Today marks 12 years since the beginning of the resistance to the occupation of Crimea and the war that russia launched against Ukraine.
On this day, we remember the thousands of Crimeans — Crimean Tatars, Ukrainians, and people of many nationalities — who gathered outside the Crimean parliament in 2014 to say: Crimea is Ukraine. The very next day, russia moved to the forceful seizure of administrative buildings.
For over a decade, Crimea has witnessed systematic human rights violations, repression, and enforced disappearances of those who oppose the occupation. Yet, despite bans and constant risks, people continue to resist. They preserve their traditions and memory, support Ukraine, and wait to return home.
Crimean Tatars (Crimean Tatar: qırımtatarlar) are indigenous people of Turkic origin formed on the Crimean Peninsula and in the steppe areas of Ukraine. Under russian occupation, they face ongoing persecution, searches, arrests, the banning of representative institutions, and the suppression of their language and culture. This is a continuation of the genocide of 1944, when the soviet regime forcibly deported the entire Crimean Tatar people from their homeland.
russia continues to attempt to erase the true history of Crimea, replacing it with its propaganda and fabricated narratives meant to legitimize the occupation. But this does not change the essential truth: Crimea remembers its history, and its people preserve their identity and continue to resist.
Crimea is an integral part of Ukraine. It is our people, our history, our culture, and our home. We remember, we long for Crimea, and we are waiting.
Qırım serbest olacaq!
Qırım — bu, Ukraina!
Photo: Stanislav Yurchenko