Maria Tomak, Head of the Crimean Platform’s Support Service, took part in an online roundtable discussion on the situation in the temporarily occupied Crimea. The online discussion was organized by the U.S.-Ukraine Foundation.

David Kramer, Executive Director of the George W. Bush Institute, and Kateryna Shynkaruk, a researcher at the Bush School of Public Administration and Public Service, also took part in the discussion. The event was moderated by Nadia McConnell, co-founder and president of the US-Ukraine Foundation.

The discussion focused on the war crimes and crimes against humanity committed by the Russian Federation in the occupied territories of Ukraine, in particular in Crimea since 2014. The speakers also discussed the key role of the occupied peninsula in this war not only for Ukraine but also in the context of European security.

Maria Tomak informed the participants in detail about the current human rights situation in the occupied Crimea, which has significantly deteriorated since the beginning of the full-scale invasion, and drew attention to the problem of illegal transfer of children from the newly occupied territories to Crimea, namely the vulnerable situation of orphans and children deprived of parental care due to forced transfer to the territory of the Russian Federation and the imposition of Russian citizenship through adoption.

The representative of the Office of the Crimean Platform also highlighted the discriminatory policy of the occupation administrations towards the residents of the occupied Crimea, in particular towards the indigenous Crimean Tatar people.

During the discussion, Maria Tomak spoke about the activities of the Office in developing strategies for the reintegration of Crimea after de-occupation, in particular, the recently developed strategies for the economic recovery of the peninsula: “Crimea is Ukraine’s window to both the Mediterranean and the Global South”.

Analyzing Russia’s criminal actions in the context of human rights, David Kramer said: “Such barbaric behavior is standard practice for Russia, with a complete lack of human values and respect for the sovereignty and territorial integrity of other states. And it is tragic that Ukraine has been the victim of such behavior, which is based on war crimes, crimes against humanity and genocide, not only in recent years, but since the beginning of the occupation in 2014.”

In his speech, Mr. Kramer also emphasized the role of Ukraine, the courage and resilience of its citizens in resisting Russian aggression and uncompromising territorial integrity of the state: “We in the West are confident that Ukraine will win, and we will help it to do so!”

The discussion can be viewed here: https://cutt.ly/H7pGc1v