Ukrainian Foreign Ministry insists on extending anti-Russian sanctions over Crimea issue
The Ukrainian Foreign Ministry urged the international community on the day of an anniversary of Stalin's deportation of Crimean Tatars to carry on the sanctions pressure on Russia over the Crimean issue.
"Ukraine is commemorating victims of the 1944 Crimean Tatar genocide and is urging the international community to continue political and diplomatic pressure on the Russian occupation authorities in order to avoid a recurrence of the tragedy, the immediate end of violations of human rights in Crimea and, eventually, de-occupation of the peninsula and restoration of Ukraine's territorial integrity within the internationally recognized borders," the Ukrainian Foreign Ministry said in a statement posted in Kyiv on Wednesday.
On May 18-22, 1944, over 250,000 Crimean Tatars fell victim to the policy of 'Stalin's USSR'; their deportation was a black page in history, the statement said.
The Ukrainian Foreign Ministry drew parallel between the events, which happened 72 years ago, and the present day, mentioning the ban on activity of the Crimean Tatar Mejlis in Russia and prosecution of its activists. According to Kyiv, more than 20,000 Crimean Tatars moved to Ukraine after Crimea's accession to Russia.
May 18 is the day of remembrance of Crimean Tatar deportation victims.
Crimea joined Russia in March 2014 after a local referendum on the status of the peninsula; Ukraine refused to recognize the referendum results and said that the region was its territory under temporary occupation. The West described the Russian move as 'annexation' and imposed sanctions on Russia.