Ukrainian Minister of Defence Oleksii Reznikov briefs MEPs on the Committee on Foreign Affairs, the Subcommittee on Security and Defence and the Parliament’s EU-Ukraine delegation on the latest developments of the war in the country.

EU - Ukraine (T)

Committee on Foreign Affairs

Subcommittee on Security and Defence

troubles in Ukraine (T)

Exchange of views with Oleksii REZNIKOV, Minister of Defence of Ukraine

SOUNDBITE (UKR), Oleksii REZNIKOV, Minister of Defence of Ukraine , Good morning, dear Parliamentary members of the European Parliament. All of Ukrainian societies, already eight years ago, have made its civilizational choice and the choice of foreign policy for the European Union, and today we're continuing to defend this choice with arms in our hands.

SOUNDBITE (UKR), Oleksii REZNIKOV, Minister of Defence of Ukraine , The price for this choice, you understand, is unprecedented is so high. And we're paying this price every day because we don't see the alternative. We don't see another option for us then choosing a civilisation and democracy and respecting basic human rights. So, tyranny is absolutely unacceptable for us. Several weeks ago you have also made your own choice by supporting Ukraine on its way to acquire full membership in the European Union, and we are very grateful for that.

SOUNDBITE (UKR), Oleksii REZNIKOV, Minister of Defence of Ukraine , Unfortunately, that moment is on the background of a full scale military aggression of Russia against Ukraine, and what is the Kremlin doing today is really barbaric. And I am responsibly telling you that Kremlin is the present Hitler of nowadays, and it's not exaggeration. I can not, without emotions, talk about those inhuman methods in which they wage war. It's not simply war. It's a state terror.

SOUNDBITE (UKR), Oleksii REZNIKOV, Minister of Defence of Ukraine , The regular army of their aggressor is conscientiously annihilating the civil population. It's shelling the residential areas conscientiously. It destroys small cities and villages, and it's also plundering them. We have already confirmation that one hundred three Ukrainian children have perished from the occupants. But this statistics is growing every day.

SOUNDBITE (UKR), Oleksii REZNIKOV, Minister of Defence of Ukraine , We have horrible news coming from every region. Most of all from Mariupol, where the Russian troops are committing real genocide against Ukrainian people. The city in which 40.0000 people lived before, already for three weeks is surviving without water light was without electricity. By aviation, by tanks and by missiles it is being erased from the face of Earth. The convoys, which were organised, are constantly blocked. They are being shelled all the time. According to the statement of the local authorities, they are estimating the losses as more than 20.000 persons amongst civilians. This is a horrible number and it constantly goes up.

SOUNDBITE (UKR), Oleksii REZNIKOV, Minister of Defence of Ukraine , You've probably already heard that a theatre was struck by a missile. In the theatre 1200 women and children were hiding. And you can see from the maps, from the drones, that around this theatre big letters of children were written so that the pilot of the plane, which was throwing the bombs, could see children. And still, in spite of that, this monster has bombed the theatre.

SOUNDBITE (UKR), Oleksii REZNIKOV, Minister of Defence of Ukraine , In three weeks 400 schools were destroyed, 110 hospitals and more than a thousand residential buildings. More than 100 of Ukrainian citizens are buried under the rubble. The rescue operations are all done under the shelling and rescue operations are being hampered by it. And if you look at the map, you could see (...). Well, (...) is still on the map. On the map only it's not any more existing. Not one building is standing in (...).

SOUNDBITE (UKR), Oleksii REZNIKOV, Minister of Defence of Ukraine , I'm very grateful for the European Parliament for resolution of support of Ukraine during the Russian aggression, but I am appealing to all European parliamentary members to recognise that Putin is a war criminal, as it is done in the United States. I am very sure that the ICC, and the prosecutors of ICC, have already initiated corresponding investigations because for this they have all the grounds.

SOUNDBITE (UKR), Oleksii REZNIKOV, Minister of Defence of Ukraine , Today, on the temporary occupied territory, whole families are being kidnapped, murdered mayors are being kidnapped and murdered. Those mayors that refuse to collaborate with Russian occupants. They are killing priests. They are kidnapping journalists. And this is all in the 21st century. Several foreign journalists are already killed. The American journalist was killed by Russians when he was filming the evacuation of civilians. It was not even combat action, it was evacuation. He was killed by a shot in his head. He was a professional photographer.

SOUNDBITE (UKR), Oleksii REZNIKOV, Minister of Defence of Ukraine , These barbaric actions are happening in Europe because today Russia has the purpose to destroy Ukraine. It has the purpose to to to destroy humanism, international law and all those values that make us humans. We are not machines. We are not animals. But in the fields and in the cities of Ukraine, our military, our people are fighting those monsters that sit in the tanks, that sit in the in the planes with that a letter written on them, as it was done in the concentration camps. And we could have prevented that. If your reaction have come earlier. Many years ago I already told you that Russia could have been stop if Putin would be rebuffed earlier. Not just by trying to appease him, but to really stop him in advance. And now Ukrainians are doing that.

SOUNDBITE (UKR), Oleksii REZNIKOV, Minister of Defence of Ukraine , As for today, just a little bit of statistics to you, dear members of the Parliament. Russia has lost more soldiers then during two Chechen wars, more than 14000 military, more than 450 tanks and armoured vehicles, 750 planes have been shot down. We have liquidated several Russian generals and the losses of Russia are now nearing the losses of the Soviet Union during the whole ten years in Afghanistan.

