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Russia (light-red) with occupied territories (dark-red) 1: Transnistria (1990), 2: Abkhazia (2008), 3: South Ossetia (2008), 4: Crimea (2014), 5: Luhansk (2014), 6: Donetsk (2014).
Russian-occupied territories[1] is the collective name of the territories which have been designated as occupied under Russian military control by the governments of Georgia, Ukraine and Japan as well as the international community. The term is used to denote Transnistria, Abkhazia, South Ossetia, Crimea, Luhansk, Donetsk and Kuril Islands.
After the Russo-Georgian War, on 26 August 2008, President Medvedev signed decrees recognising the independence of Abkhazia and South Ossetia as sovereign states. Russia established diplomatic relations with these partially recognised states and placed Russian troops in both Abkhazia and South Ossetia. Russian security forces were deployed along the demarcation lines with Georgia.
The Georgian parliament unanimously passed a resolution on 28 August 2008 formally declaring Abkhazia and South Ossetia Russian-occupied territories and calling Russian troops occupying forces. The law forbids entry into the regions from Russia and subjects violators to a fine or imprisonment. Entry into Abkhazia should be carried out from the Zugdidi District and into South Ossetia from the Gori District.[2]
In April 2010, the Georgian parliament's foreign affairs committee appealed to the legislative bodies of 31 countries asking to declare Abkhazia and South Ossetia as territories under Russian occupation and recognize the massive displacement of civilians from those regions by Russia as amounting to ethnic cleansing.[3] The Russian Foreign Ministry retaliated, asking Georgia to abolish the law.[4]
After the Russian military intervention that resulted in Ukrainian control over the Crimean peninsula and parts of the Donetsk and Luhansk oblasts being lost, the situation regarding the Crimean peninsula is more complex since Russia annexed the territory in March 2014 and now administers it as two federal subjects - the Republic of Crimea and the federal city of Sevastopol. Ukraine continues to claim Crimea as an integral part of its territory, supported by most foreign governments and United Nations General Assembly Resolution 68/262,[5] although Russia and some other UN member states recognize Crimea as part of the Russian Federation or have expressed support for the 2014 Crimean referendum.
In 2015, the Ukrainian parliament officially set 20 February 2014 as the date of "the beginning of the temporary occupation of Crimea and Sevastopol by Russia.",[6][7] with 7% of Ukraine's territory under occupation.[8]
Kuril Islands[]
Main article: Kuril Islands dispute
International media coverage[]
Many international journalists and media companies, such as Fox News, Al Jazeera, Radio Free Europe/Radio Liberty as well as non-governmental organizations have referred to Abkhazia and South Ossetia as Russian-occupied territories.[9][10][11][12][13][14][15][16][17][18]
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