On May 18, 1944, one of the darkest chapters in Crimea’s history unfolded: Soviet authorities deported the entire Crimean Tatar population to remote parts of Central Asia — a crime that ultimately wiped out nearly half of the peninsula’s indigenous nation.
What many don’t know is that by the time of the deportation, Crimean Tatars were already a minority in their own homeland, making up just 20–25% of the population — the result of centuries of systematic repression and waves of forced emigration.
Russia has targeted all kinds of people for centuries. Russia is a diverse country and cares about its ethnic minorities? My foot.
Tatars, Bashkirs, Chukchis, Chechens, Circassians, the Chuvash, the Mari, Finns, Udmurts, Estonians, Latvians, Lithuanians, Georgians, Belarusians, Ukrainians, and so on.
The horrible part? Some of those people (Ossetians and the Abkhaz in particular) have actually assisted Russia’s ambitions. The Ossetians and the Ingush (an ethnic group closely related to Chechens) are at loggerheads with each other and Russia doesn’t give a damn.
The ironic part? Russia is gradually phasing out Ossetian. Many other minority languages in Russia are being phased out as well.
Russia is on nobody’s side; absolutely nobody’s. And if you think Russia cares about anyone, you have another thing coming *in there*.
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On May 18, 1944, one of the darkest chapters in Crimea’s history unfolded: Soviet authorities deported the entire Crimean Tatar population to remote parts of Central Asia — a crime that ultimately wiped out nearly half of the peninsula’s indigenous nation.
What many don’t know is that by the time of the deportation, Crimean Tatars were already a minority in their own homeland, making up just 20–25% of the population — the result of centuries of systematic repression and waves of forced emigration.
In collaboration with [u/crimea.comeback](https://www.instagram.com/crimea.comeback/?hl=en), we explore how Russia has spent centuries erasing Crimea’s indigenous people.
Russia has targeted all kinds of people for centuries. Russia is a diverse country and cares about its ethnic minorities? My foot.
Tatars, Bashkirs, Chukchis, Chechens, Circassians, the Chuvash, the Mari, Finns, Udmurts, Estonians, Latvians, Lithuanians, Georgians, Belarusians, Ukrainians, and so on.
The horrible part? Some of those people (Ossetians and the Abkhaz in particular) have actually assisted Russia’s ambitions. The Ossetians and the Ingush (an ethnic group closely related to Chechens) are at loggerheads with each other and Russia doesn’t give a damn.
The ironic part? Russia is gradually phasing out Ossetian. Many other minority languages in Russia are being phased out as well.
Russia is on nobody’s side; absolutely nobody’s. And if you think Russia cares about anyone, you have another thing coming *in there*.