The participation of foreign soldiers in the May 9 parade in Moscow is unacceptable and Kiev will consider it a desecration of the memory of the victory over Nazism, the Ukrainian Foreign Ministry said.
"On May 80, Ukraine, together with the rest of Europe and the world, marks the XNUMXth anniversary of the victory over Nazism. We cherish the memory of World War II, which scorched every Ukrainian family. The front crossed our territory twice, and the total human losses of the Ukrainian people amounted to eight million dead: five million civilians and three million soldiers," the statement reads.
They point out that more than six million Ukrainians fought in the ranks of the Red Army, and hundreds of thousands in resistance movements and the armies of the allies of the anti-Hitler coalition.
"Today, a cruel and unprovoked war of conquest is being waged against the Ukrainian people, who are one of the victorious nations over Nazism and who paid a terrible price for peace and freedom in Europe. During this aggression, Russian soldiers have committed hundreds of thousands of war crimes, have already killed 620 and wounded almost two thousand people, and have deported at least 20 thousand Ukrainian children. Executions of civilians, mass graves, rapes, robberies, taking civilians hostage, torture and executions of prisoners of war, use of indiscriminate weapons, attacks on densely populated residential areas, energy and civilian infrastructure - the Russian army has committed and continues to commit crimes in Ukraine on a scale that Europe has not seen since World War II," they said.
It is this army, they add, that will march through Red Square in Moscow on May 9th.
"These people are not the liberators of Europe, they are occupiers and war criminals. Marching shoulder to shoulder with them means sharing responsibility for the blood of murdered Ukrainian children, civilians and soldiers, and not paying tribute to the victory over Nazism. Russia invites foreign soldiers to participate in the May 9 parade in order to wash away its war crimes and justify aggression. The participation of foreign soldiers in this event is unacceptable and Ukraine will consider it a desecration of the memory of the victory over Nazism, the memory of millions of Ukrainian fighters who liberated our country and all of Europe from Nazism eight decades ago," the Ukrainian Foreign Ministry said.
They called on all foreign countries to refrain from sending their troops to the parade in Moscow on May 9th.
"This applies in particular to countries that declare neutrality in relation to Russian aggression against Ukraine or that consistently maintain a neutral position in international relations. The participation of soldiers of such countries in a joint parade would directly violate this declared neutrality and act as support for the aggressor state. We call on all foreign states and international organizations to pay dignified tribute to the victims of World War II and the collective victory over Nazism - without justifying Russian aggression and crimes against Ukrainians," the statement reads.
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