On Tuesday, a thousand candles were lit in Kyiv and the world was reminded that exactly one thousand days have passed since the Russian attack on Ukraine. Diplomats of EU countries, including Poland, paid tribute to the victims of the war started by the Kremlin.
– On this day, Ukraine wants to show the world that it is united and remembers all those who sacrificed their lives in the struggle for our identity. He remembers every city and village that was either occupied or completely destroyed. All this is the history of one nation and one state, said historian and publicist Roman Kabachzij.
A thousand candles on the thousandth day of the Russian attack (Kiev, 19/11/2024) SERGEY DOLZHENKO/EPA
A 102-meter candle was lit in front of the statue of the Mother of the Motherland, which was built during the Soviet era. It depicts a woman holding a sword and shield and looking towards the east. Last year, the Soviet coat of arms on the shield was replaced by the Ukrainian trident.
The monument is part of the National World War II Museum, which organized the memorial service.
Monument of Motherland in KyivPAP/Vladislav Musienko
“We must be united to win”
Culture Minister Mykola Tochytskyi, who was present at the ceremony, said that Ukrainians would show “heroism, resilience and sacrifice” during the 1,000 days. – We are fighting for freedom. So that Crimea, Donetsk, Luhansk are together with Carpathians and Kyiv. And for victory, we must be united, he called.
The head of the Polish embassy in Kyiv, Piotr Lukasiewicz, assessed that after a thousand days of extensive war, Russia did not realize what crime it had committed and underestimated the power of Ukraine. He wrote on the X platform, “a thousand days of war and Russia has not yet understood the scope of its crime and the power of Ukraine's intransigence in the path of the EU and NATO.”
Lukasevich and other diplomats of the European Union countries laid flowers in front of the memorial wall to the victims of Russian aggression in the Mikhailovsky Cathedral on Tuesday.
It includes photos of those in eastern Ukraine since 2014, when Russia supported the so-called dead in Ukraine. separatists entered the Donbas of Ukraine. A thousand days ago, the Kremlin openly sent a regular army to Ukraine, which has been destroying the occupied territory ever since.
A thousand candles on the thousandth day of the Russian attack (Kiev, 19/11/2024) SERGEY DOLZHENKO/EPA
– If the Russian dictator Vladimir Putin is allowed to reach the borders of the European Union, the same destruction will await Europe, Kabachiy said.
– Ukraine is not alone in its struggle, because it is a part of Europe and will not disappear anywhere from Europe. If Putin moves closer to the borders of the European Union, it will remain the same in Donbass today: destruction. The destruction of European civilization – he warned.
Lighting of a thousand candles on the thousandth day of Russia's widespread aggression against Ukraine in the square near the Motherland monument in KyivPAP/Vladislav Musienko
Main photo: SERGEY DOLZHENKO/EPA
