PRESS RELEASE : First Lady Olena Zelenska addressed the Parliament of the United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern Ireland [November 2022]
The press release issued by the President of Ukraine on 29 November 2022.
As part of her visit to Great Britain, First Lady of Ukraine Olena Zelenska spoke before the Parliament of the United Kingdom. In her speech, the President’s wife compared the bombing of Ukraine by the Russian aggressor to the bombing of Great Britain by the Nazis during World War II.
“You didn’t give up. We will not give up. But we need more than just victory. We need justice. I came to you precisely for this – for justice, with which this war should end just as that war ended. It was impossible to imagine that after all the crimes of the Nazis they would be left unpunished. We can’t imagine it either. In the same way, we strive for justice for our people, against whom Russian missile raids are targeted,” the First Lady said.
During her speech, Olena Zelenska showed footage of Ukrainian cities during blackout as a result of Russian shelling and photos of people who are forced to look for electricity and heat. In particular, she showed a photo of a girl whose parents brought her to a gas station in Kyiv to be able to turn on her inhaler.
Separately, the President’s wife focused on the facts of numerous rapes of Ukrainians by the Russian invaders. This topic was the focus of her speech yesterday at the PSVI Conference on Preventing Sexual Violence in Conflict.
“Everywhere in the liberated cities and communities, after the retreat of the Russian army, torture chambers arranged by the occupiers are found. Thousands of their crimes have been documented, including crimes of sexual violence. We know that the youngest girl who was raped by the Russian occupiers is four years old. The oldest victim is 85 years old. These are established victims. And how many of those we don’t know about yet?” added Olena Zelenska.
The First Lady called on the British parliament and the government to lead a global effort to establish a Special Tribunal for the crime of Russian aggression against Ukraine. In particular, to promote the adoption of the resolution of the UN General Assembly prepared by Ukraine on the creation of a Special Tribunal for the crime of aggression of the Russian Federation against our country – by analogy with the Declaration of St James’s Palace of the Second World War, when a document was signed on January 13, 1942, which recorded the will to prosecute all those guilty of war crimes, crimes against humanity and crimes against peace. The Nuremberg trials were subsequently held on this basis.
“Today I am asking you to become a world leader of justice. For Ukraine, but also for the world! Because justice is needed not only by us and all our victims. It is needed so that the world continues to live according to the values of humanism, not the right of the strong, as the invader would like. Justice is needed for the whole world to survive,” the President’s wife emphasized.
After the speech, the First Lady held a meeting with Speaker of the House of Commons of the British Parliament Lindsay Hoyle, during which she thanked for the invitation and assured that Ukraine highly appreciates both the personal position of the Speaker of the House of Commons, who strongly condemns Russian aggression, and the constant strong support from British MPs.
