Pierre Richard to Visit Crimea
Tickets to a show featuring Pierre Richard, a French actor and director, are being sold in Crimea. According to the advertisement, Richard will perform in a comedy called Pierre Richard III on February 10th in Simferopol at a local musical theater and on February 11th in Sevastopol, at the Officer’s Club of the Black Sea Fleet of Russia.
There is no mention of any events taking place in annexed Crimea on the French actor’s official website. According to tour organizers, Richard will arrive in Simferopol from Moscow where his tour will start on February 4th.
The price of tickets ranges from 1500 to 4000 Rubles ($20-$50).
A representative of the organizer of the Russian tour, refused to tell Krym.Realii how many tickets had been sold as of January 10th, citing the need for commercial secrecy. He noted that, “tickets sales are better in Sevastopol than in Simferopol but there are still many tickets to be sold.”
The Ministry of Foreign Affairs of Ukraine has repeatedly called upon foreigners to respect Ukraine’s sovereignty and territorial integrity by adhering to the procedure of entering and leaving the temporarily occupied territory of Ukraine.
The Verkhovna Rada of Ukraine officially announced that a temporary occupation of the Crimea by Russia had begun on February 20th, 2014. On October 7th, 2015, Petro Poroshenko, President of Ukraine, signed a law confirming the occupation. Several western countries have imposed a series of economic sanctions against Russia as a result. Russia denies the occupation of the peninsula and calls it “the restoration of a historical injustice.”