KYIV, Dec 15 – The sale of property of the Massandra Production and Agricultural Association in the occupied Crimea is regarded by Ukraine as a war crime, head of the Prosecutor's Office of the Autonomous Republic of Crimea and the city of Sevastopol Ihor Ponochovny said in an interview published on Monday to Zerkalo Nedeli newspaper.

Answering the question why the appropriation and sale of the Massandra association qualifies as a war crime, he said: "Because, according to the IV Geneva Convention for the Protection of Civilian Persons in Time of War of 1949, the occupying state is prohibited from appropriating both public and private property in the occupied territory. The occupying state has the right to use public property only for military purposes."