The Ukrainian World Congress and Ukrainian communities around the world pay tribute on this Remembrance Day to all the brave men and women who, throughout the years, have served their countries to protect the fundamental rights and freedoms that we cherish today.
Remembrance Day is observed on 11 November to honor the end of the First World War hostilities in 1918. The aftermath of WWI saw drastic political, cultural, economic, and social change across Europe, Asia and many other regions not directly involved in the war.
As four most powerful European and Asian empires collapsed due to the WWI, it is widely considered that the war brought an end to the age of empires. However, that is only partially true. One of those empires – the Russian empire – managed to survive even until today, picking up different new forms throughout the last 100 years.
Today, the tyrannical Putin’s Russian Federation, which was and remains a “prison of nations”, wages an imperialistic war of aggression against Ukraine and its people, commits horrific atrocities and war crimes on a wide scale, openly threats other countries of Europe, aims to cripple the Trans-Atlantic unity and dismantle the rules-based international order – an order that is the ultimate result of humanity’s hard trials of 20th century.
Today we remember the fallen and also stand by all those who are defending Ukraine in its modern war for freedom and independence. We bow our heads in honor of all the brave defenders of Ukraine who are also defending the whole Europe and the basic fundamental democratic values of the Free World from the deadly Russian aggression.
We once again call upon the international democratic community to stand strong with Ukraine. We cannot allow Russia to return the world into the era of empires and colonial wars!
Lest we forget.
Heroes never die!
