Weeks after her visit to India, Ukraine's first deputy foreign minister Emine Dzhaparova on Tuesday (2) expressed "regret" after an image of a female above a blast smoke tweeted by the east European nation's defence ministry resembled Hindu Goddess Kali, triggering a massive outrage on social media.
Dhzaparova, who was India in April in a first visit by a Ukrainian minister to the South Asian nation since Russia invaded that country in February 2022, said Ukraine "regrets" the defence ministry's depiction of Goddess Kali in a "distorted manner" and that the country "respects unique Indian culture and highly appreciates support from India".
She said the depiction, which showed the Kali-like figure in a pose of Marilyn Monroe, was removed from the social media platform.
While India has not condemned the Russian act of invasion and continued its trade, especially in oil, with Moscow, it has also provided Ukraine with humanitarian aid.
"We regret @DefenceU depicting #Hindu goddess #Kali in distorted manner. #Ukraine & its people respect unique #Indian culture&highly appreciate support. The depiction has already been removed. is determined to further increase cooperation in spirit of mutual respect& friendship," Dzhaparova tweeted.
On Sunday (30), the defence ministry of Ukraine shared the controversial picture along with that of a blast smoke with the caption "Work of art". The blast was depicted in a blend of Monroe's famous "flying skirt" pose with a face resembling the Hindu goddess but with blonde hair which is actually a cloud.
The tweet soon received a massive backlash, forcing the ministry to delete the tweet.
"Shocking! Official handle of Ukraine Defense Ministry is portraying Maa Kali in a demeaning pose. This is not a work of art. Our faith is not a matter of joke. Take it down and apologise @DefenceU," said one tweet.
"Hurting sentiments of 1.4 billion Indians is not Okay @DefenceU. This is a blatant display of Hinduphobia by Ukraine's defence ministry. Please remove this," said another.
Another user said, "Shame on you for making such cartoons and insulting our faith! Utterly disgusting attempt"
Many angry Twitter users in India even tagged Twitter chief Elon Musk and Indian external affairs minister Subrahmanyam Jaishankar urging them to take strict action.
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