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Crimean Top Official on Poroshenko's Promise of 'Support': 'Just Leave Us Alone'

© Sputnik / Sergey Malgavko / Go to the mediabankWinter in Crimea
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Crimean residents want Ukrainian President Petro Poroshenko "to leave them alone" and refrain from interfering in their local affairs, Russian State Duma deputy representing Crimea and former Crimean Vice President, Ruslan Balbek, told Sputnik.

Earlier, Poroshenko promised not to leave Crimean residents "without support" and accused Russia of violating human rights on the peninsula. However, according to Balbek, Crimean residents prefer to do without Kiev's involvement.

"Crimeans will be grateful if Poroshenko leaves them alone, without his intrusive care and attention. Residents of the peninsula have already experienced Poroshenko's so called support in 2014, when the water supply to the North Crimean Canal was suspended and food blockade against Crimean residents was introduced," Balbek said, recalling the events of the recent past.

According to the politician, the peak of Kiev's unacceptable behavior occurred in 2015 when Crimea was left without electricity during the winter colds.

"This is why inhabitants of Crimea would prefer Poroshenko to leave the peninsula without his paternal worries and care," the politician concluded.

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Electricity supply to Crimea through Ukraine was severed on the night of November 22, 2015, when radicals in southern Ukraine blew up pylons that supported power lines, plunging the region with a population of roughly 2 million into darkness.

Moscow had to fix the peninsula's energy crisis by hastily building several power lines, connecting the area to the mainland's electrical grid. The first two power lines from Russia's Krasnodar Kerch were completed in December 2015, followed by a third one in April 2016.

Crimea rejoined Russia after a 2014 referendum, when almost 97 percent of the region's population voted for the reunification. Following the voting, the EU and the US imposed several rounds of sanctions against Russia, accusing Moscow of what they referred to as an "annexation," a claim Russian authorities have repeatedly denied saying that the Crimeans had themselves voted for reunifying with Russia and their expression of will must be respected.

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