SOUNDBITE (UKR), Oleksii REZNIKOV, Minister of Defence of Ukraine , Our Ukrainian army is being supported on an unprecedented level by Ukrainian people. We continuing mobilisation. We have created territorial defence, which is part and parcel of Ukrainian armed forces. Tens of thousands of patriots have armed themselves in order to protect their streets, their houses, their cities. Today, we have created the headquarters of the chief commander, and all the units are working as one. There are many countries that are helping us to defend ourselves. Some countries are supporting us in words, but even blocking their own private companies to supply weapons to us. Well, this is the truth of life. Real neighbours, real friends are really visible. We can really distinct differentiate between real friends and friends in words.

SOUNDBITE (UKR), Oleksii REZNIKOV, Minister of Defence of Ukraine , Russia cannot really defeat us in the combat because we will win. The question is only in the price which the Ukrainian people will pay, because the purpose of the terror is to cede fear. And we don't have fear, and only call upon you that you get rid of this fear as well. Exactly eight years ago, Moscow has organised so-called referendum in occupied Crimea, and then Russia could have been stopped but international community didn't do that. It didn't react in the proper way, and not one international mechanism worked at that time and today the whole world is paying for that mistake because the losses are being brought not only by Ukraine. The economic losses are felt in many other countries, and it will continue the problems with food energy problems, social upheavals.

SOUNDBITE (UKR), Oleksii REZNIKOV, Minister of Defence of Ukraine , You know that Russian occupation forces have already took hold of two nuclear power stations: Chernobyl, famous nuclear station and the Varash nuclear power station. And you know that Chernobyl is, of course, notorious for 1986, there was a catastrophe. And since then, there is the used nuclear fuel, and it is still, of course the reactors are now in sarcophagus, but of course this we don't have control of Chernobyl power station anymore. Russians are in control and if they would start shelling it, it will concern the whole of Europe.

SOUNDBITE (UKR), Oleksii REZNIKOV, Minister of Defence of Ukraine , And there's a Varash nuclear power station, the biggest in Europe, and it's an active one. We have six nuclear blocks there and they're all under a targeted by Russian terrorists. And this is the danger for millions of people. For all those countries that you represent in the European Parliament, more than three million refugees, according to official statistics, refugees that are trying to hide from this horrible war. There could be many more.

SOUNDBITE (UKR), Oleksii REZNIKOV, Minister of Defence of Ukraine , There is the humanitarian crisis on your threshold, dear members of the European Parliament. Three million of Ukrainian population is approximately like five Luxembourgs, it's half of Denmark and more than half of Lithuania. And all these people have already lost their houses and they are suffering every day. I'm very grateful, sincerely grateful to every member state and to the whole of European Union that are accepting our refugees, that are giving them all possible humanitarian assistance.

SOUNDBITE (UKR), Oleksii REZNIKOV, Minister of Defence of Ukraine , And I'm very grateful to the neighbouring countries that they have simplified all these trans border procedures so that our civilians could hide away from these Russian fascists. And I would like to also warn you that Kremlin wouldn't stop in one country because their plans is to ruin totally European Union, to ruin the unity of NATO countries. And they will go further, because today the Russian missiles are already falling 20 kilometres from the border of a  European country, Poland, also member country of NATO. They have shelled the centre of a peace and security, peacekeeping operations, services and security. There were refugees in this centre and many of them perished and wounded, and this all happened 20 kilometres from the country which is a member of European Union.

SOUNDBITE (UKR), Oleksii REZNIKOV, Minister of Defence of Ukraine , Russians could be stopped. The victory could be gained, but we need assistance. There is some things I would like to address to you. First of all, I'm very grateful that you have very quickly taken decisions about help to our military forces 500 million euros within the peace building to the peace fund. We're very grateful for that but we still need more of lethal weapons and all other means to fight the aggressor.

SOUNDBITE (UKR), Oleksii REZNIKOV, Minister of Defence of Ukraine , We are ready to use all this financial support very quickly. With your help, we could acquire necessary planes, armoured vehicles and all the rest of the elements that we need very urgently. We need anti-tank anti plane, anti helicopters armaments. And was this on the bilateral level? We are talking with every government of European Union. Of course, sanctions should continue, and they should be biting and they should not be lean. There are many companies with headquarters in Switzerland, France, Germany that can still continue their business in Russia. And this business is done on the blood of Ukrainian children, of Ukrainian women who are suffering in the in hospitals during the shelling. And our Prime Minister, Denys Shymyhal, will talk to you and give you a list of all these companies that continue to work in Russia.

SOUNDBITE (UKR), Oleksii REZNIKOV, Minister of Defence of Ukraine , This is unacceptable and I would like to call upon you to stop and your relationship with the Russian Federation because, I'm warning you, this is the terror state we know very we will win in this war. We would need your help afterwards in order to renew the ruined infrastructure and to support Ukrainian economy. It's very important, of course. People not only lost their houses, but they lost infrastructures, they lost their jobs. We don't have train stations. We will, of course, renew old infrastructure, and we will demonstrate to you that we have unified human values we share with you. We share with you your values, your thoughts. And you know, in the Carpathians, there is a geographical centre of Europe. You can ask your geographers in Europe that in the Carpathians, in Ukraine, there is a geographic centre of Europe. Thank you so much for your attention to the attention.