Voices of Ukraine: Volume I is a poignant and eloquent testimony recording the brutal, criminal and violent attacks that the Russian government and armed forces are inflicting on Ukrainian nuclear workers and facilities.
Russia has kidnapped, killed and tortured civilians wherever it has occupied Ukrainian territory, but it has visited special aggression against nuclear workers and their families. Similarly, Russia has looted, vandalised and rocketed civilian infrastructure throughout Ukraine, but it has been especially vicious and reckless in its assaults on the Chornobyl and Zaporizhzhia nuclear facilities.
These crimes violate the laws of war and the most basic standards of human decency. Those in the Russian government and military who ordered, committed or abetted them must be held to account.
We in the international community must record, remember and prosecute those acts, but that will not be sufficient.
We must also highlight and honour the courage, perseverance, skill and fortitude of Ukraine’s nuclear workers. To paraphrase Abraham Lincoln, we cannot consecrate their actions. The brave men and women, living and dead, who struggled at Chornobyl, Zaporizhzhia, and elsewhere have spoken far more eloquently than our poor power to add or detract. Their commitment to nuclear safety, security and safeguards has defended the best interests of the Ukrainian people, Europe, and international peace and security.
I am proud of and grateful to the WINS staff for pursuing the Voices of Ukraine project for, as President Volodymyr Zelensky said, “This struggle will define in what world our children and grandchildren will live, and then their children and grandchildren.”
WINS stands with all those who support nuclear security and against all those who attack it.
Slava Ukraïni! Dorohi Atomnyky, Slava Ukraïni!
