Zelenskyy gives a speech at the Venice Film Festival and talks about the children killed by Russia
OLENA BARSUKOVA – THURSDAY, 1 SEPTEMBER 2022
Volodymyr Zelenskyy, the President of Ukraine, has given a speech at the opening of the Venice Film Festival on 31 August.
He addressed the participants and guests of the event, telling them about the Russian war against Ukraine.
The video of the speech was published on the YouTube channel of the Office of the President.
After Zelenskyy finished his speech, the names of all the Ukrainian children killed by Russia since 24 February appeared on the screen.
"You will see what others usually don’t see. It is the integral part of any movie overlooked by many. The important names that fade into oblivion and obscurity because the moment they appear on the screen, the majority of viewers stand up and leave," the President remarked.
The majority of names had the date and place of death written against them. Most of the children were killed in Mariupol.
Some bodies were not identified.
"This is a horror movie with a duration of 189 days instead of 120 minutes. The 189 days of war, which is waging in Ukraine, and of which Europe and the rest of the world has allegedly got tired. This is what Russia says. This is what Russia wants. This is what Russia is trying to achieve.
It has a primitive plot with three acts, so that the world will make three mistakes: get used to the war, come to terms with the war, and forget about the war," stated the President at the opening of the festival.
The President remarked that this plan must never come true and called upon the movie industry to express their position.
"Your position is important, your voice is influential, and your words are loud. The least that you can do, or, to be precise, not do, is not stay silent, not be afraid, not turn your back, not ignore and not be indifferent towards the war in Ukraine started by Russia," Zelenskyy added.
As of 29 August, when the video was recorded, according to official reports, the Russian occupiers have killed 358 Ukrainian children.
On 1 September, Hanna Maliar, the Deputy Minister of Defence, reported that 379 children had been killed.
735 children have been injured, 223 have gone missing, and 7013 have been kidnapped or forcibly deported to Russia.
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