Russian lawmakers seek to nullify Soviet transfer of Crimea to Ukraine

Members of Russia's lower house of parliament, also known as the State Duma, attend a session to consider constitutional changes proposed by President Vladimir Putin in Moscow, Russia March 10, 2020. REUTERS/Evgenia Novozhenina/ File Photo

MOSCOW (Reuters) - Russian lawmakers have submitted a draft bill to the State Duma that would rewrite a chapter of history by nullifying the Soviet decision in 1954 to transfer Crimea from Russia to Ukraine.

The move appears aimed at establishing a legal basis for Russia to argue that Crimea, the Black Sea peninsula which it claims to have annexed from Ukraine in 2014, was never really part of Ukraine to begin with.