(Strasbourg) “We would rather discuss women’s rights, but for us these days are punctuated with bombs, explosions, bullets fired by Russian invaders and by the terrorist army at our citizens”: this was said by Ivanna Klympush-Tsintsadze, member of the Verkhovna Rada and president of the Committee on Ukraine’s integration into the EU, as she spoke at a workshop on women’s rights organised by the European Parliament. In her story, only “pain and a cry for help”. Pain for the 3.5 million refugees that war created in 12 days and a still undefined number of dead civilians.
“We know that they are over two thousand, including 38 dead children, but there are cities, such as Volnovakha in the Donetsk region, such as Kharkov, where the exact number of casualties cannot be counted yet”. She told about the devastation and the desperate conditions in which people are living: “We will prove that it is a genocide against Ukrainians, but we will not stop fighting”, she ensured in an unfaltering voice. In all this, “women make their voices heard and are fully involved in the fight”. Then, she concluded: “The appeal that we women in the Ukrainian Parliament make is: may a no-fly zone be implemented, may massive military support be sent, and may all those who share our values start lobbying. The Ukrainians will protect their land, but support is needed”.