Preparations for fasting month have been both difficult and emotional for Ukraine’s Muslim population following Russia’s invasion.
Dnipro, Ukraine – Muslims in Ukraine face a difficult Ramadan this year as Russia’s war on the country continues to rage, yet many plan to use the charitable season to raise money to support those in need.
“We have to readjust everything,” said Niyara Nimatova, a Crimean Tatar and head of the Muslim League of Ukraine.
On the first day of the fasting month, likely to be on Saturday, she plans to prepare an Iftar evening meal with a group of displaced families who are staying with her in the Islamic centre in Chernivtsi.
“A lot of Muslims went abroad and those who are still in Ukraine need support,” Nimatova said on the phone from the western Ukrainian city where she has been displaced to from the southeastern province of Zaporizhzhia, parts of which are under Russian control.
Five weeks after Russia invaded Ukraine, more than 10 million people have been forced from their homes, including some four million people who fled abroad, according to the United Nations.
Muslims make up about one percent of the population of Ukraine, a predominantly Ukrainian Orthodox Christian country by religion. Before the war, Ukraine was home to more than 20,000 Turkish nationals, as well as a number of Turkic people, most notably the Crimean Tatars.
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