The deportation of the Crimean Tatars began at 03:00 a.m. on May 18, 1944, and lasted until the beginning of June. Despite the fact that representatives of the Crimean Tatar people fought in the ranks of the Red Army and even participated in the guerrilla movement, the Soviet State Defense Committee accused them of allegedly mass treason and collaboration with the Third Reich, which became the reason for deportation. Undoubtedly, this was an act of genocide and ethnocide, as evidenced by the accusation of the whole people of treason and the application of the principle of collective responsibility.
UkrInform: Ukraine honors victims of genocide against Crimean Tatar people
A woman holds a Crimean Tatar flag during a memorial ceremony on the Independence square in Kyiv on May 18, 2016 in commemoration of the 72nd anniversary of the deportation of the indigenous population of the Crimea by the Soviet Union.
