Ukraine calls on all foreign states to refrain from participation of their military personnel in parade in Moscow on May 9 - MFA statement
The Ministry of Foreign Affairs of Ukraine has published a statement in which it called on foreign states to honor the victims of World War II and to refrain from the participation of military personnel in the parade in Moscow on May 9.
"Today, a cruel and unprovoked war of aggression is being waged against the Ukrainian people, which is one of the victorious nations over Nazism and paid a terrible price for peace and freedom in Europe. In the course of this aggression, Russian soldiers have committed hundreds of thousands of war crimes, have already killed 620 and wounded almost 2,000, and have deported at least 20,000 Ukrainian children," the statement says.
The Foreign Ministry stressed that the Russian army has committed and continues to commit atrocities in Ukraine, the scale of which Europe has not seen since World War II, and it is this army that will march on Red Square in Moscow on May 9.
"These people are not the liberators of Europe, they are occupiers and war criminals. Marching side by side with them means sharing responsibility for the blood of murdered Ukrainian children, civilians and soldiers, and not celebrating the victory over Nazism. Russia invites foreign servicemen to participate in the May 9 parade in order to whitewash its war crimes and justify aggression," the Foreign Ministry noted.
Ukraine emphasizes that the participation of foreign military personnel in this action is unacceptable and will be regarded by Kyiv as an affront to the memory of the victory over Nazism, the memory of millions of Ukrainian front-line soldiers who liberated the country and all of Europe from Nazism eight decades ago.
"We call on all foreign states to refrain from the participation of their military personnel in the parade in Moscow on May 9. This especially applies to countries that declare neutrality in relation to Russian aggression against Ukraine or consistently take a neutral position in international relations. The participation of the military of such countries in a joint parade will directly violate such declared neutrality and will look like support for the aggressor state," the ministry stressed.
The Ministry of Foreign Affairs calls on all foreign states and international organizations to honor the victims of World War II and the collective victory over Nazism, which at the same time does not justify Russian aggression and atrocities against Ukrainians.