On July 27, a law on decolonization came into force in Ukraine, according to which a number of prohibitions are introduced in the country regarding geographical names.
According to this law:
The Russian imperial policy is recognized as criminal and condemned;
Propaganda of Russian imperial policy and its symbols is prohibited;
Assigning names to geographical objects, legal entities and objects of property rights that glorify, perpetuate, propagate or contain symbols of Russian imperial policy, as well as a terrorist state (aggressor state) or its outstanding, memorable, historical and cultural places, settlements, dates , events, prohibited;
The production, distribution, and public use of symbols of Russian imperial policy in Ukraine are prohibited.
The Crimean Tatar Resource Center calls for attention to the de-Russification of Ukrainian cities/villages, including those in Crimea. To this end, the CTRC and the Mejlis of the Crimean Tatar people launched an information and advocacy campaign in January 2023 – Return the names – Return Crimea.
As part of this campaign, we tell when and why toponyms were renamed in Crimea, why it is important for indigenous peoples, Ukraine and the international community to restore historical names in Crimea, and whether Ukraine can start acting in this direction now.