Eighty-one years ago, the Stalinist regime forcibly deported the Crimean Tatar people from their ancestral homeland to Central Asia.

Ukraine will never forget this crime — a deliberate attempt to annihilate the indigenous people of Crimea, to strip them of their land, their identity, and their historical memory.

Despite the brutality of deportation and exile, the Crimean Tatars survived and passed on to future generations a deep sense of dignity, resilience, and belonging. Eventually, they returned to Crimea — to their homeland, to the source of their national identity. The Ukrainian state played a significant role in ensuring and supporting that return.

We are grateful to all countries that, together with Ukraine, recognized the 1944 deportation as an act of genocide of the Crimean Tatar people. We urge others to follow suit. Recognizing the deportation as genocide restores historical justice, honors the memory of the victims, and demonstrates solidarity with Crimean Tatars in their ongoing struggle for freedom and the right to live on their native land.

Modern-day Russia continues Stalin’s policies, aiming to deprive Crimean Tatars of their homeland once again. Since the illegal occupation of Crimea, the peninsula has been subjected to oppression and gross human rights violations. This campaign of repression pursues the same genocidal goal as in 1944: to force the Crimean Tatar people out of their land.

Russia’s occupation authorities prohibited activities of the Mejlis, prosecute and imprison Crimean Tatars on fabricated political and religious charges, conduct raids and searches, intimidating and killing them. We remember every Crimean Tatar unlawfully imprisoned in Russian jails and will continue to fight for their freedom.

We are convinced that, as in the past, Moscow will fail in an attempt to rob the Crimean Tatar people of their honor and dignity.

Today, Crimean Tatars stand shoulder to shoulder with Ukrainians, defending Ukraine from Russian aggression — both on the front lines as part of the Defence Forces of Ukraine and through resistance in temporarily occupied Crimea. In our unity lies our strength. We will prevail.

People who do not give up their struggle will ultimately reclaim what was stolen from them. We are confident that all Ukrainian citizens forced to flee their homes will return. Crimea is Ukraine.