On the Day of Remembrance for the Victims of the Genocide of the Crimean Tatar People, President of Ukraine Volodymyr Zelenskyy and First Lady Olena Zelenska placed memorial lamps at the Memorial to the Victims of the Genocide of the Crimean Tatar People in Peace Park in Kyiv.
“Today, we remember and honor the memory of all the victims of one of the most brutal crimes of the Soviet regime – the deportation of the Crimean Tatar people. A deportation that became an act of obvious genocide against the Crimean Tatar people. The year 1944 will forever remain in history as an attempt to destroy a nation – when young and old alike were thrown out of their homes and sent into an alien land,” Volodymyr Zelenskyy said.
The memory of each and every person killed by this deportation was honored with a moment of silence.
The President emphasized that this crime cannot be forgotten or forgiven, especially now that Russia has launched a new war against Ukraine from none other than Crimea.
“We do not forget our people – those who resisted and continue to resist in Crimea, those whom the Russians have seized and are holding captive. All Crimean prisoners held by Russia must be released from captivity. We are working on every name, every fate. We will leave no one to the enemy,” the Head of State stressed.
Leader of the Crimean Tatar People Mustafa Dzhemilev noted that, for this indigenous people of Ukraine, deportation and genocide have become part of historical memory and identity.
“It was this memory that inspired generations of Crimean Tatars to fight against the communist regime, for their return to their homeland and the restoration of their rights. It was this memory that prompted virtually the entire Crimean Tatar people, led by the Mejlis, to openly oppose the occupation of Crimea in February 2014 by the legal successors and ideological heirs of the totalitarian Soviet regime, and later to bear the brunt of the repressive machine of the occupation authorities,” he said.
At the end of the ceremony, Mufti of the Spiritual Administration of Crimea Ayder Rustemov offered a prayer in memory of the victims of the genocide of the Crimean Tatar people.
The deportation of the Crimean Tatars began at 3:00 a.m. on May 18, 1944, and ended on May 20. In less than two days, the Soviet authorities expelled the entire indigenous people of Crimea from the peninsula. On November 12, 2015, the Verkhovna Rada of Ukraine adopted a law recognizing the 1944 deportation of the Crimean Tatar people as genocide and established May 18 as the day of remembrance for the victims of this crime.
