Ukraine must receive all necessary weaponry to protect itself against the Russian aggression. 

These are the words of the 2022 Nobel Peace Prize Winner, Head of the Center for Civil Liberties Oleksandra Matviichuk at the Honorary Lecture of the Kyiv Security Forum celebrating the National Union of Ukraine day.

“I do understand people who read newspaper headlines saying that the Nobel Peace Laureate is calling on to give battle tanks to Ukraine, but the values of modern civilization must be protected,” she stressed.

Ms Matviichuk told the audience that after the start of the Russian aggression Ukraine has met with an unprecedented number of war crimes. 

“These war crimes include shooting down people moving along evacuation corridors, filtration camps system organized by russia, deliberate destruction of residential buildings, churches, schools, hospitals, cases of murder, rape, torture, kidnapping civilians in the occupied territories,” she said.

 “We register and document human suffering so that sooner or later putin and the top political leadership of russia, the top military command, as well as all russians committing such, be punished,” the human rights activist emphasized.

Oleksandra Matviichuk mentioned that putin started the war against Ukraine because democracy approached the Russian borders, rather than because of some imaginable military threat. 

“putin fears ideas of freedom, not the NATO”, - she said. 

Ms Matviichuk also emphasized that the victory of Ukraine should mean not only liberation of temporarily occupied territories but conducting democratic transformation of this country. 

“To win this war and turn into russia makes no sense whatever”, - she underlined. 

“We pay now a price too high for the chance to build the country where rights of each and every one are protected, where authorities remain accountable and monitored, where judges are independent and unbiased, and where police do not beat up students gathering for a peace rally”, - Oleksandra Matviichuk concluded. 

The Kyiv Security Forum, founded by Arseniy Yatsenyuk’s “Open Ukraine” Foundation, is the main platform in this country to discuss issues of war and peace, national and global security.