West Midlands Ukraine community leader reacts to Russian invasion

The chairman of one of the West Midlands branches of the Association of Ukrainians in Great Britain has said he is very concerned about what the next few weeks will look like for Ukraine following Russia’s invasion of the country.

Russia President Vladimir Putin ordered an invasion of Ukraine, with reports now emerging that Kyiv has been hit by air strikes as fighting closed in on the capital.

President Putin announced the invasion of Ukraine during a televised address early on Thursday morning (February 24), saying the move was a response to threats from Ukraine.

He said Russia does not have a goal to occupy Ukraine, but the responsibility for bloodshed lies with the Ukrainian “regime.”

‘Russian people want to live in peace’

Mario Kosmirak is the chairman of the West Midlands branch of the Association of Ukrainians in Great Britain (AUGB).

Speaking to BirminghamWorld, he said he is angry, but not surprised, about President Putin’s decision to invade Ukraine.

He said: “We’re very upset and angry but we weren’t surprised.

“You don’t amass that amount of troops (200,000) on the border and have temporary hospitals and blood supplies brought in they weren’t planning an invasion

“So it was inevitable but still, we’re very upset and a lot of people in the community have family over there.”

Mario’s cousins also live in Ukraine and he said everyone in the country will be affected by Putin’s actions.

“I spoke to my cousin on Wednesday and there was an air raid about 30 miles from where they live which hit the airport in that region.

“Fortunately, they are in the rural part of the country, in the villages, and it’s the people in cities who are being hit the most.

“These are the people that are being targeted, with many moving to the rural type areas of the country as they feel they will be be safer there.

“I’m sure the Russian people, as we saw on the news yesterday, with demonstrations in Moscow - the majority of Russian people want to live in peace and would welcome democracy.

“They would welcome the opportunity to travel, and welcome democracy for all to experience Western life and free speech.”

‘Putin needs to be sanctioned as well’

Mario said President Putin wants to “re-write Ukraine’s history” and said he should be sanctioned.

“Putin’s rant was a rant against Ukraine,” he said.

“Saying that it isn’t a nation and it owes its existence to Russia - he wants to re write Ukrainian history and Ukrainians are very proud people and are very proud of their history.”

UK Prime Minister Boris Johnson said that the UK were imposing the “largest and most severe” economic sanctions that Russia has ever seen in response to the invasion of Ukraine.

The sanctions have so far included limits on exports to Russia, as well as freezing assets of major Russian banks and restrictions imposed on Russian individuals including Gennady Timchenko, Boris Rotenberg, and Igor Rotenberg.

Mario said sanctions should also be imposed on Putin himself.

“We are sanctioning all these oligarchs but he (Putin) needs to be sanctioned as well.

“NATO is supporting its own member states but Ukraine sadly is not a member, but any clauses which would allow some military intervention from NATO we would welcome.”

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