Liberty wears blue and yellow now!
According to opinion polls (by Rating Polling Agency), almost 90% of people believe that Ukraine will be able to repel Russia’s attack! We believe in our victory despite the shattered Liberty Square in Kharkiv, one of the largest in Europe, despite the Russian occupiers continue to attack Kyiv, Kharkiv, Kherson, Mykolaiv, Mariupol, Konotop, Bucha and other cities, despite dozens of civilian houses have been destroyed and — the worst thing — Ukrainian citizens die, being injured and become refugees. We will rebuild our cities and honor the dead citizens and Ukrainian soldiers who now hold the sky on their shoulders.
We believe that the crimes committed by the leadership of the Russian Federation and the Russian army in Ukraine will be condemned: Ukraine has officially filed a lawsuit against the Russian Federation in the UN International Court of Justice in The Hague. “Russia must be held accountable for manipulating the notion of genocide to justify aggression,” — Volodymyr Zelensky, President of Ukraine said. The ICJ will hold public hearings on this issue on March 7 and 8. Meanwhile yesterday, March 1, the European Parliament recommends Ukraine be granted EU candidate status.
We are United
- European Parliament recommends Ukraine be granted EU candidate status
The European Parliament has overwhelmingly approved a resolution urging EU member states to work towards granting Ukraine candidate status. The resolution was approved by 637 votes in favour; only 13 MEPs voted against, and 26 abstained. The resolution condemns Russia’s war against Ukraine, demands that Russia withdraw all its troops from Ukrainian territory, and calls on EU institutions to work towards granting Ukraine EU candidate status. Source: European Pravda.
- Dozens of countries leave the room at Lavrov’s speech in Geneva.
In protest against the Russian war in Ukraine, diplomats in Geneva left the hall of the UN Human Rights Council before the speech by Russian Foreign Minister Sergey Lavrov. The German Ambassador Katharina Stasch and dozens of other delegations were involved in the previously coordinated action. Source: Spiegel
- Solidarity with Ukraine: wear blue and yellow
- In Ukrainian cities
A thing to be proud of! When russians came they thought they would destroy us. But they didn’t expect how united we are. As never before, people of Ukraine show boldness and desperation. In Berdyansk, Zaporizhia district, when russian invaders tried to get into the city, people went to the main square and without any weapon started to sing the Ukrainian anthem. Without any weapon they wanted to protect what is the most sacred for all of us – national dignity. By now, Berdyansk stands under the Ukrainian Flag. - During the last day the sirens can be heard in Kyiv and district, Poltava, Vinnytsia, Dnipro, Chernihiv, Kharkiv, Zhytomyr, Cherkasy, Khmelnytskyi Okhtyrka, Pryluky, Mariupol, Lviv… The citizens were forced to hide in shelters and stay there over nights. In various cities, residential buildings and civil infrastructure are destroyed or damaged, there were several fires. The city of Kharkiv is under huge destruction, as well as Kherson, which is for two days bombed and hit by russian invaders, number of civilians are dead, unfortunately.
War against Culture?
Already for a week we are fighting for our freedom and justice. As for 1st and 2nd of March, russian army decided to change their tactics and started to cause great damage to Ukrainian cultural monuments and civil peasants.
In the early morning of March 1st russian army destroyed Kharkiv city center, particularly Liberty Square. As a result of the shooting, Kharkiv turned out to be seriously destroyed: Kharkiv regional state administration, Kharkiv Opera Theater, Philharmonia and civil district were destroyed. The Opera Theater, amongst others, was under a huge fire.
Chernihiv library for children was destroyed on Tuesday, March 1st.
“I couldn’t write as for three days we haven’t had electricity, so I was saving stamina.
1.Thank you, friends, for your love and support: hundreds of messages with support words and invitations from all over Ukraine. Answering: I’m home. Chernihiv is ours, everything will be Ukraine!
2. Information about my library, my oasis that I lived for and purely loved, my point of honor, is now destroyed made me feel like my heart had been broken and torn out. But not for a long time, as my friends immediately started to send me messages “We will rebuild”, “We’ll create a new, even better library”, they proposed to open a special foundation to rebuild my library – all in one day. People started to save heritage from the museum, even the last portion of books was saved. We have unbelievably heroic and beautiful PEOPLE. I love you and believe in Ukraine” , – Liudmyla Zinevych, director of Chernihiv library for children.
Babyn Yar
Yesterday as a result of air raid russian bomb hit a TV tower in Kyiv. It is located in Babyn Yar, Holocaust Memorial Center. Ukrainian president, Volodymyr Zelensky, twitted: “Why for 80 years we repeat “Never again” if when bomb hits Babyn Yar, world stays silent. Again, 5 civil lives are lost. The story repeats…”.
#BanRussianCulture
- The Metropolitan Opera refuses to cooperate with Russian artists who support Putin. “While we believe strongly in the warm friendship and cultural exchange that has long existed between the artists and artistic institutions of Russia and the United States, we can no longer engage with artists or institutions that support Putin or are supported by him – not until the invasion and killing has been stopped, order has been restored and restitutions have been made”. Click here to watch.
- Russia won’t participate at La Biennale di Venezia. La Biennale di Venezia has been informed of the decision by the curator and artists of the Pavilion of the Russian Federation who have resigned from their positions, thereby canceling the participation in the 59th International Art Exhibition.
- The Sweden-based music streaming service Spotify has canceled plans to launch in Russia amid the slowing economy, the falling ruble and new personal-data protection legislation.
- Disney stopped releasing films in Russia due to the country’s invasion of Ukraine last week. “Given the unprovoked invasion of Ukraine and the tragic humanitarian crisis, we are pausing the release of theatrical films in Russia, including the upcoming ‘Turning Red’ from Pixar,” a Disney spokesperson said. The company added that Disney is working with its non-governmental-organization partners “to provide urgent aid and other humanitarian assistance to refugees”.
- Netflix refuses to air state TV channels in Russia. “Given the current situation, we have no plans to add these channels to our service,” Netflix told CNN Business in a statement Monday.
How you can help Ukraine
Solidarity of Ukrainians and the support of the world for Ukraine today is amazing! In order to respond quickly and efficiently to the requests of the Ukrainian military and to the willingness of dozens of people in the different countries to support Ukrainians now, NGO «Virmenska 35» (“ВІРМЕНСЬКА-35”) in Lviv opened a special fundraising account. Purposes of cost transfer should be marked as: «charity», «support the Armed Forces of Ukraine». The account was established to receive transfers from international partners and donors in both foreign currency (U.S. dollars, euros) and hryvnias. You can find info here.
А special fundraising account to support the Armed Forces of Ukraine from The National Bank of Ukraine accepts multiple currencies (U.S. dollars, euros, UK pounds, hryvnias). And here is info about an opportunity to support the Ukrainian military through the Come Back Alive, the foundation providing support to the Ukrainian Armed Forces since 2014.
You can help Ukraine in different ways. Here it is!
CultureHeadquarters
Cultural Strategy Institute
Lviv City of Literature
Hnat Khotkevych Palace Of Culture
