# Whose Crimea? Debate on Its Status, History and the Budapest Memorandum

- Original post: https://www.twitter.com/i/status/2120082191610737128
- Source account: [@Svitlana_UA22](https://x.com/Svitlana_UA22)
- Source language: Russian
- Target language: English
- Duration: 3:08
- Published: 2026-11-10
- Machine translated. Check the original before quoting.
- Canonical URL: https://www.translate.mom/transcript/3knaBc5EKDCf/en/whose-crimea-debate-on-its-status-history-and-the-budapest-memorandum
- Original-language version: https://www.translate.mom/transcript/3knaBc5EKDCf/ru/%D1%87%D0%B5%D0%B9-%D0%BA%D1%80%D1%8B%D0%BC-%D0%B4%D0%B8%D1%81%D0%BA%D1%83%D1%81%D1%81%D0%B8%D1%8F-%D0%BE-%D1%81%D1%82%D0%B0%D1%82%D1%83%D1%81%D0%B5-%D0%B8%D1%81%D1%82%D0%BE%D1%80%D0%B8%D0%B8-%D0%B8-%D0%B1%D1%83%D0%B4%D0%B0%D0%BF%D0%B5%D1%88%D1%82%D1%81%D0%BA%D0%BE%D0%BC-%D0%BC%D0%B5%D0%BC%D0%BE%D1%80%D0%B0%D0%BD%D0%B4%D1%83%D0%BC%D0%B5.md

## Transcript

[0:00](https://www.translate.mom/transcript/3knaBc5EKDCf/en/whose-crimea-debate-on-its-status-history-and-the-budapest-memorandum) Uh-huh. So Igor Ivanovich starts us off.

[0:07](https://www.translate.mom/transcript/3knaBc5EKDCf/en/whose-crimea-debate-on-its-status-history-and-the-budapest-memorandum?t=7) Well, Igor Ivanovich, our first question is: after all, whose is Crimea?

[0:15](https://www.translate.mom/transcript/3knaBc5EKDCf/en/whose-crimea-debate-on-its-status-history-and-the-budapest-memorandum?t=15) Of course, Crimea is Russian. It is Russian land.

[0:18](https://www.translate.mom/transcript/3knaBc5EKDCf/en/whose-crimea-debate-on-its-status-history-and-the-budapest-memorandum?t=18) It should be part of the Russian state. Uh, the Crimean people, in this case, I mean both the people of Sevastopol and Simferopol, and residents of all the other cities, unequivocally voted to return to Russia, to great Russia.

[0:37](https://www.translate.mom/transcript/3knaBc5EKDCf/en/whose-crimea-debate-on-its-status-history-and-the-budapest-memorandum?t=37) And as far as I know, to this day, despite some difficulties, both objective and related to the war in Ukraine, they support this decision and don't regret leaving Ukraine.

[0:56](https://www.translate.mom/transcript/3knaBc5EKDCf/en/whose-crimea-debate-on-its-status-history-and-the-budapest-memorandum?t=56) By law, by conscience, and by history, Crimea, of course, belongs to Ukraine.

[1:06](https://www.translate.mom/transcript/3knaBc5EKDCf/en/whose-crimea-debate-on-its-status-history-and-the-budapest-memorandum?t=66) The president, justifying the seizure of Crimea, this bandit-like seizure of Crimea, he appeals to our historical experience, that this is holy land for us Russians, because Prince Vladimir was baptized there.

[1:32](https://www.translate.mom/transcript/3knaBc5EKDCf/en/whose-crimea-debate-on-its-status-history-and-the-budapest-memorandum?t=92) At the same time, the president— And yes, the president says he baptized Russia, Rus'.

[1:39](https://www.translate.mom/transcript/3knaBc5EKDCf/en/whose-crimea-debate-on-its-status-history-and-the-budapest-memorandum?t=99) The president cunningly leaves out that Prince Vladimir was the Kievan Prince Vladimir, and he baptized, first and foremost, Kievan Rus', because Moscow, compared to Kyiv, first gets mentioned in 1147, it's not even Kyiv's great-granddaughter, it's its great-great-granddaughter.

[2:02](https://www.translate.mom/transcript/3knaBc5EKDCf/en/whose-crimea-debate-on-its-status-history-and-the-budapest-memorandum?t=122) Now let's look at the law. The Russian Federation signed all the laws and the most important memorandum, the 1994 Budapest Memorandum, which clearly states that we undertake the obligation, as do Great Britain and the United States,

[2:23](https://www.translate.mom/transcript/3knaBc5EKDCf/en/whose-crimea-debate-on-its-status-history-and-the-budapest-memorandum?t=143) to protect Ukraine's integrity and rights, which we treacherously violated.

[2:32](https://www.translate.mom/transcript/3knaBc5EKDCf/en/whose-crimea-debate-on-its-status-history-and-the-budapest-memorandum?t=152) And by the formal criteria. You can do the math.

[2:38](https://www.translate.mom/transcript/3knaBc5EKDCf/en/whose-crimea-debate-on-its-status-history-and-the-budapest-memorandum?t=158) Crimea belonged to the Russian Federation from 1922 to 1954, for 32 years.

[2:48](https://www.translate.mom/transcript/3knaBc5EKDCf/en/whose-crimea-debate-on-its-status-history-and-the-budapest-memorandum?t=168) But from 1954 to 1991, it formally belonged to Ukraine.

[2:54](https://www.translate.mom/transcript/3knaBc5EKDCf/en/whose-crimea-debate-on-its-status-history-and-the-budapest-memorandum?t=174) What grounds could there be for us to lay claim to Crimea and say that we're more deserving of Crimea than Ukraine?

[3:03](https://www.translate.mom/transcript/3knaBc5EKDCf/en/whose-crimea-debate-on-its-status-history-and-the-budapest-memorandum?t=183) Yes, we conquered lands, but we conquered them in open, honest combat.