Interfax: Moscow’s decision on Crimea helped avoid casualties like in Ukraine – premier

(Interfax – Khabarovsk: April 25, 2014) Russia’s decision on the situation in Crimea has made it possible to avoid a heavy toll and developments like in eastern Ukraine, Russian Prime Minister Dmitriy Medvedev believes.

While Medvedev was talking to the employees of the Khabarovsk shipbuilding plant, he was addressed by Pavel Shapoval, a resident of Crimea who has been working at the plant for several years now.

“I would like to express my gratitude to the Russian government, to the whole of Russia for its support of Crimea. [Look at] what is happening in Donetsk Region today; had Russia not been in Crimea at the moment, there would have been thousands of casualties there now,” Shapoval said.

“God forbid. It is scary to imagine this. This is true,” Medvedev said.

Shapoval showed Medvedev his Russian passport that he had received the day before. “It is fresh [from the printing press], judging by the smell,” he said.

Shapoval asked the prime minister whether the Russian government would support the Feodosiya ship-building plant More [Russ: sea].

“It is good that a new enterprise that will be working in this area has appeared in Russia,” Medvedev said.

The Khabarovsk shipbuilding plant and the Feodosiya shipbuilding company More are competitors which gives them a reason to improve. “it would be good to have an exchange between [the company] More and the Khabarovsk plant,” Medvedev said.