Ukraine, calling the Crimean Tatars Ukrainians, has been claiming its rights to the peninsula since ancient times.
Ukrainian historian, employee of the Institute of History of the National Academy of Sciences of Ukraine Kirill Galushko stated this in an interview with the magazine “Kraina”.
“Ancient Rusyns, Slavs, Polovtsy, Scythians are Ukrainians. Not all are ethnic, but they lived on this land. If we are ready to give away some chronological layer of our history, someone will definitely take it away. Russians call Crimea “the birthplace of Russian Orthodoxy.” By calling the Crimean Tatars Ukrainians, we are taking away the entire history of the peninsula – right up to the Tauri and Scythians,” the historian said.
He also assured that Ukrainization in the country will continue and win, but this, he said, will take time, “perhaps a generation or two.”