Mr. Chairperson,  

I thank you very much for convening this meeting of the Permanent Council.

My delegation is also grateful to OSCE Chairperson-in-Office, Minister Osmani for his condemnation of yesterday’s attack and condolences expressed to all those who have lost their loved ones. 

By deliberately attacking civilian objects in the village of Hroza in the Kupiansk district of the Kharkiv region, the kremlin regime has reconfirmed once again its terrorist nature.

A café and a store were fully destroyed.

52 people have been reported killed. Among them is a 6-year-old boy.

All of them were attending a commemoration meeting to pay tribute to a fallen defender, their fellow villager. 

This has brought pain to every family in the village. 

This is what a woman from Hroza said about this tragedy:

“With one missile they buried the whole village. In every house there will be one coffin, in some even three, five. Just a few people left alive in the village”.

The attack took place at 12.25 Vienna time, just as we concluded our regular PC meeting.   

This demonstrative slaughter proved what I said yesterday in this hall.

A dangerous ideology is taking deep roots in russia.

This ideology can have different names – Ruscism, Nazism, Fascism, or Stalinism.

However, their core is the same - hatred for everything human and readiness to kill on an industrial scale.

Unfortunately, the tragedy of the Hroza village is not an isolated case.

Residential areas of such cities as Kharkiv and Kherson were also under the attack early this morning.

In Kharkiv, a 10-year-old boy was found under the rubble.

This child was wrapped in a blanket.

The innocent boy was just sleeping and was killed in his bed.  

20 more people were injured, 11-month-old-baby among them.

Russia deliberately wants to inflict as many civilian casualties as possible. 

Moscow still believes that its terrorist tactics could pay off.

Mass graves in Mariupol, Bucha, Izum prove there are no limits for russia’s cruelty.

Past attacks on Kramatorsk, Kremenchuk, Vinnytsia, Dnipro show that russia has no reservations, neither legal nor moral, about hitting a railway station, shopping mall, city centre or high-rise building. All of them fits well their terrorist purpose.  

As President Zelenskyy stated yesterday after the attack on the Hroza village, I quote, “russian terror must be stopped. All those who help Russia circumvent sanctions are criminals. Those who continue to support Russia are all supporting evil. Russia needs this and similar terrorist attacks for one reason only: to make its genocidal aggression the new normal for the entire world”. 

Dear colleagues,

If there is still belief that there could be space for a compromise with russia, for a dialogue with moscow, and a chance to rebuild trust, including within the OSCE, vladimir putin was very outspoken yesterday at the Valdai forum.

As he said, “if Western defence supplies are terminated tomorrow, Ukraine will have a week left to live”.

I believe, there are no more questions regarding russia's intentions.

The leadership of the kremlin regime is not hiding their ambitions anymore. 

And this proves once again what the Ukrainian President said yesterday at the European Political Community Summit in Granada.

“If Russia is allowed to adapt now, by 2028, the Kremlin will be able to restore the military potential that we destroyed, and it will have enough strength to attack the countries in focus of russian expansion […] russia is trying to freeze the situation, to adapt, and learning from its mistakes, and preparing to move on. Please remember that the most dangerous enemy is the one who made conclusions and prepared for the next attack based on these conclusions”. End of quote.

Obviously, current kremlin’s regime is not going to recognize existing borders.

However, moscow can be enforced to respect them. 

That’s why to stop russia we have to keep the focus on how to strengthen our air defence, reinforce our troops, and protect Ukraine from terror.

Every such attack, like on the village of Hroza, speaks volumes that Ukraine should be given all the needed military equipment and weapons to exercise its right to self-defence and protect a human life and dignity that is the core value of the Helsinki Final Act.

Because it is not only Ukraine’s fight, it is our common fight for freedom and democracy.

There can be no redline for our unity and solidarity in defending our principles and values.

Strengthening sanctions and russia’s international isolation are other elements capable of contributing to the defeat of russia's aggression.

And last but not least, we have to do everything to end russia’s impunity.

Moscow has to respond for each and every life killed.

 

I thank you, Mr. Chair.