Zelensky shares Iftar with Muslim soldiers, promises ‘new tradition of respect’

Iftar is the meal that breaks the daily fast during the holy month of Ramadan.

Volodymyr Zelensky shared iftar with Ukrainian Muslim soldiers on Friday. It’s a gesture that Ukraine’s president says will become “a new annual tradition of respect.”

Zelensky addressed the participants in the gala dinner, which included the leaders of the Majlis – the highest representative, executive body of the Crimean Tatars – and representatives of the Muslim clergy, and thanked the Muslim community. The Ukrainian president also said that the month of Ramadan is “respected throughout Ukraine – even on the front lines, even in combat conditions.”

Since invading Moscow in February 2021, Ukraine has launched several attacks on Russian positions in Crimea, which was previously annexed by the Kremlin in 2014 and is now under its control. Zelensky has repeatedly vowed to liberate Crimea, which he says remains “part of the Ukrainian people and society”. He also criticized Russia’s treatment of Muslims in Crimea.

Zelensky said: “Russia’s attempt to enslave Ukraine and other peoples of Europe began precisely with the occupation of Ukrainian Crimea, precisely with repression in Crimea against the freedom of Ukrainians and the Crimean Tatar people, against Crimean Muslims.” “The liberation of Crimea has no alternatives, not only for Ukraine but also for the whole world.”