Sadokha: Peace cannot be achieved through slogans alone

by Pavlo Sadokha, Vice-President of the Ukrainian World Congress and President of the Union of Ukrainians in Portugal

Source: Sadokha on Facebook

Since the initiative of the United Nations General Assembly in 1982, September 21 has been celebrated as the International Day of Peace every year. This year, the Portuguese UNICEF representation, supported by prominent cultural figures from Portugal, calls for people to hang white flags in their windows as a sign of peace.

No one desires peace more than Ukrainians, who have endured ten years of genocide at the hands of the Russians. Russian terror has brought suffering to the world that can be compared to Nazism and World War II. The effects of Russian terrorism are felt today on every continent.

Unfortunately, neither UN diplomacy nor international humanitarian organizations have been able to stop the obvious Russian aggression against Ukraine, which has no objective justification. Hundreds of thousands of Ukrainian children have fallen victim to Russian genocide.

Let’s stop with the populism and face the reality: a white flag in the windows will not bring these children back home. True peace cannot be achieved merely through slogans.

It is the hard, daily sacrificial work of Ukrainian soldiers, volunteers, firefighters, medics, and ordinary people who pull children from the rubble of buildings bombed by Putin’s Russian regime.

It is the difficult, everyday work of those who strive to live in peace, but not at the cost of slavery. In the case of today’s Russian regime, which is willing to destroy the entire world, a single day of ceasefire means strengthening its military arsenal for further devastation.

Let’s make the Day of Peace a day to halt the funding of terrorist regimes. A day when people all over the world express their protest against baseless aggression and terrorism.

In the new century, the Ukrainian flag has become such a symbol—a symbol of the struggle for life and peace, for the right of every person to choose their future independently. A symbol of the fight for true, just peace.

We call upon all people of goodwill to hang yellow-blue flags in their windows on September 21, the International Day of Peace, as a sign of support for just peace.