Deputy who proposed leasing the Crimea to Russia was stripped of Ukrainian citizenship
The President of Ukraine, Petro Poroshenko, stripped the citizenship of a Verkhovna Rada (Ukrainian Parliament) deputy and a former member of the Radical Party, Andriy Artemenko, as reported by the leader of the party, Oleh Lyashko, on Facebook.
"Yes, we have achieved this! Today the President of Ukraine signed an order terminating the Ukrainian citizenship of the People's Deputy of Ukraine, Andriy Artemenko, due to his voluntary acquisition of Canadian citizenship in 2005," Lyashko said.
According to Lyashko, "this is unique and is the first such case in the 26 years of Ukraine's independence," where a state official is punished for violating the country's constitution, which "allows only Ukrainian citizenship." Lyashko added that the faction will demand the early termination of Artemenko’s deputy powers.
In February 2017, the Ukrainian Prosecutor General's Office initiated a criminal case against Artemenko in accordance with part 1 of Article 111 of the Criminal Code of Ukraine (high treason). According to the Prosecutor General's Office, he committed activities directed against the state in cooperation with Russia.
Earlier, The New York Times reported that a member of the Radical Party faction had worked out a plan to normalize relations between Kyiv and Moscow and handed it to the former adviser to U.S. President Donald Trump, General Michael Flynn.
The plan, in particular, assumed holding the referendum on leasing the Crimea to Russia. According to Artemenko himself, he suggested renting out the Crimea for 50 or 100 years.