"Stop Crimean Tatar Genocide", - pro-Mejlis rally held at Maidan Nezalezhnosti. VIDEO+PHOTOS

A rally in support of the Crimean Tatar Mejlis in Russia-occupied Crimea took place at the heart of Kyiv on Thursday.

Censor.NET's correspondent reports.

Video by Oleh Bohachuk

The rally was attended by several hundred people, including Mejlis head Refat Chubarov, coordinator of civil blockade of Crimea Lenur Isliamov, daughter of Ilmi Umerov, Ayshe, and former Ukrainian political prisoner in Russia Hennadii Afanasiev.

The participants employed a banner reading "Ban of Mejlis = Ban of the people." They expressed their outrage with an intention of the aggressor country Russia to ban Mejlis in Crimea by recognizing it as an extremist organization.

The rally was addressed by representatives of civil organizations that initiated the event, Foreign Ministry representative Mariana Betsa and Mejlis head Refat Chubarov.

The attendees were collecting signatures in support of two Crimean Tatars - deputy head of Mejlis Ilmi Umerov, prosecuted by occupation authorities in Crimea, and Ervin Inbrahimov, regional Mejlis member who went missing in May 2016.

Petro Poroshenko Bloc MP, head of Crimean Tatar Mejlis Refat Chubarov (wearing a traditional Crimean Tatar hat, left) and coordinator of civil blockade of Crimea Lenur Isliamov (wearing a traditional Crimean Tatar hat, right)