Press release
Luxembourg, February 24, 2023
LUkraine has held a press conference dedicated to the one-year anniversary of Russia’s full-scale invasion of Ukraine
On February 24, 2023, LUkraine asbl, with the support of the Polish Embassy in Luxembourg, organized a press conference, dedicated to the one-year anniversary of Russia’s full-scale invasion of Ukraine, to update on the latest state of affairs in Ukraine and present the results of LUkraine’s effort to contribute to the humanitarian crisis relief caused by this unjustified war.
Since the start of the full-scale invasion, Russia has launched more than 4,700 missiles into Ukraine, of which 97% have struck civilian targets. Approximately 123,000 residential buildings, 218 hospitals, 440 schools, and universities have been damaged or destroyed. Ukrainians heard the air sirens 16,670 times. More than 14M people are displaced, including 7,5M- who fled abroad. More than 2,5M Ukrainians, including up to 700,000 minors have been forcibly deported to Russia.
Polish Ambassador to Luxembourg, H.E. Mr. Piotr Wojtczak expressed his solidarity with the Ukrainian people, underlining the importance of democracy: “One year is an eternity for those who are on the front line and those who hear the sirens sounding every day,” he said.
Natalia Anoshyna, Chargée d’affaires a.i. of Ukraine to the Kingdom of Belgium and the Grand Duchy of Luxembourg, emphasized the necessity of strengthening sanctions against Russia “Strengthening sanctions is needed to ensure that Russia is unable to manufacture or maintain hi-tech weapons. The parliaments of Lithuania, Latvia, Estonia, Poland, Czechia, Netherlands, Slovakia, and the NATO parliamentary assembly under the EU parliament have already recognized Russia as a terrorist state. We call international authorities to join this recognition.”
Anne Calteux, Representative of the European Commission in Luxembourg, acknowledged the unity with Ukraine that European countries have been demonstrating “We also know this war is not only against Ukraine but is also against Europe as a region and the European Union. It’s about our stability for sure, but it’s also about our values. Today the history of the European Union is being written in Ukraine. It’s the first time since the creation of the European Union that the EU has mobilized money to afford military assistance to another country – 12 billion euro”.
According to Mrs. Calteux, 91% of EU citizens believe that humanitarian help should be given to Ukraine, 88% are in favor of continuing to give shelter to Ukrainian refugees, 77% support financial assistance, 74% are in favor of economic sanctions.
Nicolas Zharov, president of LUkraine asbl reported on the organization’s last year results:
“As LUkraine asbl, we felt personal urge and responsibility to move heaven and earth to contribute to the emergency and humanitarian crisis relief caused by this unjustified war.
Over 2.5 million Euro in monetary donations, over 2M of which are spent on lifesaving, rescue, medical equipment, and other items – those are results of the organization run purely by volunteers.
Among in-kind donations, we have received medical equipment, medicines, tactical medicine, food, water supplies, power banks, generators, clothes, hygiene items, dozens of pallets of animal food, toys for children, books, and many more, which allowed us to distribute among refugees and send much needed help to Ukraine. In total, we have sent over 1,000 tons of humanitarian aid to Ukraine.
On top of the support Luxembourgish residents provided to Ukrainians, we have received 8 ambulances provided by the Ministry of Interior, 1 firetruck offered by the city of Dudelange, 2 ambulances from Bissen and Hesperange communes, and ambulances bought by our partners from EIB, Artec 3D, Cineast Festival, and PubliLux. These acts of kindness are impressive and certainly SAVE MANY LIVES. These donations were dedicated to our campaign “Ukraine is Calling,” which aims to provide much-needed rescue vehicles and equipment for Ukrainian first responders.
To date we have already delivered 26 ambulances and 6 fire trucks, distributed in Kharkiv, Donetsk, Kherson, Dnipro, Mykolaiv, and Odesa regions – the ones most affected by the Russian aggression. Next week we are sending our 2nd convoy of ambulances and firetrucks to Ukraine.”
Photos (credits: Julia Yamkova): https://www.dropbox.com/scl/fo/i1p0tyedyfo2vbr01mo8x/h?dl=0&fbclid=IwAR1OAFGsVitLKeOCiLLon_Tc66vVw4D14MFHMgVF9tIuqCrMj1s8CcKuzWc&rlkey=lq4g9hlut5b9uv0sro0feejoo
For more information, please contact Inna Yaremenko: inna.yaremenko@ukrainians.lu