Muslim families in Ukraine are seeking to support each other by all possible means, to alleviate the tragedies of war and asylum imposed on them, with Russia launching a military campaign against Ukraine in late February.
In an exclusive statement to the "Sanad" news monitoring and verification agency of the Al-Jazeera network, the head of the Council of Muslims of Ukraine, Siran Arifov, called on the Islamic world to support his country and its Muslims by all available means.
In order to determine the number of Muslim families affected by the war in Ukraine, Arifov answered, "Most of the Muslim families were affected in the Russian war on Ukraine, because most of them are concentrated in the eastern and southern regions, and these regions are witnessing violent battles."
Arifov estimated the affected families at 10,000, explaining that "there are approximately 10,000 Muslim families between refugee and affected families, some of them crossed the borders to Europe and others stayed at home despite the danger, and there are those who migrated to safer areas, which are in the West."
On the refugees' confrontation with racism, Arifov categorically denied, saying that there is no discrimination on the part of the Ukrainian authorities, stressing that what was reported to the media is exaggerated and they are individual cases.
The head of the Ukrainian Muslim Council, through "Sanad", urged Muslims to support families by launching relief campaigns and in-kind aid, stressing that "aid comes very little, unfortunately, and Islamic countries have not extended a hand to these families, and what has reached us is very simple and modest."
Regarding the activity of the Islamic Council in these circumstances, he said, "We as an institution work in the majority of cities with Muslim families, distribute aid and provide humanitarian services with our modest capabilities."
He said, "What we have is not enough to cover all the affected families, as there are thousands of Muslims who are displaced and need housing, food and medicine," adding, "Through our page on the Facebook platform, we document the activities we do, from distributing food at the borders or providing instructions, through photos." .
The Chairman of the Council stressed that Muslims in Ukraine are a minority and constitute 1 or 1.5 percent of the population, according to him.
The Council of Muslims of Ukraine is a social organization that includes associations and institutions in various cities of Ukraine, and cooperates with governmental, religious and civil institutions, for the interests of the country's Muslims and society.
On February 24, Russia launched a military operation in Ukraine, which was followed by angry reactions from several countries and calls for tougher sanctions against Moscow.