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Straits Times
03-07-2025
- Politics
- Straits Times
Crimea's Tatars, scarred by past, fear their homeland will be ceded to Russia in peace deal
Sign up now: Get ST's newsletters delivered to your inbox Ethnic Crimean Tatar Leniie Umerova, 27, posing for a picture during an interview with Reuters, in Kyiv, Ukraine, on June 10. KYIV - When Ukrainian Leniie Umerova crossed into Russia on her way to see her ailing father in their native Crimea in late 2022, she was detained and forced to endure what she calls a 'carousel' of charges and prison transfers that lasted nearly two years. The ordeal, which included stints in solitary confinement, crystallised a sense of generational trauma for Ms Umerova, 27, a member of the Crimean Tatar community indigenous to the Black Sea peninsula that Russia invaded in 2014 and illegally annexed from Ukraine. 'It was very difficult because I was constantly alone in my cell and they (the Russians) periodically tried to feed me their propaganda,' said Ms Umerova, who initially faced administrative charges and later accusations of espionage, which she denied. Ms Umerova had grown up listening to her grandmother's stories of how in 1944 the family, along with hundreds of thousands of other Crimean Tatars, were deported to distant Central Asia on Soviet dictator Joseph Stalin's orders for alleged collaboration with the Nazis, even though many Tatars including her great-grandfather were fighting for the Red Army. Thousands died from disease or starvation, and the Tatars were only allowed back to Crimea in the 1980s. Now, Ms Umerova fears that Crimea, as part of a final Ukraine peace deal, could be recognised as part of Russia - a scenario that the Trump administration in the United States has signalled is possible. 'For so many years now, the same enemy has been doing evil to our family,' Ms Umerova said. 'If we don't fight now and overcome this, where are the guarantees that my children or my grandchildren won't get the same (treatment)?' Always before her is the example of her grandmother, who refused to speak Russian when Ms Umerova was young and immersed the family in Tatar culture and language. 'Whatever happens, we must return to Crimea,' was the message. Ms Umerova returned to Kyiv after being released by Russia in a prisoner swop in September 2024, and despite her suffering, she remains hopeful that the Tatars, a Sunni Muslim, Turkic people, will one day be able to live freely again in a Ukrainian Crimea. 'Every day, every year... you live with the dream that now, now, now they will deal with this one thing and return Crimea... And so it will be, I am 100 per cent sure of this,' she added. Russia won't budge But Russian President Vladimir Putin has insisted that any peace settlement for Ukraine must include recognition of Russian sovereignty over Crimea and four other Ukrainian regions. Moscow denies Kyiv's assertions that it is violating the rights of Tatars and other people in Crimea, which it says is historically Russian. A woman looking from a balcony decorated with Russian flags and a portrait of Russian President Vladimir Putin, in Sevastopol, on the Russian-occupied peninsula of Crimea, on June 5. PHOTO: REUTERS According to the Ukrainian President's Mission in the Autonomous Republic of Crimea, some 133 Crimean Tatars are currently illegally imprisoned by Russia. Russia's Foreign Ministry did not respond to a Reuters request for comment. 'To give (Crimea to Russia) is to simply spit in their faces,' Ms Umerova said of those detained Tatars and of the tens of thousands who continue to live in occupied Crimea. Russia's Foreign Ministry did not respond to a request for comment on this article. At the time of Russia's annexation, Crimean Tatars accounted for around 12 per cent of the peninsula's population of some two million. They rejected Russia's occupation and boycotted a referendum at the time, and community leaders estimate that some 50,000 have left since 2014, though most have remained there. A 2014 photo shows Crimean Tatars holding a sign reading 'referendum boycott' in the Crimean village of Eskisaray, outside Simferopol, Crimea. PHOTO: REUTERS Crimean Tatar rights activist and journalist Lutfiye Zudiyeva, who lives there, said Russia had subjected her community to what she called 'active assimilation'. 'Of course, today in Crimea you can sing in Crimean Tatar and dance national dances, but the people have no political agency,' she said. Crimea is internationally recognised as part of Ukraine by most countries but US President Donald Trump told Time magazine in April that 'Crimea will stay with Russia'. Under peace proposals prepared by Mr Trump's envoy, Mr Steve Witkoff, the United States would extend de jure recognition of Moscow's control of the peninsula. However, the two sides have made little progress in peace talks since April. Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky is trying to resist Mr Trump's pressure to cede territory to Russia as part of any peace settlement, and he has cited Ms Umerova's case as an example of what he says is Moscow's repression of the Crimean Tatars. For Ukrainian singer Jamala, who won the Eurovision Song Contest in 2016 with her song '1944', about Stalin's deportations, any talk of legally recognising Crimea as Russian is 'insane'. 'If a country like America says 'it's no big deal, let's just forget about it and move on', then there are no guarantees in the world,' Jamala told Reuters. REUTERS
