Comment of Spokesperson of the MFA of Ukraine Oleg Nikolenko regarding the Stay of Foreign Ships in Ports in the Temporarily Occupied Territories of Ukraine

The Ministry of Foreign Affairs of Ukraine reminds the owners and crew members of foreign ships staying in the Ukrainian ports, in particular in the temporarily occupied territories, of the necessity to strictly abide by the Ukrainian legislation and international law.

We are aware of the demand of the Russian occupation administration in the Kherson oblast for foreign vessels to raise the Russian flag as an additional flag during their stay in the port of Kherson.

We draw your attention to the fact that the Ministry of Infrastructure of Ukraine adopted order No. 256 of April 28, 2022 on the closure of the sea ports of Berdyansk, Mariupol, Skadovsk, Kherson until the restoration of Ukrainian control over them. Therefore, any decisions or demands of representatives of the Russian occupation administration, in particular the port administration, are illegal and cannot be enforced.

We remind you that on October 12, 2022, the UN General Assembly adopted its Resolution “Territorial integrity of Ukraine: defending the principles of the Charter of the United Nations,” which recognized the "referendums" of the Russian Federation in the Kherson, Zaporizhzhya, Luhansk and Donetsk oblasts of Ukraine and subsequent attempts to annex these territories as null and void. Further Russian legislation, which was adopted on the basis of these pseudo-referendums, has no legal consequences.

The Resolution contains a clear demand for all parties not to recognize the change of the status of Ukraine’s territories temporarily occupied by the Russian army.

The Kherson oblast is the Ukrainian territory in which only the sovereignty and legislation of Ukraine apply.

Similar demand is contained in the UN General Assembly Resolution of March 27, 2014, “Territorial integrity of Ukraine” in the context of Russia's illegal attempt to annex the Autonomous Republic of Crimea and the city of Sevastopol.

The Ukrainian side will also notify foreign governments and international organizations of the illegal demand of the Russian occupation administration in the context of efforts to counter Russia's illegal attempts to legalize the annexation of Ukrainian territory.

IC UAC according to the MFA of Ukraine