Kyiv demands removal of Russian symbols at Venice Film Festival
The Ministry of Culture and Strategic Communications and the Ministry of Foreign Affairs of Ukraine condemn the presence of the Russian flag at the Venice International Film Festival and call for its removal, according to a joint statement from the departments.
"The festival began with the screening of the first tragicomedy of its own authorship. Under this flag, Russian soldiers are committing war crimes right now. Even today, Russia has carried out a brutal attack on Kyiv and several other Ukrainian cities, killing at least 21 people, including 4 children. At the same time, the organizers prefer to turn a blind eye to this and further damage the reputation of the festival," reads a statement published on the website of the Ministry of Culture.
It is noted that tolerating Russia's presence on the international cultural scene is "support for even greater terror" on the part of the Russian Federation.
"As long as Russia has the freedom to choose how to continue killing civilians in Ukraine, giving it an international cultural stage is not freedom of art, but hypocrisy, indifference and support for more terror. The only thing the Venice Film Festival should do now is get rid of Russia's presence and the Russian flag," the statement says.