Ukraine’s First Lady: Every Ukraine-Backer Is an Ambassador

2024 CEPA Forum
Ukraine’s First Lady: Every Ukraine-Backer Is an Ambassador
By Tom Penny
September 27, 2024

Olena Zelenska, First Lady of Ukraine, called on people around the world to speak up about the Russian atrocities in her country.

The First Lady said it is vital for “all people who care” to stand up now in the name of justice and resistance as she accepted an award from the Center for European Policy Analysis (CEPA)

“Everyone’s efforts are important, everyone who testifies about Ukraine, about our situation, who speaks about our resistance, and sets their own example, is our ambassador to the world,” she said in a video link from Ukraine to a September 26 awards dinner in Washington.

She drew a link between the human rights abuses and indiscriminate killing of civilians being carried out by Moscow’s forces in Ukraine and injustice around the globe.

“If injustice is being done in the world, if an aggressor is destroying someone’s life right nearby, killing children, families, then everyone who speaks out about it, who does not remain silent, who does not pretend it’s not their concern, every such person is a witness, and an ambassador at the same time, not only for Ukraine, but for justice itself,” she said.

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Everyone must understand “the human consequences of Russia’s cruel and unjust war” and its global implications, she added.

Zelenska emphasized that the fight for freedom in Ukraine is a fight for freedom everywhere, echoing other leaders who have warned that a victory for Russia would open the floodgates for similar attacks by imperialist aggressors in other countries and on other continents.

She accepted the “impact award” on behalf of “all the people of Ukraine who are fighting against the invader who has come to our land,” telling delegates that her countrymen and women are “fighting for a safe world for everyone.”

Europe’s Edge is CEPA’s online journal covering critical topics on the foreign policy docket across Europe and North America. All opinions are those of the author and do not necessarily represent the position or views of the institutions they represent or the Center for European Policy Analysis.