An outfit President of Ukraine Volodymyr Zelensky chose for May 18 was a vyshyvanka shirt with ornaments symbolizing unity of the Ukrainian and Crimean Tatar peoples.
This way, he underlined Vyshyvanka Day and the tragic anniversary of the deportation of Crimean Tatars from Crimea by the Soviet regime, according to the president’s posting on Telegram.
“This year, the two meanings are united by one date, May 18,” Zelensky wrote.
“79 years ago on this day, the Soviet authorities began deporting the Crimean Tatar people. A people they wanted to erase. Deprive of their homes, deprive of the right to life. But the people survived. And they will live freely! Today, I am wearing a special vyshyvanka with ornaments that symbolize the unity of the Ukrainian and Crimean Tatar peoples. Symbols of our strength and our desire to live in our home,” president emphasized.
He wished that this year’s Vyshyvanka Day in Ukraine “be a reminder of what our people have been through and how strong our culture is.”
“Eternal memory to all our people whose lives were taken by totalitarian regimes! We honor our peoples, their strength and culture!” Zelensky underlined.
He stressed that the entire Ukrainian family today “honors the memory of the victims of the deportation of the Crimean Tatar people.”
“The people against whom the crime of genocide was committed 79 years ago. Hundreds of thousands of people were exiled to a foreign land. The whole people was deprived of home and there was an attempt to erase everything in Crimea that spoke of them.
Everyone in Ukraine now recognizes this evil. Years later, having changed its symbols but not the essence of evil, evil returned. To destroy people in the same way. But this time we will destroy it. We have to do it,” posting reads.
No matter what Russia does, Zelensky stressed, its aggression will be defeated: “It will not succeed in stealing either Crimea or any other part of our country. This is our home.”
President Zelensky is confident that the time will come when “we will all be able to meet together on May 18 and be sure that our Crimea, its blooming gardens and hospitable homes have free life, warm memories of grandparents, smiling children and no trace of occupation.”
“And so it will be,” President Zelensky concluded.
