On 24 February 2022, russia began a full-scale, unprovoked military invasion of Ukraine, a major escalation  of a war which started in 2014. Today, Ukrainians and supporters of Ukraine gather to mark the 3rd anniversary of when rockets began raining down on Kyiv for the first time since the Nazi invasion of Ukraine. The Ukrainian Congress Committee of America, representing Americans of Ukrainian descent since 1940,  expresses its profound gratitude to all those who have laid down their lives in defense of our common shared  values of human rights and democracy, and prays for a peaceful repose for the souls of the innocent.  

Over the course of the past 3 years, the world has borne witness to russia’s cruelty, bloodthirstiness, and its  unconcealed hatred for the Ukrainian people and the values and principles of freedom and democracy that  the Ukrainian people cherish so deeply. Since 24 February 2022, the Office of the United Nations High  Commissioner for Human Rights has recorded over 40,000 civilian casualties in Ukraine, among those  documenting over 12,000 deaths and nearly 30,000 injured, including 600 murdered children. Eventually,  many more atrocities will be discovered behind the front lines, including the dead buried in unmarked  graves or simply left by the enemy to decompose. 

This war “against Ukraine” is not a war “in Ukraine” nor a war “between Ukraine and russia,” it is simply  russia’s war of genocide. If Ukraine stops fighting, it will cease to exist. 

Today, one in five children in Ukraine has lost a relative or friend since the escalation of war three years ago. To this day, Ukraine continues its search for nearly 20,000 children who were illegally kidnapped and  transfered into the russian federation where they are subject to forced adoption. Once on russian-controlled  territory, they are subjected to russian-enforced indoctrination that seeks to eradicate an independent  Ukrainian identity. Such unfathomable actions spurred the United States Congress to adopt a resolution in  2024 condemning this practice, declaring that such abductions and forcible transfers of children and  facilitation of illegal adoptions amounted to genocide, and that the purpose of this policy was “specifically  targeted at demolishing Ukraine’s unique language, culture, history, and identity.” 

Further war crimes witnessed during this period include the execution-style killing of men and women, the  torture of people held in detention in occupied territories, and sexual violence. Initially, the enemy gathers  the residents in so-called “filtration camps” which russia set up both on occupied Ukrainian territory and in  Belarus. In russian detention facilities, detainees are repeatedly subjected to long periods of forced collective  nudity, intrusive body searches, and attacks on genital organs through beatings and electric shocks with  tasers, including while showering, as well as castration and sexual mutilation. Male former detainees have  reported intentional attacks on their reproductive organs. For instance, one perpetrator told a former  detainee, “I will beat everything out of you, so you cannot make children”. This is in addition to the  documented use of sex attacks as a weapon of war by russian soldiers, with victims of their sexual violence  ranging from four to 82 years old. 

When addressing the United Nations for the first time since 24 February 2022, President Zelenskyy warned  the world that "Evil cannot be trusted." There can be no peace with Evil, just as there could have been no  peace with Nazi Germany and Imperial Japan in 1945. Any so-called peace agreement signed with Evil would  prevent holding murderers, rapists and torturers in court, erasing the promises made at Nuremberg. 

As the world continues to watch this horror, Ukraine remains resolute. Throughout this era of war, the brave  men and women of Ukraine have remained on the front lines of democracy, defending all of Europe from  the advance of tyranny. On this grim anniversary, we must renew our determination to show that tyranny  will never triumph and to say once again that we #StandWithUkraine.

www.ucca.org • www.facebook.com/UCCA.org 

Statement by the Ukrainian Congress Committee of America, contributed by Nadia Rajsz.