04 June 2025

An Online Event Titled “Crimea: Recognising the 1944 Genocide and Confronting 11 Years of Russian Occupation” Was Held for the Australian Academic Community

On 4 June, an online event for the Australian academic community titled “Crimea: Recognising the 1944 Genocide and Confronting 11 Years of Russian Occupation” was held. The event was co-organised by the Mission / Office of the Crimea Platform team.

The participants were welcomed by H.E. Vasyl Myroshnychenko, Ambassador Extraordinary and Plenipotentiary of Ukraine to Australia. Introductory remarks were delivered to the audience by Nelia Hrynyshyn, Chief Consultant of the Crimea Platform Department, Kyle Swain, Western Sydney University student, and Elina Novokhatska, manager of Crimean Fig (Qırım inciri) project.

The event served both educational and advocacy purposes: to inform participants about Crimea’s authentic history and current situation, and to raise awareness of the 1944 mass deportation of the Crimean Tatar people by the Soviet regime as an act of genocide. A key objective was to promote the recognition of this deportation by the Parliament of Australia as a crime of genocide.

Featured speakers included Alim Aliiev, Deputy Director General of the Ukrainian Institute and founder of the Crimean Fig literary project, and Suleiman Mamutov, member of the United Nations Permanent Forum on Indigenous Issues. They contextualized the Crimean historical narrative within the broader trajectory of Russian colonial policy, detailing crimes committed by the Russian Empire, the Soviet Union, and the Russian Federation against the Crimean Tatar people. These included efforts to erase historical memory, suppress cultural heritage, and destroy Indigenous identity.

Nelia Hrynyshyn addressed the current situation in occupied Crimea, focusing on the human rights violations, the destruction of historical monuments by the occupying administration, and the resistance of Ukrainian citizens to the occupation.

The speakers emphasized that the recognition of the 1944 deportation of the Crimean Tatar people by parliaments of different countries is not only a symbolic act, but also a crucial element of restoring justice globally, as impunity for crimes leads to their repetition.

Recording of the event: