May 18, 2026, marks the 82nd anniversary of the forced deportation of the Crimean Tatar people—one of the most brutal crimes committed by Stalin’s totalitarian regime and an act of genocide against the indigenous people of Crimea.

In May 1944, the Soviet regime, under the pretext of baseless accusations of alleged collaboration with Nazi Germany, carried out a deliberate act of destruction against the Crimean Tatar people as a national community—depriving them of their homeland, language, culture, traditions, and historical memory.

Ukraine has recognized the 1944 deportation of the Crimean Tatar people as an act of genocide. We are grateful to Canada, Lithuania, Latvia, Estonia, Poland, the Czech Republic, and the Netherlands, which have adopted similar decisions, restoring historical justice and honoring the memory of the victims of this crime. We call on other countries to join the international recognition of the genocide of the Crimean Tatar people.

Following the start of the Russian occupation of Crimea in 2014, the occupying authorities continued to discredit and oppress the Crimean Tatars who remained in their homeland. The ban on the activities of the Mejlis of the Crimean Tatar people, the fabrication of criminal cases, forced passportization, pressure on religious communities, and the creation of intolerable living conditions—all of these are modern forms of Russia’s forced displacement of Ukraine’s indigenous people from their land. Such actions constitute a gross violation of international humanitarian law, international human rights law, and the occupying state’s international legal obligations.

Ukraine honors the memory of all victims of deportation and expresses its deep respect for the Crimean Tatar people, who, despite decades of repression, have preserved their national identity, culture, language, and unyielding commitment to freedom and justice.

We call on the international community to intensify consolidated political, diplomatic, sanctions-based, and legal pressure on the Russian Federation with the aim of ending human rights violations in the temporarily occupied Crimea, releasing all illegally detained persons, ensuring the protection of the rights of the indigenous Crimean Tatar people, and restoring Ukraine’s territorial integrity within its internationally recognized borders.

We demand that the Russian Federation immediately cease all forms of repression against the Crimean Tatars, lift the illegal ban on the Mejlis of the Crimean Tatar people, release all political prisoners, and comply with its international obligations as an occupying power.

The memory of the 1944 tragedy is an integral part of our shared history and a warning to the entire world about the danger of impunity for totalitarian regimes. Restoring justice, protecting human rights, de-occupying Crimea, and returning the Crimean Tatar people to a life of freedom on their native land remain our common tasks.

Crimea is Ukraine.

Qırım — Ukrainadır.

Qırım serbest olacaq!