Ukraine minister apologises for 'distorted' Goddess Kali tweet, says 'respect Indian culture'

The controversy comes weeks after Ukrainian Deputy Foreign Minister Emine Dzhaparova visited India

Ukrainian Deputy Foreign Minister Emine Dzhaparova on Tuesday took to Twitter to issue an apology over the recent social media controversy after the defence ministry shared a photo of Goddess Kali superimposed on what looked like a blast fume.

"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.

Also Read | Ukraine's defence ministry deletes tweet allegedly depicting Goddess Kali following online outrage

The Ukraine defence ministry's tweet, which has now been deleted, was captioned "Work of art" with an image of Goddess Kali superimposed over a blast fume. It triggered a massive outrage online and Twitter users accused the Ukrainian defence ministry of hurting sentiments of Indians.

"Recently Ukraine Dy Foreign Minister was in Delhi soliciting support from India Behind that fakery lurks the real face of Ukraine Govt. Indian goddess Ma Kali has been caricatured on a propaganda poster. This is an assault on Hindu sentiments around the world. @UkrembInd," Kanchan Gupta, senior advisor, Ministry of Information & Broadcasting, tweeted on April 30 while sharing the tweet by Ukraine's Ministry of Defence.

Gupta also said Ukraine has mocked "Goddess Kali in a manner no foreign government or country has ever done". He also branded the Ukraine ministry's actions as "brazen hate speech".

Some Twitter users even sought External Affairs Minister S Jaishankar's intervention. "Please take note of this defamatory post that shows Maa Kali in a bad light," a user said tagging Jaishankar.

But Dzhaparova's apology seemed to have done very little. Several users replied to her tweet saying it is 'shameful to see how a sovereign country without any reason posts insulting images of a Hindu deity'.

One user, however, said that not often would a country issue a statement like this and as such, the apology should be accepted.

Some, however, were of the opinion that the defence ministry should have directly apologised for the post.

The controversy comes weeks after Dzhaparova visited India. She was the first top-ranking Ukrainian minister to visit India since the Russia-Ukraine war broke out last year in February.