Delegates of the PABSEC General Assembly visited the cities of Bucha and Irpin in Kyiv region, which suffered from the russian occupiers
The parliamentarians visited the mass graves of civilians killed by the russians, in particular, near the Church of St Andrew the First-Called and All Saints in Bucha, and saw with their own eyes the consequences of the “russian world” – destroyed houses in Irpin and the remains of the destroyed Romanivskyi Bridge over the Irpin River.
“It is very important that deputies from twelve countries have come to us and have now seen with their own eyes what russia did when it occupied our territories in the Kyiv region. And they were very impressed!” said Anna Purtova, the Head of the Permanent Delegation of Ukraine to the PABSEC.
According to PABSEC Secretary General Asaf Hajiyev, the parliamentarians were shocked by what they saw and could not contain their emotions.
“This is terrible. Cities have been destroyed, people have been killed and injured. I wish you to restore everything as soon as possible, because we have to think about the future and about the preservation of the next, younger generation, because it must live in peace and security. There is no other alternative,” Asaf Hajiyev said.
For his part, Oleksandr Marikovskyi, the Member of the Ukrainian Parliament and Chairman of the PABSEC Economic Committee, stressed that today’s events at the PABSEC General Assembly are taking place without the participation of russia, and this, he said, is a good sign.
“russia did not send an official letter and refused to participate in the delegation, it stops making contributions. This is part of the work that Ukrainian parliamentarians have done with representatives of different countries in the PABSEC. And this is also part of the event that is currently taking place in Ukraine. We are fighting on our own front,” said Oleksandr Marikovskyi.
Ramaz Nikolaishvili, the Member of the Georgian Parliament, supported his colleagues.
“It is very good that the delegation is being held in Ukraine, and many countries have the opportunity to see what those beasts did in this beautiful country. That’s why I’m very glad that 12 countries came, not 13. Every day when I think about your country, I realise the enormous strength of the Ukrainian people. Everyone should understand that today Ukraine is defending Europe and the whole world! That is why I wish you not just peace, but victory!” the Georgian parliamentarian stressed.
During the visit, the Ukrainian side emphasised its importance and thanked for the opportunity to participate in person.
The Member of the Permanent Delegation of Ukraine to the PABSEC Liubov Shpak drew particular attention to this.
“We have visited many PABSEC member states and tried to convey the situation in Ukraine today. After all, when you are in another country, you don’t see it all. But today the delegation has come to us and we are showing everything so that the delegates can see with their own eyes what russia has done in our country.”
“It is very important to see these horrors of russian aggression now. We are shocked! And the world must know this. We are fighting and standing for Ukraine because such atrocities must not happen again in the 21st century. We will do everything in our power to support you and speed up the coming of peace!” said Pavel Hristov, the Member of the Bulgarian Parliament.
The Member of the Romanian Parliament Andrei Hangan supported his colleagues and expressed assurances of further support for the Ukrainian people, including from his country’s representation in the PABSEC: “We have now understood and seen what the 'russian world' is. We cannot say that those were people who did it. You can fully rely on us. We can promise you our support as neighbours. We will always be there for you.”
The parliamentarians also stressed that they will discuss many more issues at the next PABSEC events to help Ukraine win, and what they saw only confirms the urgency of strengthening parliamentary diplomacy, in particular through the work of such important institutions as the PABSEC.