My name is Maksym Khmelnytskyi, and I am Ukrainian. Today is the 25th day of the Russian full-scale invasion of Ukraine. To be honest, there are a bunch of ideas in my head I would like to express. However, today I am going to speak to you not as a political scientist, but as a citizen of Ukraine.
First of all, I would like to mention several facts:
1) For the last 8 years Russia has been grossly violating the UN Charter, the Helsinki Final Act, the Paris Charter, the Budapest Memorandum, the International Bill of Human Rights, and the Geneva Conventions;
2) The shelling of Babyn Yar, a Holocaust memorial in Ukraine, bombarding residential buildings (no building remains undamaged in Mariupol) killing thousands of civilians, including elderly, women and children, opening fire on “green corridors” (routes of evacuation for thousands of civilians), interfering with the evacuation of civilians from Mariupol, Volnovakha and other cities and attack on the Zaporizhzhia Nuclear Power Plant have once again proven that the Russian authorities have no historical memory, sympathy and principles;
3) Since 1991 Russia has initiated military aggression and was involved in wars in Abkhazia, Transnistria, North Ossetia-Alania, Chechnya, Dagestan, Syria, Ukraine, and other countries and regions, and express its aggressive intentions, so that there is no guarantee that the list of their evil and terrible plans ends on my country;
4) Russia has been waging wars not only against Ukrainians and other nations, but against the entire Western civilization.
I can say with certainty that we will fight to the end! There are plenty of examples of heroism when a soldier blows up a bridge with himself to check the progress of the Russian troops or unarmed civilians make tanks withdraw back and the conversation between sailors on a Russian ship, and our border guards have become world-famous. These and thousands of other heroic acts make me and more than 90% of Ukrainians confident that we will win!
But we also need your help! Governments of many countries have been supporting us in our fight against Russia – the country which commits crimes every day – for months and even years, but we also need help from every member of the international community.
Therefore, I ask you to take action.
- Spread the news from reliable and verified sources;
- Ask your governments to support by forcing sanctions, giving weapons and other kinds of material support;
- Donate and help Ukraine.
For further information, please, use the following link:
https://how-you-can-support-ukraine.super.site
Please, take some actions to save human lives, to defend the principles of humanity, to build a bright future for our children, and prevent committing such crimes against your countries. And I believe that good will win over evil, and the light will vanquish the darkness.
Maksym Khmelnytskyi, member of IAPSS Ukraine.
