Crimea Remains at Center of Ukraine’s Fight for Justice, Zelensky Says

President Volodymyr Zelensky said that Ukraine has not forgotten Crimea and continues to fight for every part of its territory, in a message marking Crimean Tatar Flag Day.

“Today, no one on Earth can say that we are not fighting for Crimea,” Zelensky wrote on X.

The president emphasized that Ukraine remembers “every part of its land” and “every one of its people,” adding that Kyiv is working to restore justice for the entire country, including Crimea.

Crimea at the center of Ukraine’s justice policy

According to Zelensky, Russia’s war against Ukraine began in Crimea, making the peninsula central to Ukraine’s policy of forcing Moscow to end its aggression.

“Russia brought its war to Ukraine, starting nowhere other than Crimea,” he wrote.

The Ukrainian leader pointed to Kyiv’s pressure campaign against Russia, including medium-range sanctions against Russian occupiers, a long-range sanctions plan and other measures aimed at pushing Moscow toward ending the war.

He described Crimea as a launchpad Russia has used for aggressive operations not only against Ukraine, but also against other countries.

“For a very long time, Russia has tried to normalize its war – to make Ukraine, all of Europe, and the world accept that its aggression supposedly cannot be stopped and that justice supposedly cannot be restored,” the post read.

Kyiv is now depriving Russia of that launchpad and drawing a line under Moscow’s attempts to make the war appear permanent or unavoidable, Zelensky added.

Justice for Crimean Tatars

The message also linked Ukraine’s fight for Crimea to justice for the Crimean Tatar people, whose national flag was honored on Friday.

Zelensky described the Crimean Tatars as a people who endured deportation and decades of oppression, returned to their homeland, and then saw Russia attempt to steal that home again after the occupation of Crimea.

The Crimean Tatar people, he noted, have preserved their vitality and remain an inseparable part of Ukrainian society.

“Today, as we honor the blue banner with the golden tamğa – this proud flag that unites the entire Crimean Tatar people – we affirm that Ukraine is fighting for itself and all its lands,” the president wrote.

Ukraine, he stressed, is defending justice for everyone who calls Ukraine and Crimea home.

“We must stop Russian aggression. We must bring freedom back to all those who are currently in Russian captivity. We must guarantee security and a reliable peace for the entirety of our state and all our people,” Zelensky wrote.

He ended the message in Crimean Tatar: “Qırımtatar Milliy Bayraq künü hayırlı olsun!” – Happy Crimean Tatar National Flag Day – followed by “Glory to Ukraine!”