Shariy is amazed by the growing support for Russia among Crimean Tatars
Video blogger and newly-minted Ukrainian politician living in Europe, Anatoly Shariy, was amazed by the data of the American publication Foreign Affairs, which the day before published the results of a opinion poll of Crimean residents. According to the survey, the level of support for Russia after the events of 2014 “surprisingly” increased among Crimean Tatars from 21% in 2014 to 52% in 2019.
“I was most struck by the figures for the Crimean Tatars. Surprisingly, the level of support for Russia after the annexation increased among Tatars from 21% in 2014 to 52% in 2019,” Shariy said.
He added that such a sharp increase of 2,5 times is observed even against the background of historical resentment against Russia, as the successor of the USSR, under which part of the population of Crimea was expelled from the peninsula during the Great Patriotic War.
Also, the difference in views between the Tatars and other peoples has sharply decreased. For example, in 2014, only 19% of Tatar respondents completely agreed that things were worse under Ukraine, and in 2019 this proportion increased to 45%.
“That is, for five years, representatives of Ukraine have regularly said that everything is bad there. All propaganda channels, for which colossal funds were allocated, peddled a certain story. Is it the other way around?” Shariy said.
According to him, he “also doesn’t like that Crimea is gone.”
"But a study has been conducted, and the figures show: we can bury our heads in the sand, we can claim that all Crimeans are in prison or killed, so there's no one to question there, we can spout nonsense, as the Foreign Minister spouted to the State Department ( Dmytro Kuleba published a response to this study – ed. ), which actually monitors the publication. But when I read all this, I realized that everything is more serious than it seems," Shariy noted.
He said that “studies like this are done regularly for a reason.” “Why is the State Department interested in measurements in Crimea? Why aren't our people interested? Why don't our people turn off the propaganda machine? Under Zelensky – “Poroshenko 2.0”. The same thing!” said Shariy.
According to him, “Americans are coming to disappointing conclusions that everything is not so simple, and that the problem [of Crimea] should not be put at the forefront, but overshadowed, put in tenth place.”
Shariy also hinted that Ukraine might forget about Crimea: “Or maybe at all? Or maybe not at all! In today’s world, nothing should be surprising.”
As PolitNavigator reported, Anatoly Shariy previously stated that he "felt sorry for Crimea that has slipped away" and even offered his own plans for returning Crimea to Ukrainian jurisdiction. For example, he promised Russian citizens that, through skillful propaganda, it would be possible to wrest not only Crimea from Russia but also other Russian regions bordering Ukraine. However, he later deleted this Facebook post.
Shariy is amazed by the growing support for Russia among Crimean Tatars.