UKRAINIAN DIASPORA MOURNS VICTIMS OF MALAYSIAN FLIGHT MH 17
July 23, 2014.TORONTO, KYIV - The International Council in Support ofUkraine responded to the killing of 298 passengers of MH 17 with a Statement on July 18, 2014 and with letters of condolence on July 23, 2014 addressed to the United Nations Ambassadors of the 9 countries whose nationals were passengers on the downed airliner.
In the letters, ICSU President, Yuri Shymko, and Vice President, Borys Potapenko, respectively, state:
“The International Council in Support of Ukraine expresses its deep sympathy and heartfelt condolences to the mourning families in your country whose kin have become the tragic innocent victims of the murderous downing of Malaysian Airlines flight MH17 by Russia-led terrorists.
We are all united in this painful moment as one grieving human family. We join your mourning countrymen. We join especially the people of the Netherlands who have declared today a National Day of Mourning not only for their own 193 murdered citizens, but equally for each of the 298 victims of this horrendous war crime.”
The letters also call for justice by holding accountable the perpetrators of this heinous terrorist crime against humanity:
“The civilized world cannot remain silent. The pro-Russian terrorists who committed this premeditated murder with a Russian supplied surface to air missile, spilling the blood of innocent men, women and children over the sunflower fields they currently occupy in Hrabove,Ukraine, must be brought to justice as war criminals.”
Also noted in the letter is the war in eastern Ukrainewhere MH 17 was shot down by Russian forces:
“The people of Ukraine were the first victims of Russia’s naked aggression that began with the invasion, occupation and annexation of Crimea, followed by a proxy war in south-eastern Ukraine. This violence continues today as we mourn the victims of Flight MH17. It continues unabated in the air and on land...It continues with columns of armored vehicles and tanks entering Ukrainian territory from Russia. Yet, the world is still refusing to provide effective military assistance to Ukraine’s Armed Forces.”
In this regard, the ICSU Statement of July 18, 2014, issued in the immediate wake of the MH 17 atrocity, underlines:
“This terrorist attack is a wake-up call to the governments of the free world to stand with Ukraineand to compel Putin to stand down. Peace will be restored and the spread of Russian-backed terrorism will be stopped only when Russia accepts the expressed will of the Ukrainian nation and its democratically elected government to live on its sovereign and independent territory free of Russian domination.Ukraine will not be deterred in defending its independence and territorial integrity. It will not be deterred in joining Euro-Atlantic structures to become a full and equal member of the European Union and the North Atlantic Treaty Organization.”
“May the death of the 298 victims strengthen your country’s determination to stop Russia’s military aggression, to restore the territorial unity and peace in Ukraine, and to reaffirm your commitment to guarantee a global security to all the people so that such tragedies may never occur again. May they rest in Peace!”
