interior ministry advisor explains how Ukraine will regain Crimea
Read also: Ukrainian officials urge Kherson residents to leave via Crimea
"It will most likely be a matter of negotiations and further sanctions pressure," he said.
"But the fact that in the near future, in our lifetime, Crimea will be returned to Ukraine – that's for sure!”
Crimea has been occupied by Russian forces in 2014, when the Russian Federation declared the territory ‘annexed’. This annexation has not, largely, been recognized by most nations, and occurred in contravention of numerous international laws and norms.
Gerashchenko also noted the possibility of the return of Crimea to Ukrainian control can be seen by the dynamics of real estate sales on the southern coast of Crimea, and real estate on the peninsula in general.
"Russian websites are full of ads for the sale of real estate purchased or stolen in the Crimea in 2014," he said.
Read also: Russia deploys more troops from Crimea to Ukraine’s Zaporizhzhya Oblast
"The Russians themselves do not believe that the peninsula will be Russian after Feb. 24."
According to the advisor, Ukraine's victory should come via the expulsion of Russian troops from Donbas, northern and southern Ukraine, and then the return of Crimea by maximizing sanctions.
Read also: Zelensky say liberating Crimea would cost ‘hundreds of thousands’ of Ukrainian lives
"Let Russia pay $500 billion in lost income for the Crimea every year,” he said.
“And everyone will choke on this Crimea. And then sooner or later the peninsula will return to us due to sanctions pressure.”
Read also: Ukraine must at least enter occupied Crimea by late 2022, says Ukrainian intelligence chief
On June 17, the Permanent Representative of the President of Ukraine in the Autonomous Republic of Crimea, Tamila Tasheva, commented that the peninsula may be liberated from the invaders by military means.
Earlier, Ukrainian Defense Minister Oleksii Reznikov said that new Western weapons from partner countries would help Ukraine return all the territories occupied by Russia, including occupied Crimea and Donbas.
