OREANDA-NEWS. The head of the Crimean Parliament Committee on Public Diplomacy and Interethnic Relations, Yuri Gempel, called the words of Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky about the return of the peninsula a bluff.

On the eve of Zelensky, in his address to the Ukrainian people, he said that Donbass and Crimea would "return to Ukraine," but only through diplomacy.

"All this is another bluff and self-deception. Crimeans remember very well the times when Crimea was part of Ukraine and the Kiev authorities behaved towards the Crimeans, like invaders, ravaging the peninsula," Hempel told RIA Novosti.

According to him, Crimea began to develop only after returning to Russia, and the Crimeans gained the right to speak their native languages, the right to develop culture, and gained a sense of security at home.

"In Crimea, they value the basic values ​​that we have regained. Crimeans love their Motherland Russia, believe in the president, who raised the country from its knees, believe in the army and navy, which protect them from any encroachment," Hempel added.