International Rights Presentation
The Real Political Prisoners of Putin
The Captive Nations of the “Russian Federation”
Circassian-Ukrainian Synergy
Adel Bashqawi
March 31, 2025
- I am pleased to participate in this blessed event and to meet with the distinguished audience and friends from Ukraine—a heroic neighboring country to our Circassian homeland—that continues to defy the brutal and greedy Russian aggression.
- I am grateful for this opportunity to shed light on matters related to Circassia. Efforts have been made to collect and coordinate information based on documented and verified sources, events, and memoirs that have occurred and continue to unfold to this day.
• These findings are published in three books, made available to anyone seeking irrefutable facts:
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- Circassia: Born to be Free (Published: September 2017)
- The Circassian Miracle: The Nation Neither Tsars, Nor Commissars, Nor Russia Could Stop (Published: December 2019)
- Circassia and Ukraine: Two Nations Even Russian Genocide Can’t Destroy (Published: August 2023)
• “Circassia and Ukraine: Two Nations Even Russian Genocide Can’t Destroy” book consists of five main chapters:
- The Earth-Shattering Fall of the Soviet Union – December 31, 1991
- The Circassians Until the Sochi Winter Olympic Games – February 2014
- The Occupation and Annexation of the Crimea – 2014
- The Invasion of Ukraine and Beyond – February 24, 2022
- Key Facts
- The Circassians have engaged in sending letters, appeals, and communications to Ukraine since Georgia recognized the Circassian Genocide in May 2011; holding meetings and conferences; and liaising with Ukrainian and other diplomatic missions in Jordan, Turkey, and other countries.
- Efforts draw attention to the parallels between the crimes committed by the Russian Empire against Circassia, its people, and other peoples of the Caucasus in the 19th century, and the Russian invasion against Ukraine and its people in the 21st century.
- I was honored to meet, along with my colleagues, Ms. Maria Mezentseva, a Member of the Verkhovna Rada, during her visit to the United States in March 2024.
- Accordingly, I was pleased to offer my books and their summaries to her, which were taken to the Ukrainian Parliament. They were considered by the Verkhovna Rada key information and documentation—among others—in supporting the recognition of the Circassian Genocide.
- In addition, we also appreciate the commendable efforts made by our Chechen brothers headed by brother Ahmad Zakayev to achieve the genocide recognition.
- On January 9, 2025, the Ukrainian Parliament (Verkhovna Rada) officially recognized the Circassian Genocide.
- Circassian communities, both in the diaspora and in the homeland, received the Ukrainian Parliament’s recognition of the Circassian Genocide with joy and expressed their sincere gratitude to the Ukrainian people.
- This reminds of the Ukrainian famine (Holodomor) of 1932–1933, during the Soviet era, amounted to genocide, resulting in the extermination of approximately 5 million innocent citizens.
- Unfortunately, for years, when Circassians and other Caucasian nations sought to explain the atrocities committed against their ancestors—when the Russian Empire invaded, exterminated, and annexed their homelands—it was difficult to convey to the civilized world the extent of the horrors and brutality they endured.
- However, when Ukraine was invaded and imperial Russian forces attempted to reach the gates of Europe, the world began to understand that no nation is immune. It became evident that the invading forces likely harbored further ambitions beyond Ukraine.
- The world suddenly received a wake-up call, realizing the monstrous threat that had been largely forgotten after the fall of the Soviet Union.
- I pray to God Almighty to grant victory and success to Ukraine and its courageous people.
Slava Ukraini
Slava Cherkasi
