Ruslan Radetsky
One of the reasons that pushed
justice ministers of Estonia, Latvia and Lithuania to signing a memorandum on
cooperation to claim compensation from the Russian Federation for the Soviet
occupation is a legal continuity of the existence of the Baltic States.
Most probably, the fulcrum of continuous existence of
the Baltic States will be deemed a declaration of independence by these
countries after the collapse of the Russian Empire.
Although some experts have publicly stated that
Ukraine has no obvious reason to join the Baltic States in future claims
against the Russian Federation, in fact, under these circumstances, Ukraine has
all legal rights to join the memorandum of the ministers of justice of
Lithuania, Latvia and Estonia on cooperation in regard of claiming compensation
from Russia for the Soviet occupation.
On January 22, 1918, the Central Rada of the Ukrainian
National Republic (UNR) declared independence and sovereignty by signing the Fourth
Universal. The deputies stated: "Henceforth the Ukrainian People's
Republic becomes an independent, dependent on no one, free and sovereign state
of the Ukrainian people." The Bolshevik Soviet government was outraged and
escalated hostilities in the Ukrainian territory as a result.
Subsequently, on January 16, 1919, the Directory of
the UNR declared war against the Soviet Russia. In this war, Ukraine was
occupied by Russsia’s Bolshevik government troops. The defeat happened for many
reasons: the betrayal of the UNR’s European allies, the lack of unified
political agreement between the UNR leaders, etc. On August 22, 1992 the
President of the Ukrainian National Republic in exile, Mykola Plavliuk,
solemnly abdicated leadership of the UNR’s government in exile (The State
Center of the UNR), dissolving this official body, in the presence of the
president of Ukraine, the speaker and the prime minister State Center UPR and
declared the young Ukraine the successor state of the UNR.
By abdicating, the government of the UNR in exile
carried out a resolution of a Labor Congress (the UNR’s parliament) of 1919,
signed by Symon Petliura, chairman of the UNR’s Directory, providing for the
termination of the State Center of the UNR in case of the declaration of
independence by the Ukrainian state. Therefore, modern Ukraine is the successor
state of the Ukrainian National Republic, with legal continuity, and has every
legal right to join the Baltic States in their demand of compensation for
Soviet occupation from modern Russia [the successor state of the Soviet Union].
Ruslan Radetsky is a Deputy Prosecutor of Desnianskiy
district in Kyiv
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