Manifest

The Ukrainian community of Barcelona, Ukrainian associations of Catalonia and activists call on all people who hold freedom, dignity, the right to life, democracy, and peace in Europe and around the world as values, to express your support for a free and independent Ukraine by joining this rally of solidarity!

Today, on February 24, BARCELONA WITH UKRAINE commemorates the second year of Russia’s unprovoked, large-scale invasion of Ukraine.

These are years remembered for daily attacks with many innocent victims, terrible massacres, torture, rape, forced deportations, brutal destruction of cities, villages and cultural heritage, irreparable damage to the environment, millions of refugees, and other serious consequences caused by Russian aggression, never seen in Europe since World War II.

During these two years the Prosecutor General’s Office of Ukraine has registered more than 126,135 war crimes and criminal acts of aggression. Among Ukrainian children alone, the Russian attack has resulted in 528 dead, 1,230 wounded and 19,546 deported, and it is still impossible to establish the exact numbers.

Likewise, it should be recalled that we are also commemorating the 10th year since the first Russian armed aggression and the attempt to annex the Ukrainian Crimea, divide our country, violate the world order and undermine the foundations of international law.

Saying this, first of all we remember and honor with a minute of silence all the people who have been victims of Russian aggression, both during the last 10 years in Ukraine, including these two years of full-scale invasion, and in other countries, now and in the past.

Today, BARCELONA WITH UKRAINE declares that this war, like all wars in the world, is intolerable, and in order to end it as soon as possible we demand of our governments:

– that all possible types of aid be provided to Ukraine, so that it can defend itself against Russian aggression, liberate all the occupied territory and obtain strong guarantees of peace for the future;

– to stop any kind of collaboration with Russian companies and business at all levels;

– to identify, freeze, confiscate and transfer to Ukraine all assets of the Russian Federation that are located here.

Today we again declare that BARCELONA stands in solidarity WITH UKRAINE in its struggle for freedom and with the heroic resistance of the Ukrainian people!

We in BARCELONA, standing together WITH UKRAINE, wish to deeply thank all the institutions of Barcelona, Catalonia, Spain, the European Union and other countries of the world for all the help they’ve given and continue to give both to our country and to the millions of temporarily displaced Ukrainians. We’d also like to thank the Barcelona City Council for their January 26 statement in support of Ukraine and the Parliament of Catalonia for theirs on February 6. We can feel that you are on our side, and this gives us more strength!

And finally, on behalf of the entire Ukrainian community, we would like to deeply thank the people of this great city. Thank you for a warm welcome to thousands of our refugees! Thank you for all the humanitarian aid that we’ve sent together over the past two years! Thank you for your activism and participation not only today, but in all the demonstrations, rallies, charity events, fairs, concerts, exhibitions, talks and other events in support of Ukraine that have taken place during these two years.

Together we have shown that BARCELONA truly stands WITH UKRAINE, both before and now, and (we hope) for as long as it takes. And not only Barcelona – the whole democratic world. We appreciate it wholeheartedly and we need it! Thank you, Barcelona, and thanks from Barcelona. SLAVA UCRAINI!