People in Crimea will help the Ukrainian Army liberate them. The perspective of a Crimean Tatar

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Erfan Kudusov, Crimean Tatar public figure and head of the Crimean department of the «UKROP» political party, believes that some people in Crimea are pro-Ukrainian citizens who will hail the Armed Forces of Ukraine. On August 9, several explosions rang out on the military airfield on the occupied peninsula. The reasons haven’t yet been officially announced, but it’s known that the warehouse of Russian aviation weapons and about a dozen aircraft were destroyed. Later, Major General Dmytro Marchenko stated that Ukraine will liberate Crimea by military means.

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The situation in Crimea is strikingly different from the one in Donbas. There were a level fewer victims in Crimea than in Donetsk or Luhansk. The first victim of the occupation in Crimea was Reshat Ametov, a citizen of Ukraine of Crimean Tatar origin, who was tortured and killed. But in general, the lightning seizure of Crimea by the Russians took place at a time when Ukraine was in chaos, there was no clear management. This enables us to say that the situation there will probably develop according to a different scenario. It will definitely be a military one.

I am speaking with the military who are serving in the East. They say the population there is mostly disloyal to the Ukrainian authorities. There are a lot of formal citizens of Ukraine who are the actual collaborators who might spit in the back in the best case, and at worst – adjust the enemy fire on Ukrainian fighters.

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In Crimea, the situation is different, because there is a significant social stratum – a group of Crimean Tatars. More than 90% of them are strongly pro-Ukrainian. This is clear and understandable even for the Russian authorities in Crimea, which is why they aim repression at them. There is another part, a conditional «swamp», which won’t do anything. They are neither «for» nor «against», and will simply take the side which appears stronger. Unfortunately, there is a rather narrow layer of non-Crimean Tatars, which is small, but also pro-Ukrainian.

In general, I believe, up to 50% of people in Crimea are pro-Ukrainian citizens. This happened because the Crimean Tatars are the nucleus and there are many people around us. In addition, there were no serious military actions that could hypothetically sway the population away from Ukraine.

Another point is that our people who left Crimea and reside on the mainland have not interrupted the intensive activities and connections. Unlike Donbas, we maintain contact. Often, even the families in the occupied areas [in the East] and controlled territories of Ukraine do not make friends, do not communicate, often break ties themselves.

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We don’t have that. All Crimean Tatars are close to us, we keep in touch, call each other. We ask, negotiate on something. Families are not destroyed. There are such cases as well, but mostly, social ties turned out to be a very serious and correct matter in our today’s situation.

Therefore, we know that there will be support for the Armed Forces. And that’s for sure. It still exists now. We can say this, though without specifying. It’s clear that there is information, some actions that testify to the disloyalty of the Crimean Tatars to the Russian authorities in Crimea. But, unfortunately, I don’t really want to mention it now without clarifying specific things. It is a well-known fact that pro-Ukrainian leaflets also appear in Crimea, and in places where Crimean Tatars live compactly, Ukrainian flags were raised over the houses until the last moment.

Now, even at Crimean Tatar weddings and at some family celebrations, the national anthem of Ukraine is played, which is stylized to Crimean Tatar music. These are all such subtle indicators that Ukraine is waiting for and doing everything possible for this in those harsh conditions, when the occupation regime is around and you can get into prison very easily even without doing such things.

Therefore, I assess the situation in such a way that when the military or military-police operation of Ukraine enters Crimea, there will be shooting and military actions, but an organized part of the Crimean Tatars will help the Armed Forces.

By Erfan Kudusov, translated by Vitalii Holich

The author’s column is a reflection of the author’s subjective position. The editors of «Tvoe Misto» do not always share the opinions expressed in the columns, and are ready to give those who disagree the opportunity for a reasoned answer.

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