Ukrainians in Erbil protest Russian ‘war crimes’

Dilan Sirwan

ERBIL, Kurdistan Region - Around fifty Ukrainian nationals, many of whom have lost touch with their families at home, stood in solidarity with their country on Sunday outside the United Nations (UN) office in Erbil as the Russian invasion of Ukraine continues.

The Ukrainian community present at the protest waved their blue and yellow flags as they proudly sang their national anthem and chanted “stop the war.” They also prepared numerous posters for the demonstration, calling for an end to the fighting. 

Standing with friends was 27-year-old Irina Soloviova, whose tears had ruined the Ukrainian flag painted on her face as she thought of her family in Ukraine who she had lost touch with soon after war erupted on Thursday. 

Soloviova was born in the southern city of Zaporizhzhia but considers Kharkiv, the second largest Ukrainian city, as her second home after living there for seven years. She has difficulty holding back her tears while she speaks, thinking of her mother who she has not been able to contact since Saturday. 

“Unfortunately, we do not have any connections because there is no electricity in the city where my mother is staying,” she told Rudaw English about why she hasn’t been able to speak to her. 

The last time Soloviova spoke to her mother was on Saturday afternoon, during a phone call which relayed the terrible sounds of war. 

“My mom called me and I could hear from the call the sound of bombing, they were going underground,” she said. “After around one hour, she said they stopped bombing and they came out. She said they do not have electricity, there is no heater, it is really cold.”

During the hour Soloviova was protesting in Erbil, Russian troops broke through the defense of Ukrainian forces in Kharkiv, with intense street fighting still underway. 

Despite some Ukrainians present at the protest being in slightly better situations than others, they all stood together in solidarity for over an hour. 

Yevhenii Stryzhak is a 27-year-old man from Kyiv who arrived in the Kurdistan Region two weeks ago to see his family. Little did he know that his trip would be his escape from war and conscription, given the declaration of martial law which forbids Ukrainian males between the ages of 18 and 60 to leave the country. 

“Right now we are here supporting our Ukrainian friends and families who are under attack,” he said. “I have my Grandma back in Ukraine, her region is not as dangerous as the other regions, however we speak to her everyday.”

 

Russian President Vladimir Putin launched an attack on Ukraine on Thursday, with explosions being heard across the country and raising fears of a major war, following weeks of intense diplomacy and the implementation of western sanctions on Russia. The actions still failed to deter Putin, who had massed about 200,000 troops along the borders of Ukraine, and fighting has now entered its fourth day. 

The recent offensive has sparked fear among Ukrainian citizens and others living in the area, leading them to flee their homeland or seek shelter in underground metro stations. 

UN High Commissioner for Refugees Filippo Grandi said on Saturday that more than 150,000 people had fled Ukraine, seeking refuge in neighboring countries.

Others, such as the family of 35-year-old Antonina, whose father is ethnically Russian, refused to leave the country and chose to stay and resist. 

“All my family is in Ukraine, my close relatives are in Kyiv, some are in other governorates. They refused to leave, they did not want to flee,” she told Rudaw English. 

What Antonina fears the most is the proximity of a power plant to her family’s residence in Kyiv.

“I spoke to my family before I came here. I was talking to my mom and I am really worried, because in the area where my family lives, we have this powerplant that supplies electricity and heat for five areas in Kyiv,” she said, adding that if the power station gets bombed, those areas will not have electricity and will remain without heating. 

“They are not afraid to be without heating, but without electricity I will not be able to communicate with them,” she said.

According to her, several families across the country have been spending their night in bunkers in fear of Russian strikes, and called on the UN to hold the Russian president accountable.

“They [UN] are experienced in legislation to know that Putin right now is committing war crimes,” she said, adding, “maybe Russia can have a veto right after they remove their leader who is a criminal.”

Russia vetoed a United Nations Security Council draft resolution on Friday which slammed Moscow for its “aggression” against Ukraine.

Most of the members of the council voted in favor of the draft resolution and Russia’s allies - China and India -  as well as the United Arab Emirates abstained.

Over 70 countries expressed support for Ukraine at the Security Council’s headquarters during the meeting. 

Ukraine’s ambassador to the UN, Sergiy Kyslytsya, slammed Russia’s actions. 

“It was the first time since the World War two that the citizens of Ukraine who live in Kyiv had to spend the night in bomb shelters, including in public transportation systems in the subway. Imagine the scale of war. Ukrainians will fight until the last drop,” he told reporters.

Additional reporting by Aveen Karim