OREANDA-NEWS. Kherson Mayor Vladimir Nikolayenko and more than 30 deputies of the city council criticized the statement of the President of Russia Vladimir Putin that the south of Ukraine and the Black Sea region are originally Russian territories.

“I believe that such statements should be responded to. For two decades, we turned a blind eye to what they called the Russian Crimea, and in vain”, the press service of the Kherson City Hall quotes Nikolayenko.

“It seems to me that we should remind Putin and all his supporters that the original Russian territories are swamps near Moscow”, the mayor said. According to him, Moscow seized all other territories thanks to “cruelty and treachery”, violating the agreements, creating internal crises in neighboring states and using their weaknesses. Nikolayenko added that it's difficult for him to imagine how Putin could decide that Russia has to do with the “so beautiful and far from Moscow swamps” Black Sea coast.

During his annual press conference, Putin said that because of decisions taken during the Soviet era, the original Russian territories that had nothing to do with Ukraine were transferred under the control of Kiev.