The First Deputy Speaker Oleksandr Korniienko announced about the adoption on May 14 of the Resolution on the Appeal to the governments and parliaments of foreign states, international organizations, and parliamentary assemblies regarding the commemoration of the victims of the genocide of the Crimean Tatar people and the consolidation of efforts to halt the violations of the rights and freedoms of the Crimean Tatar people by the russian federation (No. 13272).
«In my address from the parliamentary rostrum, I emphasized that Ukraine is appealing to the international community to ensure that the horrific crime committed 81 years ago is not forgotten, and that the crimes currently being perpetrated against the Crimean Tatar people do not go unpunished. More than two hundred thousand individuals were deported in freight wagons — tragically, only half of them survived. These are harrowing chapters in the history of the Crimean Tatar people. These are also painful chapters in the history of the Ukrainian nation», - Oleksandr Korniienko said.
According to him, today, just like 80 years ago, stalin's and putin's spiritual descendants continue to torture, deprive of liberty and life, spread disinformation and do everything to destroy the Crimean Tatar people again.
«Yet it is impossible to break what is resilient and what will always stand. Today—just as over 80 years ago, and throughout the past century—brave Crimean Tatar partisans, activists from Crimea, and Ukrainian servicemen fighting in the ranks of the Armed Forces of Ukraine continue to demonstrate to Putin: we will resist, and we will always remember that Crimea is Ukraine. Crimea will be free. The war will end only with the return of Ukrainian Crimea!» - the First Deputy Speaker emphasized.
Oleksandr Korniшenko said that the Verkhovna Rada is appealing to the international community with such calls:
· to recognise the 1944 deportation as an act of genocide, as Latvia, Lithuania, Estonia, Poland, the Czech Republic and Canada have already done;
· to condemn russia's war crimes: ban on the Mejlis, persecution, abduction of children, forced conscription, destruction of cultural heritage;
· to increase sanctions pressure on russia until the complete de-occupation of Crimea;
· actively participate in the International Crimean Platform initiated by President Zelenskyy;
· to promote the development of Crimean Tatar and Ukrainian studies in the world's leading universities;
· to take measures to secure the release of all Ukrainian political prisoners, including Crimean Tatars;
· to introduce comprehensive measures to prevent an environmental disaster caused by the militarisation of Crimea;
· to guarantee freedom of religion, speech and assembly in the occupied territories.
«We will not forget. We will not give up. We will liberate Crimea. Crimea is Ukraine. Glory to the Crimean Tatar people. Glory to Ukraine!», summed up the First Deputy Chairman of the Verkhovna Rada.