Kiev – The Ukrainian Prosecutor’s Office launched a criminal investigation over the weekend into Shas MK Ya’acov Margi’s visit to Crimea last week, in an effort to dissuade others from visiting the peninsula and giving legitimacy to Russian rule there.
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Margi, chairman of the Knesset Education Committee, stepped into a diplomatic mine-field last week when he met with the head of the Russian-established government in Crimea, Prime Minister Sergei Aksyonov, breaking with Israel’s policy of maintaining strict neutrality in the Russian-Ukrainian conflict. Russia annexed the peninsula in 2014.
According to a statement on the website of the Prosecutor’s Office of the Autonomous Republic of Crimea, “a criminal investigation” against Margi was launched “into the illegal entry” into Russian-annexed Crimea.
According to the statement, Margi and his delegation violated “the procedure for entry” into the territory annexed by Russia.
According to Ukrainian law, violation of entry procedures into Crimea is punishable by up to five years imprisonment.
The Forum Daily, a Russian language Jewish website based in New York, reported that the decision to open an investigation sends a message to the rest of the Knesset “not to meddle in violation of Ukrainian laws in occupied Crimea and not to participate in political Russian propaganda campaigns.”
Margi’s visit were trumpeted in the local press as an indication of cracks in the international isolation of Crimea.
Ukraine ambassador to Israel Hennadii Nadolenko sent a letter to the Foreign Ministry protesting the visit.
Ukrainian authorities have also hinted that the visa-free travel to Uman for tens of thousands of Israelis visiting the grave of Rabbi Nahman of Breslov each year may be in jeopardy. A spokesperson at the embassy, however, said that no decision on this matter has been taken, and that this was just one measure being discussed.
The Ukrainian embassy has a notice on its website regarding the rules and regulations governing entry into Ukraine.
Foreign Ministry officials said that they did not know in advance about Margi’s trip, and had they known, they would have advised against it. The Knesset’s spokesman said the trip was not an official Knesset delegation, and not planned or coordinated with the Knesset, beyond the requisite authorization from the Ethics Committee. Margi submitted to the Ethics Committee an invitation from Chief Rabbi of Sevastopol Binyomin Wolf, including an offer to fund his trip.