The formal reason of the deportation was the accusation of Crimean Tatars of mass desertion, which was completely untrue - more than 17,000 Crimean Tatar people were mobilized for the Red Army in the early days of the war. Moreover, Crimean Tatars comprised a third part of the partisan movement on the peninsula. 

In total, more than 190,000 of indigenous population were deported from Crimea in three days. The deportation had catastrophic consequences for Crimean Tatars in exile. During the year before the end of the war, more than 30,000 people died of starvation, disease and exhaustion. The Crimean economy, deprived of experienced workers, suffered great damage.

Only in 1989, Crimean Tatars were allowed to return to their homeland. Following the illegal attempt to annex Crimea in 2014, Russian occupying authorities continue to discredit and harass Crimean Tatars on the peninsula.

In 2015, the Verkhovna Rada recognized the forced eviction of the indigenous people of Crimea as an act of genocide.