Crimean Tatars are the indigenous people of Crimea. They have been subject to persecution, murder, and imprisonment in the lead-up to and the occupation of Crimea by Putin. According to the Crimean Tatar Resource Center, there are currently 169 Crimean Tatar political prisoners being held in Crimea by the Russian occupiers. Crimean Tatars are by far the largest group of the 238 political prisoners held in Crimea. Putin’s treatment of the Crimean Tatars recalls Stalin’s genocidal actions towards the ethnic minority.
The Ukrainian Parliament adopted a law in 2021 on Indigenous peoples. The bill, initiated by Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy, recognized Crimean Tatars, Karaites, and Krymchaks as "Indigenous peoples of Ukraine.”
Isa Akayev was among the Crimean Tatars who escaped the occupation of Crimea and settled in Vinnytsia, Ukraine.
“One of our activists was evacuating his family and his car broke down in Vinnytsia. This is how he happened to stay there”.
Isa immediately signed up to fight in East Ukraine.
"I realized that the sooner the war in the east ends, the sooner we would return to Crimea,"
The Crimean Tatars have now organized a volunteer battalion commanded by Isa Akaev to fight the Russian invaders.
He says there is enough land in Ukraine to bury all invaders — and don’t forget to put seeds in the pocket so sunflowers grow. The same message the Ukrainian woman gave to a Russian soldier when she offered him sunflower seeds to put in his pocket.
Not only are Ukrainian Muslims joining the fight. There are also Chechens, Syrians, and Azerbaijanis (many of whom have been victims of Russian war crimes and terror) volunteering. According to the Odessa Journal, a Russian landing on a beach near Odessa was aborted because marine conscripts from Crimea refused to fight. The Russians asked to be allowed to retreat without being shelled.
“Dumskaya” managed to contact the relatives of several Russian marines of the 810th brigade of the Russian Federation, which is deployed in the occupied Crimea.
ADVISORY: As with all tweets and reports coming out of Ukraine — there is no way I can confirm the accuracy of any individual report.
Ukraine could serve as an example of multiethnic unity and religious tolerance in the region of the Black Sea and the North Caucasus. The tip of the spear in the fight against the White Supremacist Fascism of Putin and his gang of thugs.
Слава Україні! (Glory to Ukraine)
