Anniversary of Russian Federation’s armed aggression against Ukraine
23.02.2023
The day of 24 February 2022, when Russia launched a full scale armed aggression against Ukraine, opened a new chapter in the history of Europe and the world. The use by the Russian Federation of its massive military force against sovereignty, territorial integrity and political independence of Ukraine, as well as war crimes and atrocities committed by Russians towards the people of Ukraine has diametrically changed the security architecture in Europe and undermined the international rule based system.
The scale that we already know about of destruction and suffering, gives us an idea of what this war represents, especially for civilians. According to data of the Office of the UN High Commissioner for Human Rights from the beginning of this year, Ukraine's losses are about 18,000 civilian casualties, including 7,000 killed, and among them nearly 500 are children. Nearly 100,000 Ukrainian soldiers gave their lives in defence of their homeland. The Ukrainian side estimates infrastructure losses at 138 billion USD, including damages and destruction of residential buildings, thousands of schools and hospitals, etc.
But the cost of this war cannot be encapsulated only in numbers. For over a year, the fight for the principles of international order and universal values has been based on Ukrainians’ heroism and commitment, supported by multidimensional aid offered by international community.
Together, as Members of the European Union, we have launched EUMAM Ukraine – an EU military assistance mission with its operational command Combined Arms Training Command located in Żagań, Poland. We managed to launch the European Peace Facility in order to conclude military equipment deliveries for Ukraine’s Armed Forces. We have been successful in getting the macrofinancial support being transferred to Ukraine, to stabilise its economy. And we have managed to adopt serious EU sanctions against Russia. Moreover, on Poland’s initiative, international conceptual efforts have been undertaken on Ukraine’s after-war reconstruction process.
Ukraine as an EU candidate country showed strong commitment to European values and huge determination to defend its European choice, also at its highest price. Regardless of the war, Ukraine keeps undertaking and implementing adjustment reforms. This is why, a consensus within the EU was achieved to grant Ukraine EU candidate status. Now, more decidedly than ever, we should continue our support to Ukraine on its path to the European Union, setting the objective of initiating the accession talks as soon as Ukraine reaches the relevant level of readiness.
Moreover, Poland actively joined the EU and its Member States in their actions to convey the message about the Russian aggression against Ukraine and its implications to the countries of so-called Global South. Together, we counter Kremlin propaganda and disinformation.
No less important is a purely humanitarian support and effort. Poland, being an international transport and logistic hub for international aid, including EUCPM mechanism, have provided to Ukraine over 46,500 tons of international aid from 53 countries worth over 270 million EUR, including energy equipment, as the “rescEU energy hub”.
We strongly believe, that it is crucial to maintain our unity, support and determination. The video message prepared by the EU Ambassadors in Norway is a good testimony, that we all engage constantly in international actions to this end.