Ukrainian World Congress calls on global community to help free Mariupol defenders

The Ukrainian World Congress has called on the global community to make efforts for the prompt release of the defenders of Mariupol who are being held captive. The leaders of the UWC made the corresponding appeal during the UWC Summit in Bucharest.

“Convening in great numbers at the Ukrainian World Congress leadership Summit in the heart of Romania, the plea for the release of our brave defenders of Mariupol and the detained Ukrainian Armed Forces personnel naturally emerged as a pressing issue. Commemorating the two-year mark of Mariupol’s occupation, international rallies for the freedom of these prisoners of war will be taking place. We urge our governments to step up their initiatives to rectify this grave humanitarian crisis,” said UWC President Paul Grod.

Leaders of Ukrainian organizations have addressed the leaders of countries, churches, international humanitarian and human rights organizations, and all people of goodwill. For the Ukrainian World Congress, as well as for the entire Ukrainian diaspora, the issue of releasing Ukrainian prisoners of war in Russia is one of the most important.

The call was joined by Yury Chopyk, the Ukrainian Community Leader in Spain; Oles Horodetskyy, the President of the Christian Association of Ukrainians and Ukrainian community leader in Rome; Bohdan Rajčinec, the President of the European Congress of Ukrainians; Jaroszlava Hartyányi, the UWC Second Vice President; Pavlo Sadokha, UWC Vice-President and President of the Union of Ukrainians in Portugal; Halyna Maslyuk, the head of the Ukrainian Community in Greece; Mykhaylo Petrunyak, President of the Federation of Associations of Ukrainians in Spain; Volodymyr Kogutyak, UWC Vice President for Western Europe, as well as Stefan Romaniw, the UWC First Vice President and Co-Chair of the Australian Federation of Ukrainian Organisations (AFUO), and leaders of organizations from many other countries around the world.