“Greetings to all! I would like to thank the organizers and all the caring people and activists who come every week to support Ukraine at this difficult time.
Russia attacked Ukraine in 2014, annexed Crimea, and occupied the Donetsk and Luhansk regions. In 2022, the whole world, not believing its eyes in what was happening, practically online, saw the treacherous full-scale invasion of Russia into Ukraine. The subsequent series of monstrous murders of civilians, violence, execution of prisoners of war, removal, transfer of Ukrainian children to Russian territory, and destruction of civilian and energy infrastructure. Once again, in the 21st century, Russia has demonstrated its imperial essence and Russian imperialist expansionism. After all, the only goal of this war is the subjugation of Ukraine and the destruction of Ukrainians as a nation.
Speaking about Russian imperialism, we cannot help but recall all the non-Russian nations, of which there are more than 190 in Russia, who were also once forcibly captured and colonized. To this day, Russia pursues a policy of assimilating our nations into the “Russian world”, uses our nations in its imperial wars hiding behind the non-existent concept of “federation”, destroys our identity and takes our resources and profits from it.
This year, at the thirtieth annual session of the OSCE, a resolution was adopted that for the first time in history recognized the forced subjugation of indigenous and ethnic nations within Russia.
The resolution states that ethnic minorities in Russia are denied equal rights and self-determination. This is a violation of the Helsinki Principles and the Charter of the United Nations.
Also, PACE resolution 2540 (2024) enshrines the official position of PACE regarding Russia:
- Russia is only formally a federation.
- Indigenous nations are subjected to forced Russification and assimilation, and activists of national movements are persecuted.
- The losses of indigenous nations in the Russian Armed Forces are disproportionately large, and this is a deliberate policy of Russia.
- Decolonization is a necessary condition for the establishment of democracy.
- European states, the EU and the UN must pay attention to the numerous violations of human rights and the rights of the indigenous enslaved nations of Russia.
Thus, International Law must defeat the brute force of Russia, behind which stand bandits and murderers who blackmail the whole world with nuclear weapons!
The international community must be firm, decisive and united in containing the aggressor – Russia and support those who defend their sovereign territory.
Glory to Ukraine!
