How Muslims fast in the war-torn Ukraine

In the holy month of Ramadan, which is the ninth month on the Muslim calendar, the Muslim faithful observe a dawn-to-dusk fast.

Unlike in many European countries, Ramadan in war-torn Ukraine came with a difference as the country continues to record more number of displaced persons.

According to the United Nations, five weeks after Russia invaded Ukraine, more than 10 million people have been forced from their homes, including some four million people who fled abroad.

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A lot of Muslims have fled abroad and those who stayed behind need urgent support to cope with the difficult situation.

Muslims make up about one per cent of Ukraine’s population, a country that is predominantly populated by Orthodox Christians.

It is difficult, both physically and psychologically, for the Muslim population in the country as the sounds of sirens send them into hiding even while breaking fast.

Aljazeera reports that Ukraine was home to more than 20,000 Turkish nationals, as well as a number of Turkish people, most notably the Crimean Tatars.

Niyara Mamutova, a Crimean Tatar and head of the Muslim League of Ukraine, said Muslims in the country had “to readjust everything”.

Niyara Mamutova has been displaced from the southeastern province of Zaporizhzhia. She said that on the first day of the fasting month, she planned to prepare an Iftar evening meal with a group of displaced families who are staying with her in the Islamic centre in Chernivtsi.

However, preparations for Ramadan have been both difficult and emotional this year as bombs fall on the country and the authority has enforced curfews on many areas.

There are movement restrictions in the evening when families gather to break the daylight fast.

A wife to one of the imams in the country, Mamutova, said, “We have to be ready to do our best to get God’s forgiveness, to pray for our families, our souls, our country, Ukraine.”