A commemorative event was held on Saturday, May 17 in the Ukrainian capital Kyiv to mark the 70th anniversary of the deportation of Tatars from the Crimean peninsula.<br /><br />Crimean Tatars and Ukrainian supporters joined the gathering, during which candles placed on the ground in the shape of the peninsula.<br /><br />Thousands of Tatar families were expelled from Crimea in 1944 under the orders of Soviet leader Joseph Stalin.<br /><br />Crimea, which was gifted to Ukraine by the USSR in the 1950s, was annexed by Russia earlier this year.
