War, not inevitable, result of choice of one person in Kremlin, says Ukrainian ambassador to Romania

The war that started on February 24, 2022 was not "inevitable", it was "the result of the choice of one person in Kremlin", Ukrainian Ambassador to Romania Ihor Prokopchuk said on Tuesday, inform agerpres.ro.

He attended an event marking 1,000 days since the start of Russia's invasion of Ukraine, alongside several diplomats, military officers and family members of Ukrainian soldiers who are still prisoners of war.

The documentary "People of Steel" by Serhiy Fomenko was screened at the event, a production that shows the drama of those who defended Mariupol in the first months of the invasion. The film is also a platform for the cause of freeing Ukrainian prisoners of war.

"We mark a bleak milestone - 1,000 days since, very early in the morning on February 24, 2022, Russian missiles began to hit Ukrainian towns where people were sleeping, and tens of thousands of Russian soldiers and soldiers began to cross the border into Ukraine from various directions. This war was not inevitable. This war was the result of the choice of a single person in the Kremlin who decided to launch a war of aggression, the biggest war in Europe since World War II," the ambassador said.

Ihor Prokopchuk recalled that an important factor in his country's resistance was the solidarity that came from many states.

US Ambassador Kathleen Kavalec emphasized the efforts of the US and other countries around the world to support Ukraine.

The United States have stood by Ukraine during these 1,000 days. But we are not alone. More than 50 countries have come to Ukraine's aid, because the struggle of Ukrainians is a struggle for freedom against those who prefer a world ruled with an iron fist, she said.

Kavalec added that the US has given Ukraine about 100 billion dollars in aid during this period, and the rest of the countries have contributed an even larger amount together. Under these conditions, Russia is isolated, under sanctions and militarily weakened.

Canada's ambassador to Romania, Gavin Robb Buchan, said that "it costs us more not to support Ukraine in the long term than to support it".

Before the screening of the movie, members of the families of prisoners of war - Iana Mitkevich and Tetyana Duchuk - sent messages.

Tetyana Duchuk recounted that her brother Andrei, who fought in Mariupol, has been a prisoner for almost three years. "A month before the war, my brother suffered a cerebral hemorrhage after being hit. After he finished his treatment, when the war started, he went without hesitation to defend our country. He considered it his duty to defend his home, his child, his parents and all of us," she said.

Today, the family knows nothing about the man's fate, except that he has been in several prison colonies in Russia. "He and his comrades are in hell," said Tatiana Duciuk.

Iana Mitkevich added that she stayed in Romania after the car she fled the war with broke down. She initially promised not to leave Ukraine for the sake of her husband who was fighting in the war. At the time of the Russian invasion, he was in Mariupol.

Mitkevich recounted how she regretted when a rocket landed on their street in Nikolaev and her four-year-old son stopped speaking because of the shock.

Over time, she said, her child began to speak, but with difficulty and obsessively repeating one question: "Where is Daddy?".

Iana Mitkevich came to the event with two photos of her husband - one from before his captivity and one from during his imprisonment, which she found on the online platform Telegram.

"We have to fight for each of our soldiers, but it's very hard and we don't get results alone. Tetyana and I are here to ask for help from the democratic world," Iana Mitkevich pleaded.

(Fluierul)