Ukraine Expresses Regret Over Its Defence Ministry's Offensive Tweet On Devi Kali, Says It respects "Unique Indian Culture"

Ukraine has expressed "regret" for a tweet by its Defence Ministry that depicted Devi Kali in a "distorted manner".

The Ukrainian Defence Ministry on Sunday (30 April) shared a tweet through its official Twitter handle, @DefenceU, captioned "Work of art", featuring an illustration by artist Maksym Palenko.

The tweet had two images, the first was of a massive cloud of smoke caused by fuel tank fire in the city of Sevastopol, in Crimea.

Crimea, an erstwhile Ukrainian territory was included by Russia in its borders in 2014.

According to reports, the fire was caused by a drone strike.

In order to celebrate the damage caused in Russian territory, along with the actual image of the fire, the Ukrainian Defence Ministry also tweeted a graphically modified version of the original picture.

In this, the cloud of smoke is made to look like a skirt lifting up due to wind with a woman trying to keep it down, like American actress Marilyn Monroe's famous pose.

In this image though, the character resembles Devi Kali, with blue complexion, outstretched tongue and with her wearing a necklace of skulls.

The post caused massive social media outrage, with many considering it "hate speech" and appealing to External Affairs Minister S Jaishankar for intervention.

Ukraine's First Deputy Foreign Minister Emine Dzhaparova, who had recently visited India, regretted the Defence Ministry's "distorted" depiction of Goddess Kali and stated her country respects India's unique culture.

“We regret @DefenceU depicting Hindu goddess Kali in a distorted manner,” Dzhaparova said in a tweet.

“Ukraine and its people respect unique Indian culture and highly appreciate support. The depiction has already been removed… Ukraine is determined to further increase cooperation in the spirit of mutual respect and friendship," she added.

Last month, Dzhaparova visited India to seek support from the Modi government in light of the year-long Russian offensive in Ukraine.

She had said that Ukrainian President Zelenskyy would be pleased to speak at the G20 summit taking place in New Delhi in September 2023.

Dzhaparova urged India to invite Ukrainian representatives to the G20 meetings, arguing that the war had a significant impact on the global economy.

Since the beginning of the Russia-Ukraine conflict in February 2022, Prime Minister Narendra Modi has maintained regular communication with Russian President Vladimir Putin and Ukrainian President Zelenskyy.

In a conversation with Zelenskyy in October 2021, PM Modi said that there can be “no military solution” and that India is ready to contribute to any peace efforts.