By KYIV. Dec 1 (Interfax-Ukraine) – In the UK Parliament, the Victor Pinchuk Foundation has opened an exhibition Russian War Crimes, dedicated to the stories of people and places that have become objects of Russian aggression against Ukraine. The exhibition will last until December 9.
After a successful exhibition at the former Russian House during the World Economic Forum in Davos in Brussels, as well as at the Ukrainian Institute of America in New York, in partnership with the Office of the President of Ukraine and PinchukArtCentre, the Foundation tells British parliamentarians about the crimes of the Russian Federation against the Ukrainian people.
The exhibition opened on November 29: in the House of the British Parliament, Speaker of the House OF Commons Sir Lindsay Hoyle, First Lady of Ukraine Olena Zelenska, Head of the President’s Office of Ukraine Andriy Yermak, Ukrainian businessman and philanthropist Victor Pinchuk and Executive Director of the International Bar Association, Dr Mark Ellis presented the exhibition Russian War Crimes to British parliamentarians.
The exhibition of Russian War Crimes records the actions of a nation that has not only invaded a peaceful country but actively targets Ukrainian civilians through a series of criminal actions including rape, kidnapping, deportations, executions, and bombardments. The exhibition includes photographs from all over Ukraine, taken since the start of the war.
Sir Lindsay Hoyle noted the importance of the exhibition, which shows the reality, the atrocities that were carried out against civilians.
“The images in it are shocking, distressing and appalling. We said ‘never again’ following the atrocities carried out in the Second World War, and then again in Bosnia. Yet here we are. Even though the images are upsetting it is important that we as parliamentarians engage with the subject matter and understand the reality for Ukraine,” the Speaker of the House of the Commons said, quoted by the press service.
Zelenska stated that more than 40,000 war crimes have been registered in Ukraine. “As we are here opening the exhibition, the Russians are murdering, raping and humiliating Ukrainians. They will continue murdering with impunity if we don’t stop them,” Zelenska stressed.
Yermak said that every time he opens this exhibition, he names more and more crimes committed by the Russian military against Ukraine.
“To date, 46,000 crimes have been committed, 43,000 houses destroyed, 8,000 civilians killed, of which 450 were children, and 11,000 children have been forcibly deported from Ukraine. But these are just the crimes we know about, the real scale of the tragedies is not yet known. We see terrible crimes like the rape and murder of a young girl, or a young man murdered after having his genitals cut off, every time we liberate a settlement. Behind these crimes, there has been one that has made them possible. We must investigate the one big crime, the leadership crime, the crime of people in power. We cannot restore justice without this,” the head of the President’s Office said and pointed out the need to create a special tribunal.
Pinchuk added that since 2016 he has been involved in the creation of the Babyn Yar Holocaust Memorial Center – the place where 81 years ago German Nazi soldiers killed more than 33,000 Ukrainian Jews in two days. However, since February 24, we have again witnessed numerous war crimes and realized that our dream of "never again", unfortunately, has not come true.
Ellis, executive director of the International Bar Association, noted that Russia violates the territorial integrity of the state. “The exhibition showing pictures of the violations enables us to better speak out on what Russia has done. The power of telling this story must not be underestimated. A tectonic shift in humanity is underway. Ukraine is the most documented war in history. No longer do you need to show the chain of custody, pictorial evidence can speak for itself and ensures authenticity. These videos and these pictures will help ensure justice is brought,” Ellis said.
The Russian War Crimes Exhibition can be found at Portcullis House, 1 Victoria Embankment, London SW1A 2JR from 29 November to 9th December.
To view the video of the opening event, and hear these speeches and testimonies for yourself, is possible on the Foundation’s YouTube channel.
