Dmytro Bilotserkovets, a pro-Ukrainian activist and Kyiv city council member, alleges that the Russian government financed pro-Russian demonstrations in Sevastopol during the 2000s. In an interview with Radio Free Europe’s Crimea.Realities project, he detailed how these protests were organized.
Bilotserkovets revealed that one anti-NATO event at Grafskaya Pier received $5,000 in funding. This information was sourced from budgets published by pro-Russian organizations on local forums amidst their internal disputes.
He recounted a specific document that included a line item regarding a NATO ship’s visit to Sevastopol as part of joint exercises with Ukraine. The military vessel docked at Grafskaya Pier, the city’s main port, and the budget specified the payment for pro-Russian activists, dressed in shirts reflecting the colors of the Russian flag, to board the ship and take photographs.
Reflecting on the 2014 occupation of Sevastopol and Crimea, Bilotserkovets expressed that a more decisive response from Ukraine and Western nations could have potentially halted the takeover. He criticized both the U.S. State Department and European leaders for underestimating the threat at that time.
Bilotserkovets believes that military actions similar to those taken in 1994 could have prevented the occupation. He stated, “Active resistance should have been initiated then to avoid the subsequent war in Donbas and the full-scale aggression that followed.”
For more on the financial aspects of the Russian occupation of Sevastopol, viewers can tune into the Crimea.Realities television project.
Dmytro Bilotserkovets claims the Russian government financially supported pro-Russian protests in Sevastopol during the 2000s, revealing specific funding details. He argues that a stronger response from Ukraine and the West in 2014 could have prevented the occupation of Crimea.
Source: Radio Free Europe