Kyiv: Ukraine’s Deputy Foreign Minister Emine Tzabarova has sparked outrage after tweeting a picture of a woman above smoke from an explosion, with social media users pointing out her resemblance to the goddess Kali.
Ukraine’s Deputy Foreign Minister Emine Dzhaparova said Ukraine “regrets” the Defense Ministry’s mutilated depiction of Goddess Kali, adding that the European country “respects the unique Indian culture and greatly appreciates India’s support”.

He said the depiction had been removed.

“@DefenceU regrets the distorted depiction of #Hindu goddess #Kali. #Ukraine and its people respect & support unique #Indian culture. That depiction has already been removed. Resolved to further enhance cooperation in the spirit of mutual respect and friendship,” Ms Dzhaparova tweeted.

On April 30, Ukraine’s Ministry of Defense tweeted with the caption “Work of Art” and shared an image of the bombing with an enhanced image by Ukrainian artist Maksym Palenko.

In the film, the artist depicted the bombshell in her ‘flying skirt’ pose in a unique and offensive combination of famous American actress Marilyn Monroe and depicted the Hindu goddess ‘Maa Kali’ with a similar face.

After posting the image, the tweet sparked a massive backlash, forcing the Defense Ministry to delete the Twitter post.

A Twitter user posted, “Shocking! The official handle of the Ministry of Defense of Ukraine depicts Maa Kali in a demeaning pose. This is not a work of art. Our faith is not a matter of humor. Please remove it and apologize @DefenceU.”

Meanwhile, another Twitter user said, “It’s not right @DefenceU to hurt the sentiments of 1.4 billion Indians. This is a blatant display of Hinduism by the Ministry of Defense of Ukraine. Please remove it.”

Ms Dzhaporava recently visited India, the first visit by a Ukrainian minister to India since the start of the war in Ukraine in February last year. During the visit, the Ukrainian Minister held talks with Minister of State for External Affairs Meenakashi Lekhi.