Ukraine's parliament renamed the Russian airport "Simferopol" after Amet-Khan Sultan, a national hero for the Crimean Tatars.
The decision was approved by the Ukrainian Parliament on Thursday. 240 MPs voted in favor of the new initiative.
"This is a widespread practice to name airports in honor of national heroes. Renaming the airport, we perpetuate the hero […] for future generations,” said Andrey Teteruk, MP from the faction "People's Front”.
Amet-Khan Sultan is a Soviet Hero, a well-known WWII military pilot and honored test-pilot. The pilot's name has been honored across Russia, including an airport in Makhachkala, Dagestan, a square in Simferopol as well as streets in various Russian cities such as Alupka, Sudak, Volgograd and Zhukovsky, which are named after the Soviet pilot.
In addition to the airport, Ukraine’s Ministry of Information Policy is reportedly planning to rename 69 Crimean villages and cities. According to the Ministry, this is only the "first stage of reform," with Ukrainian officials planning to rename about a thousand other places in the future.
The sense of the initiative remains unclear. Dozens of Ukrainian officials whose salaries are being financed by Ukrainian taxpayers are engaged in reform, which would have no particular benefit to the state.
