Begin forwarded message:
From: Dmytro Chepurnyi <<mailto:[email protected]>[email protected]>
Subject: Letter from Ukraine
Date: February 23, 2022 at 00:44:46 GMT+2
To: undisclosed-recipients:;
Dear friends and colleagues!
On the 21st of February 2022, by recognizing the so-called Luhansk
and Donetsk People's Republics Russian Federation confirmed its
responsibility for the violence that is happening in eastern Ukraine
since 2014. Today, Ukraine is in more danger than ever because of
Russian aggression. I am writing now to ask for help. Go to your
government and demand help for our country, because this is not just
a war between Ukraine and Russia, this is a direct manifestation of
Russia's disdain of the norms of international law and an act of
open aggression with complete disregard of the established borders
in Europe. What is happening today paves the way for further Russian
military aggression, which could be the downfall of global peace and
security.
Yesterday Vladimir Putin delivered an hour-long speech full of
fiction, cynicism, and aggressive militaristic rhetoric against
Ukraine. The Russian president referred a lot to the history of the
20th century, but his version of this history is a fabrication
filled with unachieved imperialistic dreams. This is worrying
because it means that Russia could initiate the occupation of any
post-imperial territories across Europe, continuing a pattern of
action we have witnessed in Ukraine, Georgia, Moldova, and beyond.
Putin's speech - in which he rewrote Ukrainian history and denied
the existence of an independent Ukrainian state - concluded with a
formal statement recognizing the independence of Luhansk and
Donetsk, two territories in the east of Ukraine which have been
occupied by Russian-backed forces for eight years.
Why am I writing to you right now with deep concern? I was born in
Luhansk in 1994 and the best times of my childhood were spent in my
grandma's house in the beautiful village in the Luhansk region. I
grew up in eastern Ukraine. Our family lived in a detached house in
a suburb of Luhansk. Part of my family was forced to become
internally displaced persons in 2014 because of Putin's decision to
occupy Crimea and his insurgence in Ukrainian Donbas. According to
the Ministry of Social Policy in Ukraine, there are about one
million internally displaced families who lost their homes due to
the Russian aggression in eastern Ukraine. The second part of my
family currently lives in a 'safe', non-occupied part of the Luhansk
oblast.
The decision to recognize the independence of the so-called Luhansk
and Donetsk Peoples Republics has created an insecure situation in
the non-occupied territory of the Luhansk oblast, which is currently
defended by the Ukrainian army. Today there have been many
announcements suggesting that the newly recognized 'republics' want
to occupy the remainder of the Luhansk oblast with the support of
Russian troops. Russia has already prepared the official military
agreement with these so-called republics.
Since 2014 due to the Russian military intervention the occupied
territories have become zones of violation of human rights. Among
the examples include an illegal prison that is based on the
territory of IZOLYATSIA, an art center in Donetsk I have regularly
worked with in Kyiv after its relocation. Checkpoints allowing
people in and out of these occupied territories interfere with the
right for mobility and restrict economic freedom, access to
medicine, and education. Russia and its republics cannot ensure
basic human rights for the "new citizens".
These personal stories and reflections have become a subject of a
series of cultural projects I have initiated and realized
independently and with various organizations since 2016. I know many
cultural professionals and activists from Mariupol, Kramatorsk,
Sievierodonetsk, Porkrovsk, Myrnograd, Starobilsk, and other towns
of the Donbas region who don't want to be occupied or to relocate in
the nearest future, they are ready to defend the freedom and peace
in their communities.
But in Ukraine today, my normal work is not possible. It is
impossible to plan future projects, publish texts or take part in
educational programs as the future is so grim and unpredictable due
to the Russian aggression against Ukraine. To be clear, this is
re-established colonialism in Europe. We condemn the Russian
aggression and call for everyone to support Ukraine and act against
Putin's crimes together with Ukrainians.
Our response to this act must be to stop the Russian Federation from
taking any further steps to undermine the territorial sovereignty of
Ukraine. Russia and its government must be stopped immediately!
Your public political position and support have never been so vital.
Thank you very much for your support!
Warmest greetings from peaceful Kyiv
Dmytro
Kyiv, Ukraine
22.02.2022
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