The program “Vesti” on the TV channel “Russia” showed a news story about Crimea being supposedly part of the Russian Federation. The reason is a statement by Ruslan Khasbulatov, who was chairman of the Supreme Council of the Russian Federation in 1991-1993.
According to Khasbulatov, in 1993, the Russian parliament passed a resolution on the inclusion of Sevastopol into the Russian Federation. The document defines restitution of the city of Sevastopol under Russia’s jurisdiction within the boundaries established in December 1991. Namely: introducing a bill to provide federal status to the city of Sevastopol.
You can watch the video here.
However, from a legal point of view, this document has no effect. According to Article 4 of the Russian Federation Constitution, the Constitution of the Russian Federation and federal laws have power of law on the entire territory of the Russian Federation. But this does not apply to Acts of Parliament.
Article 65 of the Constitution of the Russian Federation defines an exhaustive list of subjects of the Russian Federation. It does not include Crimea. Accordingly, claims that Crimea or Sevastopol alone (which was mentioned in the TV story) legally belong to Russia are against the laws of the Russian Federation.