The Star
03-07-2025
- Politics
- The Star
Crimean Tatars, scarred by past, fear homeland will be ceded to Russia in peace deal
KYIV (Reuters) -When Ukrainian Leniie Umerova crossed into Russia on her way to see her ailing father in their native Crimea in late 2022, she was detained and forced to endure what she calls a "carousel" of charges and prison transfers that lasted nearly two years. The ordeal, which included stints in solitary confinement, crystallised a sense of generational trauma for Umerova, 27, a member of the Crimean Tatar community indigenous to the Black Sea peninsula that was annexed from Ukraine by Russia in 2014. "It was very difficult because I was constantly alone in my cell and they (the Russians) periodically tried to feed me their propaganda," said Umerova, who initially faced administrative charges and later accusations of espionage, which she denied. Umerova had grown up listening to her grandmother's stories of how in 1944 the family, along with hundreds of thousands of other Crimean Tatars, were deported to distant Central Asia on Soviet dictator Joseph Stalin's orders for alleged collaboration with the Nazis, even though many Tatars including her great-grandfather were fighting for the Red Army. Thousands died from disease or starvation, and the Tatars were only allowed back to Crimea in the 1980s. Now Umerova fears that Crimea, as part of a final Ukraine peace deal, could be recognised as part of Russia - a scenario that the Trump administration in the United States has signalled is possible. "For so many years now, the same enemy has been doing evil to our family," Umerova said. "If we don't fight now and overcome this, where are the guarantees that my children or my grandchildren won't get the same (treatment)?" Always before her is the example of her grandmother, who refused to speak Russian when Umerova was young and immersed the family in Tatar culture and language. "Whatever happens, we must return to Crimea," was the message. Umerova returned to Kyiv after being released by Russia in a prisoner swap last September, and despite her suffering, she remains hopeful that the Tatars, a Sunni Muslim, Turkic people, will one day be able to live freely again in a Ukrainian Crimea. "Every day, every year... you live with the dream that now, now, now they will deal with this one thing and return Crimea... And so it will be, I am 100% sure of this," she added. RUSSIA WON'T BUDGE But Russian President Vladimir Putin has said that any peace settlement for Ukraine must include recognition of Russian sovereignty over Crimea and four other Ukrainian regions. Moscow denies Kyiv's assertions that it is violating the rights of Tatars and other people in Crimea, which it says is historically Russian. According to the Ukrainian President's Mission in the Autonomous Republic of Crimea, some 133 Crimean Tatars are currently illegally imprisoned by Russia. Russia's Foreign Ministry did not respond to a Reuters request for comment. "To give (Crimea to Russia) is to simply spit in their faces," Umerova said of those detained Tatars and of the tens of thousands who continue to live in occupied Crimea. Russia's Foreign Ministry did not respond to a request for comment on this article. At the time of Russia's annexation, Crimean Tatars accounted for around 12 percent of the peninsula's population of some two million. They rejected Russia's occupation and boycotted a referendum at the time, and community leaders estimate that some 50,000 have left since 2014, though most have remained there. Crimean Tatar rights activist and journalist Lutfiye Zudiyeva, who lives there, said Russia had subjected her community to what she called "active assimilation". "Of course, today in Crimea you can sing in Crimean Tatar and dance national dances, but the people have no political agency," she said. Crimea is internationally recognised as part of Ukraine by most countries but U.S. President Donald Trump told Time magazine in April that "Crimea will stay with Russia". Under peace proposals prepared by Trump's envoy, Steve Witkoff, the United States would extend de jure recognition of Moscow's control of the peninsula. However, the two sides have made little progress in peace talks since April. Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskiy is trying to resist Trump's pressure to cede territory to Russia as part of any peace settlement, and he has cited Umerova's case as an example of what he says is Moscow's repression of the Crimean Tatars. For Ukrainian singer Jamala, who won the Eurovision Song Contest in 2016 with her song "1944" about Stalin's deportations, any talk of legally recognising Crimea as Russian is "insane". "If a country like America says 'it's no big deal, let's just forget about it and move on', then there are no guarantees in the world," Jamala told Reuters. (Additional reporting by Elizabeth PiperEditing by Gareth Jones)
Straits Times
03-07-2025
- Politics
- Straits Times
