New Delhi: Days after a purportedly offensive tweet on Goddess Kali by the country’s Defense Ministry, Ukraine has expressed regret. The Ukrainian Defense Ministry’s official handle (@DefenceU) put out the tweet, which was captioned “Work of art”. The illustration was created by Ukrainian artist Maksym Palenko.
The post, which has now been deleted, caused a massive outrage on social media. Many termed it “hate speech”, while several others sought External Affairs Minister S Jaishankar’s intervention on the matter.
Ukraine’s Deputy Foreign Minister Emine Dzhaparova, who had recently visited India, expressed regret over the depiction of Goddess Kali in a “distorted manner” by the Defense Ministry, saying her country and its people respect “unique Indian culture”.
“We regret @DefenceU depicting Hindu goddess Kali in a distorted manner,” Dzhaparova said in a tweet, adding, “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.”
Dzhaparova was in India last month, soliciting support from New Delhi in the wake of the Russian offensive, which has been going on for over a year.
