In Seimas of Lithuania parliamentary hearings on Russia’s war crimes for the years of full-scale invasion in Ukraine. The Ukrainian delegation team of specialized civil society organizations and witnesses of Russian war crimes spoke to members of the Lithuanian parliament, government officials and law enforcement agencies, diplomats, and human rights activists.
In her opening remarks, the Speaker of the Seimas of Lithuania, Ms. Victoria Čmilytė-Nielsen, emphasized: "Today in the Seimas, I want to say that you have friends here who understand what Ukraine is facing now and who believe that the truth and victory will be Ukrainian. And we must do everything we can to ensure that these stories are not forgotten. And we will do everything we can to return Ukrainian children to Ukraine as quickly as possible, following Ukrainian decisions."
Deputy Speaker of the Verkhovna Rada of Ukraine Olena Kondratyuk in her speech while video translation explained, that overall the total number of 28,000 Ukrainians are currently being held captive in Russia, including journalists, priests, and civic activists. More than 2,000 are people over the age of 65. In addition, a large number of women, both military and civilian, remain in captivity, which is also prohibited by the UN Geneva Conventions. According to Olena Kondratyuk, during the entire period of the full-scale invasion, Ukraine managed to return only 388 children.
Olga Aivazovska, Chair of the Board of the Civil Network OPORA, emphasized the genocidal dimension of the war and the importance of documenting war crimes for further trials. Olha Aivazovska emphasized that Ukrainians have gained a painful experience, and it will be possible to get rid of it only through a fair trial of the aggressor and war criminals.
Ambassador of Ukraine to Lithuania Petro Beshta emphasized Lithuania's strong support for the Peace Formula, in particular the “Restoring Justice” track, and its effective efforts to establish a Special Tribunal for the crime of aggression against Ukraine, investigate cases and provide reparations. The Ambassador of Ukraine also emphasized that the perpetrators and organizers of these massive crimes had to be punished not only to restore justice but also to prevent the suffering of millions of people and the recurrence of such tragedies in the future.
"The Russians stole a year and a half of my childhood. I had to grow up very early. Instead of 'liberation', Russia gave me chronic stress disorder,” 17-year-old Valeria from Nova Kakhovka, Kherson region, told the participants of the event about her experience of occupation and deportation.
We would like to thank the organizers of the event — the Seimas of the Republic of Lithuania, and civil society organizations: UkreateHub (Lithuania), Civil Network OPORA (Ukraine), Center for the Documentation of War Crimes / OPORA in Poland (Poland), Charitable Foundation “Voices of Children” (Ukraine), International Center for Ukrainian Victory / ICUV (Ukraine).