Crimean Tatars, scarred by past, fear homeland will be ceded to Russia in peace deal
Sign up now: Get ST's newsletters delivered to your inbox FILE PHOTO: Crimean Tatars take part in a pro-Ukranian meeting in the Crimean village of Eskisaray, outside Simferopol, March 14, 2014. The sign reads \"Referendum boycott\". REUTERS/Vasily Fedosenko/File Photo KYIV - When Ukrainian Leniie Umerova crossed into Russia on her way to see her ailing father in their native Crimea in late 2022, she was detained and forced to endure what she calls a "carousel" of charges and prison transfers that lasted nearly two years. The ordeal, which included stints in solitary confinement, crystallised a sense of generational trauma for Umerova, 27, a member of the Crimean Tatar community indigenous to the Black Sea peninsula that was annexed from Ukraine by Russia in 2014. "It was very difficult because I was constantly alone in my cell and they (the Russians) periodically tried to feed me their propaganda," said Umerova, who initially faced administrative charges and later accusations of espionage, which she denied. Umerova had grown up listening to her grandmother's stories of how in 1944 the family, along with hundreds of thousands of other Crimean Tatars, were deported to distant Central Asia on Soviet dictator Joseph Stalin's orders for alleged collaboration with the Nazis, even though many Tatars including her great-grandfather were fighting for the Red Army. Thousands died from disease or starvation, and the Tatars were only allowed back to Crimea in the 1980s. Now Umerova fears that Crimea, as part of a final Ukraine peace deal, could be recognised as part of Russia - a scenario that the Trump administration in the United States has signalled is possible. "For so many years now, the same enemy has been doing evil to our family," Umerova said. "If we don't fight now and overcome this, where are the guarantees that my children or my grandchildren won't get the same (treatment)?" Always before her is the example of her grandmother, who refused to speak Russian when Umerova was young and immersed the family in Tatar culture and language. Top stories Swipe. Select. Stay informed. 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Umerova returned to Kyiv after being released by Russia in a prisoner swap last September, and despite her suffering, she remains hopeful that the Tatars, a Sunni Muslim, Turkic people, will one day be able to live freely again in a Ukrainian Crimea. "Every day, every year... you live with the dream that now, now, now they will deal with this one thing and return Crimea... And so it will be, I am 100% sure of this," she added. RUSSIA WON'T BUDGE But Russian President Vladimir Putin has said that any peace settlement for Ukraine must include recognition of Russian sovereignty over Crimea and four other Ukrainian regions. Moscow denies Kyiv's assertions that it is violating the rights of Tatars and other people in Crimea, which it says is historically Russian. According to the Ukrainian President's Mission in the Autonomous Republic of Crimea, some 133 Crimean Tatars are currently illegally imprisoned by Russia. Russia's Foreign Ministry did not respond to a Reuters request for comment. "To give (Crimea to Russia) is to simply spit in their faces," Umerova said of those detained Tatars and of the tens of thousands who continue to live in occupied Crimea. Russia's Foreign Ministry did not respond to a request for comment on this article. At the time of Russia's annexation, Crimean Tatars accounted for around 12 percent of the peninsula's population of some two million. They rejected Russia's occupation and boycotted a referendum at the time, and community leaders estimate that some 50,000 have left since 2014, though most have remained there. Crimean Tatar rights activist and journalist Lutfiye Zudiyeva, who lives there, said Russia had subjected her community to what she called "active assimilation". "Of course, today in Crimea you can sing in Crimean Tatar and dance national dances, but the people have no political agency," she said. Crimea is internationally recognised as part of Ukraine by most countries but U.S. President Donald Trump told Time magazine in April that "Crimea will stay with Russia". Under peace proposals prepared by Trump's envoy, Steve Witkoff, the United States would extend de jure recognition of Moscow's control of the peninsula. However, the two sides have made little progress in peace talks since April. Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskiy is trying to resist Trump's pressure to cede territory to Russia as part of any peace settlement, and he has cited Umerova's case as an example of what he says is Moscow's repression of the Crimean Tatars. For Ukrainian singer Jamala, who won the Eurovision Song Contest in 2016 with her song "1944" about Stalin's deportations, any talk of legally recognising Crimea as Russian is "insane". "If a country like America says 'it's no big deal, let's just forget about it and move on', then there are no guarantees in the world," Jamala told Reuters. REUTERS
New Straits Times
16-05-2025
- Business
- New Straits Times
Anwar's final day in Russia focuses on Islamic, tech and trade ties
