Russian Unity | |
|---|---|
 | |
| Ukrainian name | Руська Єдність |
| Russian name | Русское Единство |
| Chairman | Sergey Aksyonov |
| Founder | Maksym Kovalenko |
| Founded | 28 October 2008 (2008-10-28) |
| Dissolved | 5 May 2014 (2014-05-05) |
| Merged into | United Russia |
| Headquarters | 27th Building, Kirova Avenue,Simferopol,Republic of Crimea,Russia /Autonomous Republic of Crimea,Ukraine |
| Youth wing | "Youth for Russian Unity" (Молодые за Русское Единство) |
| Ideology | Russian nationalism Russian irredentism Russian conservatism Russophilia |
| Political position | Right-wing |
| Colours | Blue White Red |
| Website | |
| russ-edin russkoe-edinstvo.com | |
TheRussian Unity (Ukrainian:Руська Єдність,romanized: Ruska Yednist;Russian:Русское Единство,romanized: Russkoye Yedinstvo) was apolitical party inCrimea, registered in October 2008.[1] A district court inKyiv banned the party "from activity on the territory of Ukraine" on 30 April 2014.[2] Party leaderSergey Aksyonov was instrumental in making possible theannexation of Crimea by the Russian Federation.[2][3][4] The party was based inCrimea, which has a Russian-speaking majority. The party was dissolved on 5 May 2014.
Although the party took positions on a number of issues, the party's main focus wasRussian language rights and promotingUkrainian relations with Russia[5] before the 2014Crimean Crisis, in which it became supportive of secession from Ukraine to join Russia; after this occurred, it merged into the Russian political partyUnited Russia.
The party was founded inSimferopol under the original nameVanguard (Ukrainian:Авангард) and registered by theUkrainian Ministry of Justice in October 2008.[1] In August 2010 they were renamed Russian Unity.[6] It won 3 seats (of the 100 in total) during the2010 Crimean parliamentary election in theSupreme Council of Crimea.[7]
In the2012 Ukrainian parliamentary election the party competed in/for 4constituencies (seats), all of them located in theAutonomous Republic of Crimea;[8] but it won in none and thus missed parliamentary representation.[9] The party's best result was in constituency 1 (located inSimferopol) with 9.12%.[8] In constituency 2 (also located in Simferopol) it scored 4.12%, in constituency 6 (inFeodosiya) 4.11% and in constituency 10 (inBakhchysarai) 2.28%.[8]
In 2014 the party was involved in protests and the seizure of government buildings, including theSupreme Council of Crimea (the parliament of the Autonomous Republic of Crimea), during the2014 Crimean crisis.[3] Party leaderSergey Aksyonov was namedPrime Minister of Crimea on 27 February 2014, and then called for a referendum on Crimea's autonomy.[3] On 11 March Crimea adopted adeclaration of independence and held on 17 March the2014 Crimean status referendum that lead to the 21 March 2014annexation of Crimea by the Russian Federation.[3][4]
TheMinistry of Justice of Ukraine filed a lawsuit at the District Administrative Court inKyiv for the ban of activities of the party (and also for a ban on the partyRussian Bloc) on 23 April 2014.[10] On 30 April (2014) the Court banned the party "from activity on the territory of Ukraine".[2] The Court stated that the signing of Aksenov of the treaty that formally sealed theannexation of Crimea by the Russian Federation was evidence of "encroachment on the territorial integrity of Ukraine".[2]
In August 2014 the party signed a cooperation agreement withLatvian Russian Union, a Russian political party inLatvia, to "strengthen the unity of theRussian world."[11]
The party was dissolved and merged intoUnited Russia on 5 May 2014.[12]
