March 9, an action of solidarity with Crimeans took place in Shevchenko Park in Kyiv. It was timed to the birthday of an outstanding Ukrainian poet, artist and public figure Taras Shevchenko, whose literary heritage is regarded to be the foundation of modern Ukrainian language. The participants of the rally called this holiday one of the main days of the struggle against the Russian occupation of the Crimea.

The organizers of the action were several Ukrainian human rights organizations.

“Let the Crimeans, who remained under the Moscow occupation, know that we support them, we will return, and we will sing together the Ukrainian hymn near the monument to Kobzar!” – The organizers said the action.

Activists recalled that in 2014, the organizers of the Euromaidan-Crimea movement, Andrei Shchekun and Anatoly Kovalsky, were abducted in Crimea on this day. On March 9, 2015, activists who came out with Ukrainian flags (Veldar Shukurdzhiev, oleksander Kravchenko and others) were detained. On March 9, 2016, the Russian administration banned peaceful rallies at all. Moreover, in many cities of Crimea “authorities” even prohibit laying flowers to the monuments of Taras Shevchenko.

Material from QHA.