KAZAN: Prime Minister Datuk Seri Anwar Ibrahim is set to deliver a keynote address at the Strategic Vision Group (SVG) Russia–Islamic World dialogue, on the final day of his official visit to Russia. The dialogue will be held at the Kazan Hi-Technology Park, a regional innovation hub that houses tech start-ups, research institutions and companies focused on digital transformation, smart manufacturing and halal innovation. The SVG, established in 2006, is a Russia-led initiative aimed at strengthening dialogue with members of the Organisation of Islamic Cooperation. It gathers political leaders, scholars, technocrats and religious figures to discuss peacebuilding, education, technology and joint development strategies. Following the dialogue, the prime minister will tour the park's key facilities, in a move underscoring Malaysia's interest in developing new partnerships in technology, Islamic finance and halal economy solutions. The park is central to Russia's ambition to position Tatarstan as a tech and halal economy leader within the Islamic world. Anwar is also scheduled to perform Friday prayers at the historic Mardzhani Mosque, one of Kazan's oldest Islamic landmarks. The mosque, built in the 18th century, stands as a symbol of religious coexistence in Tatarstan, where Tatars and Russians form a model of multiethnic harmony. At midday, Anwar will attend a working lunch hosted by Tatarstan Prime Minister Aleksei Pesoshin at the Tatarskaya Usadba, a traditional Tatar venue in the heart of Kazan. Talks are expected to centre on tourism, agriculture and bilateral education initiatives. The prime minister will then head to Kazan Expo, where he is expected to hold an exclusive interview with TV BRICS, an international media network that promotes news and cultural exchange among BRICS countries and partner nations. This will be followed by his keynote address at the plenary session of the 16th International Economic Forum "Russia–Islamic World: KazanForum 2025." Malaysia's participation in the forum is aimed at expanding trade, investment and halal supply chain linkages between Russian and Muslim-majority nations. Before concluding his trip, Anwar will hold an exit press conference at Kazan Expo to share key takeaways from the visit. The prime minister is scheduled to depart for Kuala Lumpur from Kazan International Airport at 6pm local time, marking the end of his four-day official visit which has included high-level engagements in both Moscow and Kazan.
Washington Post
05-05-2025
- Politics
- Washington Post
Trump envoy praises fraudulent Russian referendums as real
'They're Russian speaking. There have been referendums where the overwhelming majority of the people have indicated that they want to be under Russian rule.' — Steve Witkoff, real estate developer and Trump special envoy, in an interview with Tucker Carlson, March 21 The emerging Trump proposal to end the war caused by Russia's 2022 invasion of Ukraine calls for de jure (legal) recognition of Russia's 2014 annexation of Crimea and de facto recognition of the Russian occupation of parts of four other Ukrainian regions during the conflict. The plan was largely developed by Witkoff, a close friend of President Donald Trump with no prior experience in diplomacy. This would be an extraordinary concession that conflicts with U.S. policy in place for generations — a refusal to recognize seizures of territory by other nations. Anyone growing up in the 1960s would remember that every atlas contained a notation that the United States did not recognize the absorption of Estonia, Latvia and Lithuania into the Soviet Union. The same principle led the United States to organize a coalition of nations to oust Iraq from Kuwait after it invaded and renamed Kuwait its 19th province. In his interview with Carlson and in other statements, Witkoff has suggested that the people in these regions want to be part of Russia, citing as evidence referendums held under Russian occupation. Let's examine what actually happened. (A spokesman for Witkoff did not respond to questions.) On Feb. 27, 2014, Russian forces seized Crimea. Russia already had at least 12,500 troops at Sevastopol, a Crimean port leased by Russia and also used by the Ukrainian navy. Crimea had been an important part of Russia since Catherine the Great seized it from the Ottoman Empire in 1783. For reasons that remain a mystery, in 1954, Communist Party leader Nikita Khrushchev convinced the Supreme Soviet — which had the formal authority to ratify a transfer of territory — to make Crimea part of the Ukrainian Soviet Socialist Republic. Historian William Taubman, in his Pulitzer Prize-winning biography of Khrushchev, said the onetime party boss of Ukraine had long tried to expand its territory and even tried to take Crimea for Ukraine 10 years earlier, in 1944. Crimea was populated mostly by Tatars until Russian dictator Joseph Stalin deported the whole population in 1944. According to the last official Ukrainian census, in 2001, 60 percent of Crimea's population was Russian, 24 percent Ukrainian and 10 percent Tatar. Despite that majority-Russian population, Crimea voted to join Ukraine after the Soviet Union collapsed in 1991, though it was approved by a narrow majority (54 percent) compared with other areas of Ukraine. It's also worth recalling