Events to mark Crimean Tatar Flag Day will be held across Ukraine this week. However, there will be no celebrations in Crimea itself. The Ukrainian peninsula has been under Russian occupation since the spring of 2014, and the indigenous Crimean Tatar population has been subject to more than a decade of repressive policies by the occupation authorities.
Since early 2025, U.S. efforts to broker a compromise peace deal have focused largely on talk of territorial concessions and geopolitical alliances. But the plight of the Crimean Tatars is a reminder that steps to protect human rights must play a key role in any future settlement.
Since the Russian takeover of Crimea, the peninsula’s significant Crimean Tatar population has been subjected to collective and systematic persecution for their perceived resistance to the occupation. For Crimean Tatars, this reflects the pain of past experiences with Russian imperialism. Following the Russian conquest of Crimea in the late eighteenth century, the indigenous Crimean Tatar population was subjected to decades of harsh policies by Russian imperial authorities, leading to a mass exodus.
Things weren't getting any worse. In February 1944, the Soviet authorities deported the entire Crimean Tatar population to Central Asia. More than 200,000 people were forced to leave their ancestral homeland overnight, and tens of thousands died during the brutal deportation process and the first years of exile.
The deportation of the Crimean Tatars is one of the most notorious crimes against humanity committed by the Soviet Union. Ukrainian parliamentarians recently appealed to the international community to recognize the deportation as an act of genocide.
In the waning years of the Soviet era, Crimean Tatars were finally allowed to return to their homeland. The process gained momentum after Ukraine gained independence, and on the eve of Russia’s 2014 invasion, Crimean Tatars made up about 15 percent of the peninsula’s population of more than two million.
The current wave of persecution of Crimea's Crimean Tatar population began in the early days of the Russian occupation, and reports soon emerged of Crimean Tatars being threatened, kidnapped, and killed. The body of Crimean Tatar activist Reshat Ametov was discovered on March 15, 2014. He is widely considered the first victim of the Russian occupation.
Since 2014, hundreds of Crimean Tatars have been arrested on charges that human rights activists say are trumped up. Members of the community are now believed to represent more than half of Crimea’s political prisoners. In 2016, the Crimean Tatar community’s governing body, the Mejlis, was formally outlawed and labeled an “extremist organization.” Russian raids and detentions in Crimean Tatar areas have become a grim feature of daily life during more than a decade of occupation.
In addition to restrictions on human rights and political freedoms, Crimean Tatars living under Russian occupation are currently also restricted in their ability to celebrate their culture or express their identity. They are not even allowed to hold public memorial events for the victims of Soviet deportation. Meanwhile, Crimean Tatar heritage is being erased across the peninsula.
The Mufti of Crimea, Ayder Rustemov, is one of many representatives of the Crimean Tatar community who view the current policies of the Putin regime as a continuation of previous attempts to suppress the indigenous population and Russify Crimea. “Russia’s goal has not changed, only the form has changed,” he commented in May 2025.
Russia’s full-scale invasion of Ukraine has dominated international headlines in recent years, distracting attention from the ongoing human rights abuses committed by Russian authorities in occupied Crimea. But the situation remains dire. Freedom House’s 2025 Freedom in the World report rated Crimea’s political rights and civil liberties at just one out of 100.
As discussions continue over possible deals to end Russia’s invasion of Ukraine, Crimean Tatars are alarmed by reports that the United States may be willing to recognize Russia’s occupation of Crimea in order to secure peace. U.S. recognition of Russia’s claim to Crimea would be a serious blow to the inviolability of borders, which has been a core principle of international law for decades. It would also legitimize further persecution of the Crimean Tatar population.
Any lasting peace must guarantee the security and human rights of the Crimean Tatar population of Ukraine and allow them to live freely in their homeland. This must include the release of all political prisoners, an end to the infringement of political and religious freedoms, and full legal protection of Crimean Tatar heritage and identity.
Russia's war against Ukraine began in February 2014 with the seizure of Crimea. The persecution of Crimean Tatars is a constant reminder of this crime and must end before the war can be ended.
Mercedes Sapuppo is Associate Director of the Atlantic Council's Eurasia Center.
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