#crimeanpeninsula

“Some see Crimea as just a piece of land. I see people — people who risk their lives every day by simply remaining Ukrainian. Thousands of political prisoners held for their dissent. Dozens of activists tortured to death who will never come back. They believed in justice. We have no moral right to betray them.” ~ Leniye Umerova 🇺🇦💙💛🇺🇦

#Repost @kyivindependent_official with @use.repost_ . . . A Ukrainian of Crimean Tatar descent, Leniye Umerova, 26, was captured by Russian forces in 2022 while trying to reach occupied Crimea to visit her then-sick father, who had cancer.

She spent almost two years in Russian prisons on trumped-up charges of espionage before being released in September as part of a prisoner exchange with Ukraine.

Though finally being back in Kyiv was a big relief, grim news about the future of Umerova’s home soon followed.

On April 23, Axios reported, citing its sources, that the U.S. President Donald Trump administration’s final proposal for ending the Russia-Ukraine war included U.S. de jure recognition of Russia’s control over Crimea. The move would make it increasingly difficult for Ukraine to ever reclaim the Crimean Peninsula and likely only through military means.

Russia invaded and unlawfully annexed Crimea in 2014, cracking down violently on any opposition to its regime. Over 11 years of occupation, Crimean Tatars, the peninsula’s indigenous population, have faced the brunt of Russia’s harsh repressions.

For 26-year-old Umerova, who was imprisoned for simply being Ukrainian and spent most of her captivity in solitary confinement, the news stirred a sense of “outrage and pain.”

“Some see Crimea as just a piece of land. I see people — people who risk their lives every day by simply remaining Ukrainian. Thousands of political prisoners held for their dissent,” she says. “Dozens of activists tortured to death who will never come back. They believed in justice. We have no moral right to betray them.”

Read the full story at the link in bio.

Photos: Oksana Parafeniuk; Volodymyr Zelensky

Swipe left on this image at @mfa_ukraine to see more indications “that Ukrainians never accepted Russia’s attempt to steal [Ukraine’s] land.” 🇺🇦🎗️💙💛🎗️🇺🇦

#Repost @mfa_ukraine with @use.repost_ . . . February 26 marks the Day of Resistance to the Occupation of Crimea. In 2014, around 15,000 activists stood together in Simferopol, waving Ukrainian and Crimean Tatar flags and resisting Russia’s invasion of the peninsula.

This day serves as a reminder that Ukrainians never accepted Russia’s attempt to steal our land.

🎗️ Even under occupation, resistance never stopped. Despite constant repressions, the Yellow Ribbon movement emerged, with Ukrainians tying yellow ribbons and leaving #CrimeaIsUkraine messages in the temporarily occupied cities to show that Crimea is, and always will be, Ukraine.

📸 Photos: @yellowribbonua