German Foreign Minister Analena Berbock called on international partners to provide additional support to Ukraine in its fight against Russia. She made her call during the second day of her visit to Ukraine, visiting a monument to the victims of Russian atrocities in the village of Yagodnoe, located in the Chernihiv region about 140 km from Kyiv, DPA reported, quoted by BTA.
Berbok said the monument reminds “what the Russian occupation means: inhumanity and terror – things that no one in the world should experience“.
The suffering of the residents of Yagodnoye “is a mandate for us to work tirelessly to make sure that one day the people of Ukraine will be able to live in peace again,”, Berbok said. “As political leaders in Europe, we must have the power to provide Ukraine with financial and humanitarian support internationally,” she added.
At the beginning of the invasion of Ukraine in 2022, Russian troops occupied Yagodnoe, holding more than 350 residents captive between March 3 and 31 in the basement of the village school, which was then the headquarters of the occupying forces.
The youngest hostage is only six weeks old, while the oldest is 93 years old. A total of 77 children and youths were detained, including five infants. Ten adults die in captivity. According to the prosecutor's office, seven people were shot by the Russian occupiers.
Berbok's visit to the area was briefly interrupted by an air raid alert while she was in the historic center of Chernihiv, inspecting a UN project in the city.
Yesterday, Berbok met with Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky and pledged an additional 200 million euros in support to the Ukrainians during their third winter of war.