Volodymyr Zelenskyy awarded the title of Hero of Ukraine to the leader of the Crimean Tatar people Mustafa Cemilev

The Presidential Office reports.

The award was presented to Cemilev for his contribution to the development of an independent Ukrainian state.

Zelenskyy personally presented him with the order.

Mustafa Cemilev is the leader of the Crimean Tatar people, the first head of the Qırımtatar Milliy Meclisi (the representative body of the Crimean Tatars) and a member of the Ukrainian Parliament. For 15 years, he was a prisoner of the Soviet authorities for "spreading views despising the Soviet system".

Throughout his life, Mustafa Cemilev has been fighting for the rights of Crimean Tatars, first with the Soviet regime, and now with the Russian authorities.

Earlier, Svidomi published an interview with Mustafa Cemilev.