that a cache of more than 1,000 strategic nuclear weapons were on Ukraine's soil when the Soviet Union dissolved. That instantly made Ukraine the world's third-biggest nuclear power, with more weapons than Britain, France and China combined. In the 1994 Budapest Memorandum on Security Assurances, Russia, along with the United States and Britain, agreed to 'refrain from the threat or use of force against the territorial integrity or political independence of Ukraine' in exchange for Ukraine's joining the Nuclear Non-Proliferation Treaty and giving up the weapons. Putin's seizure of Crimea violated that agreement. During his first term and in a recent interview with Time magazine, Trump claimed that President Barack Obama handed Crimea to Russia — when, in fact, Obama rallied European leaders to sanction Moscow. In 2014, just days after Russia's action, Trump had a different take. In a speech to the Conservative Political Action Conference, Trump extolled Putin for the 'smart' idea of invading Crimea after the Winter Olympics in Sochi, Russia, had concluded. Trump acknowledged that Putin seized the territory. 'You know he didn't want to do it during the Olympics,' Trump said on March 6. 'Boom. The day after. Saw our athletes leave, we all leave and the day after. And you know when he goes in and takes Crimea, he's taking the heart and soul because that's where all the money is. I was surprised I heard that the other day they were saying most of the wealth comes right from that area. That's the area with the wealth. So that means the rest of Ukraine will fall and it's predicted to fall fairly quickly.' On March 16, a referendum was held on whether Crimea should become part of Russia. But it's ludicrous to say the results were valid. The referendum took place only nine days after it was announced, with television broadcasts by Ukrainian channels blocked. Moreover, there was no option to vote 'no' and return to the preinvasion status quo. Instead, the two options were to join Russia — what the ballot called 'reunification' — or become a quasi-independent state beholden to Russia. A McClatchy news report at the time reported serious irregularities. Tatars and the local Ukrainian community announced a boycott of the vote, but witnesses described a convoy of Russian minibuses and cars crossing the border and heading to polling stations in Tatar areas to cast ballots. Putin claimed 82 percent turnout — for a 96 percent 'yes' vote — but McClatchy said data sent by local officials to the Russian FSB intelligence agency showed that only 34.2 percent of the Crimean population took part. The referendum also did not comply with existing laws. The Ukrainian constitution, in Article 73, said that 'alterations to the territory of Ukraine shall be resolved exclusively by the All-Ukrainian referendum,' described in Article 72 as a national referendum called either by the parliament or the president, or as a popular initiative with 3 million signatures from at least two-thirds of administrative districts known as oblasts. The Crimea referendum, set up by local authorities, met none of those conditions. Under the Ukrainian constitution, Crimea, as an autonomous republic, had specially designated powers. But Article 134 states: 'The Autonomous Republic of Crimea shall be an integral constituent part of Ukraine and shall resolve issues relegated to its authority within the frame of its reference, determined by the Constitution of Ukraine.' Russia also claimed overwhelming support in sham referendums held in regions occupied by Russian forces, which it then used to justify the claimed annexation of the regions its forces partially occupied. As a matter of international law, an occupying military power is not permitted to gain sovereignty over occupied territory, but instead is supposed to preserve the status quo ante. Thus the referendums, held between Sept. 23 and Sept. 27, were illegal. The U.N. General Assembly condemned the annexation by a vote of 143-5. The referendums essentially offered one question: Do you approve of joining Russia? Votes were often collected by election officials going door-to-door with ballots, accompanied by armed soldiers, according to news reports and videos, with votes taken verbally by household. Human Rights Watch collected quotes about the process. Witkoff made a fortune in real estate and appears to view a peace agreement as a real estate deal. But in accepting the orchestrated Russian referendums as real — 'the overwhelming majority of the people have indicated that they want to be under Russian rule' — in effect, he's allowing squatters to determine what kind of building should be built. We doubt that would be considered acceptable in his business dealings. The referendums were conducted under martial law, with dubious or coercive election procedures, and offered no real choices. Despite his desire to end the war, Witkoff shouldn't pretend these referendums were conducted in ways that would be allowed in the United States. He earns Four Pinocchios. (About our rating scale) Send us facts to check by filling out this form Sign up for The Fact Checker weekly newsletter The Fact Checker is a verified signatory to the International Fact-Checking Network code of principles
