A Ukrainian peace activist urges diplomacy, an end to the Russian invasion and the dissolution of NATO.
Russia has escalated attacks against Ukraine, launching a missile strike hitting a government building and shelling civilian areas in Kharkiv, reportedly targeting civilians with cluster and thermobaric bombs, and killing more than 70 Ukrainian soldiers at a military base in Okhtyrka. Meanwhile, the U.S. rejected Ukrainian President Zelensky’s demand for a no-fly zone over Ukraine, saying it could lead to a war between the U.S. and Russia. This comes as Ukrainian and Russian negotiators failed to reach an agreement on Monday and the European Union approved Ukraine’s emergency application to be a candidate to join the union. We go to Kyiv to speak with Yurii Sheliazhenko, executive secretary of the Ukrainian Pacifist Movement, who says “support of Ukraine in the West is mainly military support” and reports that his country “focuses on warfare and almost ignores nonviolent resistance to war.” He also discusses Zelensky’s response to the crisis, the European Union’s approval of Ukraine’s emergency application, and whether he plans to leave the war-torn city of Kyiv soon. This is a rush transcript. Copy may not be in its final form. AMY GOODMAN: The Russian invasion of Ukraine has entered its sixth day, with Russia escalating its bombardment. Satellite images show up to a 40-mile convoy of Russian armored vehicles, tanks and artillery heading to Kyiv, the capital of Ukraine. Earlier today, a Russian missile hit a government building in Kharkiv, causing a huge explosion in Ukraine’s second-largest city. Civilian areas in Kharkiv have also been shelled. Ukrainian authorities also reported more than 70 Ukrainian soldiers have been killed in the eastern city of Okhtyrka after a Russian missile strike on a military base. On Monday, Ukraine and Russia held five hours of talks near the Belarus border, but no agreement was reached. The two sides are expected to meet again in the coming days. Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky has called for a no-fly zone over Ukraine, but the United States and its allies have ruled out the idea, saying it could lead to a broader war. Ukraine and human rights groups have also accused Russia of targeting civilians with cluster and thermobaric bombs. Those so-called vacuum bombs are the most powerful non-nuclear explosives used in warfare. Russia has denied targeting civilians or civilian infrastructure. Meanwhile, the International Criminal Court has announced plans to investigate war crimes in Ukraine. At the United Nations, the General Assembly held an emergency meeting Monday to discuss the crisis. This is Ukraine’s Ambassador Sergiy Kyslytsya. AMY GOODMAN: And just before we went to broadcast, the Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky addressed the European Parliament by video. At the end, the Parliament gave him a standing ovation. We go now to Kyiv, where we’re joined by Yurii Sheliazhenko. He is the executive secretary of the Ukrainian Pacifist Movement and a board member of the European Bureau of Conscientious Objection. Yurii is also a member of the board of directors at World BEYOND War and a research associate at KROK University in Kyiv. Yurii Sheliazhenko, welcome back to Democracy Now! We spoke to you just before the Russian invasion. Can you talk about what’s happening on the ground right now and what you are calling for as a pacifist? YURII SHELIAZHENKO: Good day. Thank you for balanced journalism and covering peace protest as part of pains and passions of war. Military politicization between the East and West went too far, with reckless military operations, NATO expansion, Russian invasion to Ukraine and nuclear threats to world, militarization of Ukraine, with exclusion of Russia from international institutions and expulsions of Russian diplomats literally pushing Putin from diplomacy to escalation of war. Instead of breaking the last bonds of humanity out of rage, we need more than ever to preserve and strengthen venues of communication and cooperation between all people on Earth, and each individual effort of that sort has a value. And it is disappointing that support of Ukraine in the West is mainly military support and the imposition of painful economic sanctions on Russia, and reporting on conflict focuses on warfare and almost ignores nonviolent resistance to war, because brave Ukrainian civilians are changing street signs and blocking streets and blocking tanks, just staying in their way without weapons, like tank men, to stop the war. For example, in Berdyansk city and Kulykіvka village, people organized peace rallies and convinced the Russian military to get out. Peace movement warned for years that reckless militarization will lead to war. We were right. We prepared many people for peaceful dispute resolution or for nonviolent resistance to aggression. We upheld human rights, universal obligations to help refugees. It helps now and gives hope for a peaceful solution, which exists always. I wish to all people for universal peace and happiness, no wars today and forever. But, unfortunately, while the most of people, most of time, in most of places, live in peace, my beautiful city of Kyiv, capital of Ukraine, and other Ukrainian cities are targets of Russian bombardments. Just before this interview, I heard again distant sounds of explosions from windows. Sirens howl many times during day, last several days. Hundreds of peoples are killed, including children, because of Russian aggression. Thousands are injured. Hundred thousands of people are displaced and seeking refuge abroad, additionally to millions internally displaced persons and refugees in Russia and in Europe after eight years of war between the Ukrainian government and Russia-backed separatists in Donbas. All males in the age from 18 to 60 are restricted in freedom of movement abroad and called to participate in war effort, without exceptions to conscientious objectors to military service and those who are fleeing from war, too.
