The Crimean Tartar community are an ethnic group of Turkic tribes who originated from the Central Asian Steppes and migrated as far back as the 10th century, making their way to the Crimean peninsula from the 13th to the 17th centuries.

On May 18, 1944, almost immediately after the liberation of Crimea, the state defense committee of the U.S.S.R. ordered the expulsion of the remainder of the Tatar population from Crimea, including the families of Crimean Tatars serving in the Soviet Army. Known as the “Sürgünlik” in the Crimean Tatar dialect, the operation eventually involved the removal of more than 230,000 people, with many families being relocated to the Uzbek Soviet Socialist Republic. Ultimately, the deportations resulted in the removal of the entire ethnic Crimean Tatar population, at the time about a fifth of the total population of the Crimean Peninsula; the deportations also included smaller numbers of ethnic Greeks and Bulgarians.

According to further investigation by external Crimean Tartar activists in the 1960s, it was discovered that a large number of deportees — thought to be more than 100,000 — died from starvation or disease as a direct result of deportation. On November 12, 2015, the Ukrainian parliament adopted a resolution recognizing the event as genocide and declared May 18 a day of remembrance for the victims.

The coins are struck by the Ukrainian Mint and designed by Ukrainian artists Vladimir Taran, Alexander Kharuk, and Sergey Kharuk and engraved by Vladimir Demyanenko and Anatoly Demyanenko.

The coin of 10 hryvnia face value has been made of silver; quality – “proof”, weight in fineness – 31.1 g, diameter – 38.6 mm, mintage – 2 000 pieces. The coin edge is smooth with in-depth legends: Ag 925 (metal and fineness), 31.1 (weight in fineness), NBU Mint logo.

The coin of 5 hryvnia face value has been made of nickel silver; quality – “BU”, weight – 16.54 g, diameter – 35 mm, mintage – 30 000 pieces. The coin edge is reeded

The commemorative coins are a legal tender of Ukraine and shall be accepted without any restrictions at their face values for all types of payments as well as for placing to the settlement accounts, on deposits, for letters of credit and transfers.