"We regret...," Ukraine apologises for Goddess Kali tweet

KYIV [Ukraine]: Ukraine Deputy Foreign Minister Emine Dzhaparova on Tuesday expressed "regret" after an image of a female above blast smoke was tweeted by the country's defence ministry triggering outrage with social media users pointing out the resemblance of the image to the depiction of Goddess Kali.

The country's deputy foreign minister Emine Dzhaparova said that Ukraine "regrets" the defence ministry's depiction of goddess Kali in a "distorted manner" and that the European country "respects unique Indian culture and highly appreciates support from India".

She added the depiction had been removed. "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 April 30, Ukraine's Defence Ministry tweeted with the caption "Work of art," and shared a picture of a blast with an improvised picture by Ukrainian artist Maksym Palenko. In the picture, the artist depicted the blast in a unique yet offensive blend of famous American actress Marilyn Monroe in her 'flying skirt' pose with the face and detailing resembling Hindu Goddess 'Maa Kali'.

After posting the picture, the tweet triggered a massive backlash, forcing the Defence Ministry of Defence to delete the Twitter post.

One Twitter user posted, "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" Meanwhile, another Twitter user said, "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." Dzhaporava had recently visited India, the first visit by a Ukrainian minister to India since the start of the Ukraine war in February last year.

During the visit the Ukranian minister held talks with Minister of State for External Affairs Meenakashi Lekhi.