LETTER FROM A UKRAINIAN GIRL TO THE DUTCH MAN WHO HAS LOST HIS DAUGHTER
Dear Hans de Borst,
Maybe you’ll never read this message. Maybe it’s even better.
I’m really sorry that your daughter had died in Boeing 777, downed by Russian terrorists in the sky of my country. Unlike Russia, my country has never started a war and has never suffered from a terrorists’ attack. That’s why each death is a great shock for all of us. That’s why today Ukrainians get together in front of Netherlands’ Embassy, bringing flowers, candles, and toys for the killed kids; for your daughter as well. I know you think that we even can’t imagine what you feel now. And you are right. But we are honest in our feelings.
My name is Alexandra, I live in Ukraine, and when thunderstorms come during the night I wake up scared thinking that my town is being bombed.
You wrote that your daughter was 17 and she wanted to be an architect.
Let me introduce you to Sergii Nighoyan. He was 21 and the only son in the family. He was killed on January 22nd, 2014. He was the first victim of our ex-dictator Viktor Yanukovich’s police. Afterwards there was another hundred, burned, shot, blown up with grenades. Lots of them were the only sons, daughters, fathers, mothers…. Bodies of these people were stored in the church across the road. And when we asked your European politicians for help, required justice, they were joining the table to negotiate with Yanukovich the murderer. And while we were saying our last Good bye to our dead, European politicians were asking Ukrainian opposition (now Ukrainian government, to which you appeal in your letter as well) to sign a peace agreement with Yanukovich, keeping this murderer as our President for yet another year. Our lives cost nothing for your government.
Do you know what it means to have a neighboring country that treats you like vassal? Sure you don’t. You personally probably still think Ukraine is a vassal of Russia. But your great-grandparents knew what it was, in the far middle ages, when your country was fighting for independence from Spanish Empire. That was too long time ago, to let you understand what happens right now between Russia and Ukraine.
And sure you don’t have to understand this. This should not be your job. This is a job for the world politicians to deal with this kind of problems. We were thinking exactly like this.
When Putin had annexed part of Ukrainian territory –the Crimea peninsula, we thought that Western governments would honor their commitments. Back in 1994 Great Britain, USA, and
Russia had signed the Budapest memorandum, according to which they were obliged to secure the integrity of my country. France and China later joined the agreement. Signing this document, Ukraine surrended its nuclear weapons, since its sovereigneity and territorial integrity was guaranteed by the western governments. If West would not insist on this memorandum signing, likely Ukraine would still have nuclear weapons, and Russia would not go that far as it did, and no one would down the plane with your daughter on board. But unfortunately Ukraine was honest and followed the agreement, unlike the European countries and USA which easily dumped it. US and Great Britain did nothing besides just talks. And France, led by its President Hollande, not just dumped the agreement, but keeps selling to Russia – the aggressor country - their modern military ships. Why? Cause it’s profitable. As it was profitable for Europe to cooperate with Hitler back in 1930-ies, to feed him with Poland, Chech Republic, and Austria. It was easy; the conscience could sleep. Hope, you do not expect real justice from such people.
When Putin had started bringing his terrorists to the East of my country and provided them with the heavy weaponry, EU politicians did nothing to stop him. They were calling for our government to carry peace talks with the Russian terrorists, which disemboweled civilians. Yes, they had kind of imposed sanctions on Russia, but in reality it means nothing, childish sanctions, just to pretend that Europe had reacted.
Today, when Russia is openly shelling our soldiers, frau Merkel is sitting next to Putin at the World Cup final game and shakes hands with him. Have you heard that Russia is bombing Ukraine with no hiding? Sure, your newspapers don’t really share this info. Why would you want to know that just few hundred kilometers from EU there is a war going on, where hundreds of Ukrainian sons and daughters are dying. Yesterday, by the way, two Ukrainian students, 15 and 16 years old , were blown up by a Russian mine. You were not told about it because why would you need to know that the country that supplies you with gas and oil blows up Ukrainian kids. Ukrainian kids are not profitable. But gas and oil are.
Each time when you fuel your car, think that maybe you fill it up with the gasoline from Russia’s oil. Each time when you boil water, think that maybe you use Russian gas for it. These profitable gas and oil made your European politicians to look away from non-profitable Ukraine, to break their international obligations, and to pretend, for all these months, that nothing is going on.
I'm not saying that the Ukrainian government is not responsible for your daughter’s death. After all, back in February, while still being an opposition and strongly pressed by your European politicans, our current government had signed that shameful agreement with Yanukovich. This agreement never came to force, but only because Ukrainian people didn’t let it happen.
This is to tell you that before blaming the Ukrainian government, maybe you could make this list of guilty people a bit wider and add your European governments to it. At the end, it was them who had been conducting secret negotiations with Putin for all these long months, it was them who refused to listen when Ukraine was screaming about the open aggression of Russia. It was them, your politicians, who forced our government to negotiate with pro-Russian terrorists – the ones who were weaponed by Russia and who downed the Boeing 777 with your daughter on board. With your beautiful, talented, and happy Elsemek.
Do you deserve justice? Do you think your government can provide it? Those politicians who shake hands with Putin? Sorry, I doubt it.
I have no relation to the Ukrainian government.
I can’t imagine your loss.
I understand that you might not care what I am writing here.
I’m just a Ukrainian girl who wakes up when a thunderstorm comes during the night thinking that my town is being bombed
But once again.
I’m so sorry.
Alexandra Kovaleva
Source -
http://www.szona.org/Translated by Olena Klopota
Deutsch:
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