Ukraine Parliament condemns Russian Empire’s Circassian genocide that killed and exiled 90% of population

The Ukrainian Parliament has officially recognized the genocide of the Circassian people committed by the Russian Empire, during the Caucasus War of 1763–1864, says Ukrainian deputy Yaroslav Yurchyshyn.

According to Vitalii Pekar, a professor at the Kyiv-Mohyla Business School, after the genocide, only about 10% of Circassians remained on their ancestral land. The rest were either killed or forcibly exiled abroad, with imperial authorities resettling other populations, including forcibly relocated Ukrainian Cossacks, in their place. Today, approximately 750,000 Circassians live in Russia, while 4.5 million are part of the diaspora, many of whom dream of returning to their historical homeland. Significant Circassian communities exist in Türkiye, Jordan, and Syria.

Ukrainian lawmakers have condemned the actions of the Russian Empire and expressed solidarity with the victims of the mass extermination and forced displacement of the Circassians. They also affirmed the Circassians’ right to “repatriation and self-determination.”

The Unsung Lament: Russian Atrocities in Caucasus

Yurchyshyn says 232 Ukrainian deputies supported the decision during the vote.

The draft resolution to recognize the genocide of the Circassians was submitted to the Ukrainian Parliament in June 2022, authored by 16 lawmakers. The explanatory note that came with the document mentioned that representatives of the Circassian national movement had appealed to the legislators on 6 June to recognize the genocide, Radio Free Europe/Radio Liberty has reported.

“If the Ukrainian Parliament approves this resolution, the Circassian people will achieve a significant political and legal milestone in restoring Circassia,” the Council of United Circassia stated at the time.

At least 50 Ukrainian deputies from various parliamentary groups, including the ruling Servant of the People party, expressed support for recognizing the Russian Empire’s crimes against the Circassian people and the genocide in May of last year. Before this resolution, the only country that made a similar decision was Georgia, which passed such a document in 2011.

“The empire will crumble, nations will be free, Ukraine will achieve final victory and lasting peace,” said Pekar.

He added that the adoption of this resolution was preceded by extensive work, including meetings and discussions between the Temporary Special Commission of the Ukrainian Parliament and Circassian organizations, written appeals by Circassian groups to the Ukrainian Parliament, clarifications of historical facts, and debates on their legal assessment.

In December 2024, the Czech Republic recognized the deportation of Crimean Tatars by the Soviet Union in May 1944 as an act of genocide. In 1944, during the Second World War, Soviet authorities implemented a campaign of ethnic cleansing and severe repression of the Crimean Tatar community, deporting a large number of people from the Crimean Peninsula.

By the end of the deportation, not a single Crimean Tatar lived in Crimea, and 80,000 houses and 360,000 acres of land were left abandoned. Nearly 8,000 Crimean Tatars died during the deportation, and tens of thousands subsequently perished due to the harsh living conditions in which they were forced to live during their exile.

Read more here: