The Permanent Representative met with the delegation of Brazilian journalists who visited Ukraine as part of the program In Solidarity With Ukraine, organized by PEN Ukraine.

In particular, the Office of the Mission was visited by Flávia Tavares, editor-in-chief of the online channel Meio, newspaper Estadão, magazine Época and the Brazilian edition of CNN; Sérgio Utch, journalist for Globo TV and SBT, who covered the wars in Israel, Ukraine, Syria and Iraq, terrorist attacks, refugee crisis, BRICS and G-20 summits; Guto Pasko, actor and director, co-founder of the production company GP7 Cinema Ltd, whose five films are dedicated to the topic of Ukrainian emigration to Brazil.

The meeting was also attended by Mariia Tomak, Head of the Crimea Platform’s Support Service; on behalf of PEN Ukraine—Tetiana Teren, Executive Director of PEN Ukraine; Maksym Sytnikov, Deputy Executive Director of PEN Ukraine, and Anna Vovchenko, Project Manager of PEN Ukraine. The first deputy chairman of the Mejlis of the Crimean Tatar people, Nariman Dzhelial, who was recently released from Russian captivity, joined the meeting.

During the meeting, the Permanent Representative Tamila Tasheva told the delegation of Brazilian journalists about the main activities of the Mission / Office of the Crimea Platform, with a particular focus on reintegration policies towards Crimea. Tamila Tasheva also described the current situation in occupied Crimea, in particular, the persecution and repression of the indigenous people of Ukraine—the Crimean Tatars, and the resistance that is happening despite the significant harassment, which has only escalated since the beginning of the full-scale invasion.

“Currently, Russia has imprisoned 219 Ukrainian citizens from Crimea, most of them are Crimean Tatars. Despite more than ten years of occupation, it is precious to see how many people are protesting against the Russian occupation. The Security and Defense Forces of Ukraine are destroying the occupiers’ military facilities in Crimea, and the Crimean residents understand that we are fighting for their freedom not only diplomatically and politically,” the Permanent Representative noted.

First Deputy Chairman of the Mejlis of the Crimean Tatar people, Nariman Dzhelial, drew attention to the fact that the international community should not persuade Ukraine to make territorial concessions. Crimea, despite being under Russian occupation in its various forms for centuries, has never been Russian, and the Russian propaganda machine, which actively spreads this, is trying to establish this thesis by destroying Ukrainian citizens living on the occupied peninsula.

“As long as Crimea, like other occupied territories, is under Russian rule, the repressions will continue. Therefore, if we want to stop the persecution and establish the rule of international law, we must return these territories,” said Nariman Dzhelial.

During the discussion, the delegation’s representatives expressed interest in the history of the Crimean Tatar people, measures within the framework of reintegration strategies, conditions of detention of political prisoners in Russian prisons, and communication between residents of the practically isolated peninsula and mainland Ukraine.аного півострова та материкової частини України.