Former Chairman of the Supreme Council of Crimea, who supported the occupiers, dies

On October 17, Leonid Grach, a former Ukrainian politician who sided with the occupation authorities after 2014, died at the age of 77.

This was reported by Krym.Realii with reference to the occupation parliament of Crimea.

Grach, known as the most influential communist in Crimea, headed the Verkhovna Rada of the Autonomous Republic of Crimea from 1998 to 2002, and was a member of the Ukrainian parliament until 2012.

At the end of February 2014, Grach declared the inviolability of the borders, but two weeks later he publicly supported the Russian "referendum" on the status of Crimea. In April 2014, he began active cooperation with the occupation authorities, heading the Crimean regional branch of the Communists of Russia party.

The death of the politician caused polarized assessments. The occupation "Presidium of the State Council of the Republic of Crimea" expressed condolences, calling him an "honorary citizen of the hero city of Kerch" and a "political figure".

In contrast, the Head of the Mejlis of the Crimean Tatar people <b>Refat Chubarov</b> gave a harsh assessment. "Well, Leonid Grach went to his friend Iosif Kobzon. I will limit myself to the words that we say when the deceased is not worthy of a good word: ''Ateşi bol olsun'' (May he burn in hell),'' he said.

Hrach was also one of the main initiators and organizers of the 1991 referendum on autonomy in Crimea.

Earlier, a Ukrainian court sentenced a former presidential envoy to the Autonomous Republic of Crimea. Following a public prosecution by the Prosecutor's Office of the Autonomous Republic of Crimea, a Ukrainian court convicted in absentia another deputy of the Sevastopol City Council of the VI convocation for committing high treason (Part 1 of Article 111 of the Criminal Code of Ukraine). The defendant was sentenced to 11 years in prison.

Prosecutors proved that in March 2014, the convict took a direct part in a meeting of the Sevastopol City Council, where he voted for a number of illegal decisions aimed at seizing Crimea. In particular, it was about participating in an illegitimate all-Crimean referendum, supporting decisions on the independence of Crimea and the creation of the 'Republic of Crimea', as well as appealing to the Russian Federation with a proposal to accept Sevastopol as a city of federal significance and renaming the city council into the 'Legislative Assembly of Sevastopol'.

Later, the 'deputy' continued his activities in the occupation authority. By his actions, he assisted the aggressor state in conducting subversive activities against Ukraine to the detriment of its sovereignty, territorial integrity and inviolability.

Катерина Глушко