On Thursday, February 23, at the Ukrinform news agency, the Crimean Tatar Resource Center, the Mejlis of the Crimean Tatar people and the Ministry for the Reintegration of the Temporarily Occupied Territories held a press conference dedicated to the Day of Resistance to the Occupation of Crimea.
Speakers were:
Eskender Bariiev – Head of the Board of the Crimean Tatar Resource Center, head of the Department for Legal Affairs and Foreign Affairs of the Mejlis of the Crimean Tatar people;
Tetiana Podvorniak – Communications Manager of the Crimean Tatar Resource Center;
Volodymyr Tarchynskyy – Head of the Information Policy Department of the Ministry for the Reintegration of the Temporarily Occupied Territories;
Refat Chubarov – head of the Mejlis of the Crimean Tatar people;
Andriy Yermolenko is a Ukrainian artist, poster artist.
“The ninth anniversary of the occupation of the Autonomous Republic of Crimea and the city of Sevastopol and the year of the full-scale war of the Russian Federation against Ukraine are passing. During the period of occupation, 276 people fell under criminal prosecution for political reasons, 195 people are in places of captivity. Residents of Crimea, as well as residents of the newly occupied territories, are discriminated against on ethnic, religious, political grounds, they are persecuted for civic activism, for posts on social networks, and the like”,-Tetiana Podvorniak emphasized.
The communications manager of the CTRC stressed that it is important to remind the Ukrainian society about the crimes of the Russian Federation constantly, because the war did not start in 2022, but back in 2014, when the Russian Federation illegally occupied Crimea.
The head of the Mejlis of the Crimean Tatar people, Refat Chubarov, noted that on February 26, 2014, the participants of the thousands-strong rally in support of the territorial integrity of Ukraine, who gathered from all over Crimea at the call of the Mejlis of the Crimean Tatar people, fully fulfilled their civic duty, not allowing some of the pro-Russian deputies of the Verkhovna Rada of the Autonomous Republic of Crimea to directly fulfill the instructions of Moscow – provide a glamorous picture from the session of the Verkhovna Rada of the Autonomous Republic of Crimea about the alleged voluntary entry of Crimea into Russia.
“Without exaggeration, the protesters on February 26, 2014 at the highest level demonstrated their civic responsibility for the future of independent Ukraine and the Crimean autonomy…. Another thing is that the state authorities of Ukraine in Crimea, called upon to protect the sovereignty of the Ukrainian state, did not take advantage of the chance given by the participants in the rally and did not fulfill their direct powers. But that’s a topic for another conversation…”,- he stressed.
“We fought then, we will win now!” Yes, it is with this slogan that I want to start my speech. When the occupation of Crimea began in February 2014, neither the Ukrainian authorities, nor the Ukrainian society, nor the Ukrainian army, nor the countries-guarantors of Ukraine’s sovereignty, nor the signatories of the Budapest Memorandum, nor the international community were ready to resist Russian aggression”,- Eskender Bariiev stressed.
The Head of the Board of the CTRC stressed that at that time the Crimeans carried out non-violent actions and helped the Ukrainian army, “all these years we have consolidated the Ukrainian society for the de-occupation of Crimea and informed the international community about the crimes committed by the occupier in Crimea.”
“We will win now, because the Ukrainian society is consolidated and ready for resistance, the Ukrainian authorities have a principled position, the Ukrainian army is waging a heroic struggle, and the international community is providing military, political, diplomatic and economic assistance in the fight against the occupants”,- he stressed.
“Crimea is the legal territory of Ukraine, recognized throughout the world. Its liberation from Russian occupation is only a matter of time. The Ukrainian authorities are already working on the further reintegration of Crimea into the legal, informational, socio-economic, cultural, educational and political field of Ukraine. The Ministry of Reintegration, together with other interested parties, has now focused its efforts on the formation of a personnel reserve for Crimea. People should be ready to start working there immediately. First of all, the future personnel reserve will include our veterans, IDPs, activists and youth. Specialists of all specialties will be required. In general, the concept of restoring Crimea after the de-occupation should be based primarily on making it comfortable for people’s lives and open to the world”,- Volodymyr Tarchynskyy said.
Tetiana Podvorniak presented all the visual and information products that were prepared for the Day of Resistance to the Russian Occupation of Crimea as part of the #LIBERATECRIMEA information campaign. A representative of the CTRC demonstrated the test What do you know about the Day of Resistance to the Russian Occupation of Crimea, posters, infographics and a video.
The press conference was also attended by well-known Ukrainian artist Andrii Yermolenko, who has been collaborating with the Crimean Tatar Resource Center and #LIBERATECRIMEA activists for a long time and helping to turn ideas into bright posters.
“In 2014, the occupation of Crimea was an indicator of how rotten the political system of Ukraine was, and how weak Ukraine was, the return of Crimea will show how strong Ukraine has become and how moral and ethical virtues have prevailed over business interests in civilized countries!”,-Yermolenko noted.
Let us recall that earlier the Crimean Tatar Resource Center presented a new information campaign #LIBERATECRIMEA, which is designed to raise the level of awareness of the population of Ukraine about the situation in the occupied Crimea.
More details about this campaign can be found on the landing page — https://www.ctrcenter.org/liberatecrimea/ , as well as on our social networks:
Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/liberatecrimea