Over 10,000 Crimean Tatars flee Crimean after occupation – Chubarov

12:36, 19.05.2015 1 min read

The actual number of Crimean Tatars that have left Crimea since its occupation by Russia exceeds the official figure of 10,000 people, head of the Mejlis of the Crimean Tatar People Refat Chubarov has said.

"I won't say the exact number, as the numbers stated by the official executive agencies are already outdated. It's believed that 20,000 people have left the Crimean peninsula, about half of them are Crimean Tatars. But our research says that this number is higher," he said at a briefing in Kyiv on Monday.

During the briefing, Chief of the Security Service of Ukraine Valentyn Nalyvaichenko officially presented the materials of archive cases on the torture of Crimean Tatars by the NKVD to Mejlis representatives.

According to Chubarov, work to create a detailed account of the people who have left Crimea, including Crimean Tatars, is underway.