On May 2, Ukraine's Deputy Foreign Minister Emine Dzhaparova expressed her regret over the distorted depiction of Goddess Kali by Ukraine's Defense Ministry during her recent visit to India and apologized for the incident. She acknowledged that Ukraine and its people respect the unique culture of India. Ms. Dzhaparova's visit to India on April 9 was the first official visit from Ukraine since the Russian invasion in February 2022. The Defense Ministry's tweet, which depicted an image of Goddess Kali superimposed over a blast fume and was captioned as a "work of art," triggered outrage on social media platforms. Many users pointed out the resemblance of the image to Goddess Kali. The tweet has since been deleted. Ms. Dzhaparova stated that the image had already been removed and that Ukraine is determined to increase cooperation with India in the spirit of mutual respect and friendship. The incident was condemned by many, including Kanchan Gupta, a Senior Advisor at the Ministry of Information and Broadcasting, who tweeted that it was an assault on Hindu sentiments around the world.
Comments