Crimea Women for Peace

Finally everyone in the world knows Crimea, my beautiful Crimea, a multinational territory located in the South of Ukraine… or… it was located?.. Who we are now and who we will become after Crimean referendum on March 16? Time will show.

The last months changed my motherland significantly, the last weeks changed it irreversibly. The boarders of Crimean peninsula are guarded by militarists in “unidentified uniform that anyone can buy in a regular store”. Probably in the same store where they sell armored troop-carriers.

Local authorities announced independency of autonomy. Ukrainian tv channels are blocked. Reporters Without Borders appeal to Crimean authorities to find disappeared journalists. Flights to and from Kyiv are canceled. Cossacks in theatrical hats guard the building of Crimean parliament. Streets are full with pro-Russian propaganda. Continental Ukraine threats with sanctions for what is happening in Crimea. Police asks people to be careful and not give documents to others because of the incidents when strangers tore passports. Referendum to decide where Crimea wants to be – in Russia or in Ukraine – will take place on March 16. We can only guess about the transparency of the process.

Everything looks like in a surreal movie. In the middle of these scenes an International Women’s Day brought Crimean women to the streets. “The most important for us now is to avoid the war”, they say. The movement is called “Crimea Women for Peace”. The main their appeal is to keep Crimea safe and avoid a war conflict. By different data, demonstration that took place all over Crimea gathered several thousands of women of different nationalities who want safe and peaceful future for their children.

Crimea women against war! Crimean women for peace!