Russian propaganda spreads the false narrative that Crimea has belonged to Russia for most of its existence and that its indigenous people, the Qırımtatarlar, or more commonly known as the Qirimli, have always been a small part of the Crimean population and have mixed with Russians.

Despite Russia’s numerous attempts to wipe them off the map to fulfill this narrative, today, the Qırımtatarlar are alive and fighting for their homeland on the peninsula and on the other side of the Russian front as part of the Ukrainian Army.

Today, Yuliia and Alim Aliiev, Deputy Director General of the Institute of Ukraine, member of PEN Ukraine, and founder of the Crimean Fig literary project, will discuss the most disputed peninsula in the world — Qirim, or Krym in Ukrainian. Who does it really belong to? Was it really originally Russian land? What happened there between 1918 and 2014, when it became known worldwide after the Russian occupation?