Up to 8,000 Crimean Tatars leave Crimea since Sept 2022 – Chubarov

11:09, 01.05.2024 1 min read

Since September 2022, 6,000 to 8,000 Crimean Tatars have left Crimea to avoid mobilization into the Russian army, head of the Mejlis of the Crimean Tatar people Refat Chubarov said in an interview with Voice of America.

"They have turned Crimea into a powerful training ground, a military base. And it is clear that in such a territory, which they use exclusively for their further aggression, they do not need people who, let's say, do not perceive the occupation, are not loyal to these Russians. They identified Crimean Tatars and ethnic Ukrainians as such people. Ukraine is being demonized," he stressed.

In general, since the beginning of the occupation, 50,000 Crimean Tatars have left Crimea, which is 15% of the total number of Crimean Tatars who lived on the peninsula until February 2014.

Chubarov also pointed out that during the ten years of occupation, Russia drafted 35,000 residents of Crimea into the army.

"When the full-scale aggression began, and as soon as Russia began to mobilize people, up to 70% of the draft notices was brought to the Crimean Tatars in some Crimean villages. It was purposeful," he added.