Ukraine Honors Crimean Tatar Victims

Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy and First Lady Olena Zelenska commemorated the victims of the 1944 deportation of the Crimean Tatar people during a ceremony in Kyiv on May 18, the Day of Remembrance for the Victims of the Genocide of the Crimean Tatar People.

The couple placed memorial lamps at the Memorial to the Victims of the Genocide of the Crimean Tatar People in Peace Park. A moment of silence was held for those who died as a result of the deportation, which Zelenskyy described as an attempt by the Soviet regime to destroy the Crimean Tatar nation.

Zelenskyy also linked the historical commemoration to Russia’s ongoing war against Ukraine. He called for the release of Crimean Tatars held captive by Russia and said Ukrainian authorities were working to account for each detainee. Crimean Tatar leader Mustafa Dzhemilev said the memory of the deportation had shaped the community’s struggle for its rights and opposition to Russia’s occupation of Crimea.

The deportation began in the early hours of May 18, 1944, and was completed within two days, when Soviet authorities expelled the indigenous population of Crimea from the peninsula. Ukraine’s parliament recognized the deportation as genocide in 2015 and designated May 18 as a national day of remembrance. The ceremony concluded with a prayer led by Ayder Rustemov, mufti of the Spiritual Administration of Crimea.