La Muzeul Militar al Capitalei Europene Culturale Timișoara a fost prezentată o nouă expoziție imersivă „War up Close”. La vernisajul expoziției au participat Ambasadorul Ucrainei în România, Ihor Prokopchuk, conducerea Municipiului Timișoara, reprezentaței Konrad Adenauer Stiftung în România, și reprezentantul proiectului Oleksiy Syvak. De asemenea, expoziția a fost vizitată de Ministrul Culturii al României, Raluca Turcan.

Vă prezentăm în continuare alocuțiunea Ambasadorului Ucrainei în România.

Excellencies,

Ladies and Gentlemen,

I would like to start by thanking for the invitation to take part in this important event.

At the outset, I express profound gratitude to all of you who support Ukraine and Ukrainians in Romania, but also in Ukraine.

Russia’s large-scale and brutal war of aggression against my country has now lasted for 512 days. This unprecedentedly testing time for Ukrainian nation was marked by Ukrainians’ courageous struggle for their national independence and sovereignty, for their right to live freely on their own land and make free choices. This is the fight for fundamental principles of democracy and European values.

In revenge for its military failures on the ground, russia continues terrorizing Ukrainian civilians by attacking critical infrastructure and residential areas with missiles, MLRS, guided aerial bombs and Iranian-made attack drones. These attacks amount to war crimes, crimes against humanity and crimes of genocide. They lead to large loss of innocent civilian lives and large-scale destruction.

Against this backdrop, I particularly stress the importance of the War up Close Project, which unveils the details of the genocide against the Ukrainian nation to the global community using 360° panoramic footage. These materials form enduring evidence of russia’s crimes and will play a role in bringing the aggressor to justice. They preserve the memory of the ongoing tragedy and must help us redouble efforts in ensuring that aggression is no longer present on the European continent.

There are few reflections I would like to offer as contribution to today’s event.

First. We are at a defining juncture that will determine the course of further evolution of history. To have a just peace, but not a temporary silencing of guns, it is necessary to maintain a comprehensive approach as offered by President Zelenskyy’s Peace Formula. Ukraine’s win will be a win for all democracies, for all peace-loving nations. We must win peace. To make it happen:

• Ukraine must receive the military capabilities of necessary quality and quantity;
• the sanctions regime must be further strengthened to deprive the aggressor of revenues and technologies that allow to finance and maintain its war effort.
• we need to ramp up political pressure on the russian aggressor, ensure its isolation and take further concrete steps to take it to responsibility for war crimes and crimes of genocide committed on the territory of Ukraine. The recent Bucha summit and an online summit on establishments of special tribunal for the crime of aggression were very important in terms of prioritising our further action on this track;
• Ukraine needs to receive military, financial, economic, humanitarian assistance for as long as it takes. russia was arming itself and preparing to fight the entire NATO. russia’s aggression was stopped in Ukraine and we have shown that we can defeat the invasion force and make it retreat from the occupied territories.

Second. It is about Russia’s weaponization of food. Ukraine has always been and will continue to be a reliable food security guarantor for the world. However, the russian federation has cynically stopped its participation in the Black Sea Grain Initiative, which was facilitated by the United Nations and Türkiye to ensure grain supply, first of all, to Asia and Africa.

By refusing to extend its participation in the Black Sea Grain Initiative and attacking Ukrainian seaports, russia puts millions of people around the world at risk of hunger and provokes rising food prices. This is part of a deliberate russian strategy to destabilize countries in Asia and Africa. Russia wants to acute food crisis to trigger social unrest, migration and political crises.

It is important to make sure that the entire international community joins Ukraine’s efforts to save vital grain exports to the world and takes a principled position and action.

It is important to protect life – not only in Ukraine but around the globe. Food security is one of the important points of President Volodymyr Zelenskyy’s Peace Formula, aimed at restoring just and lasting peace in Ukraine in conformity with the UN Charter and UN General Assembly resolutions.

In conclusion I would like to again thank all Romanian people for solidarity, support and assistance. We must continue to act with a common purpose and thus advance the future of the European continent as the area of peace, democracy and prosperity.

Thank you for attention.

Expoziția „War Up Close” în România a fost realizată cu sprijinul Konrad-Adenauer-Stiftung, Muzeul Colectivizării din România, Casa Artelor – Direcția Județeana pentru Cultura Timiș, Ministerul Culturii și Politicii Informaționale al Ucrainei și Ministerul Afacerilor Externe al Ucrainei.