Politicians from Ukraine

"They say that the Soviet delegates smile. That smile is genuine. It is not artificial. We wish to live in peace, tranquility. But if anyone believes that our smiles involve abandonment of the teaching of Marx, Engels and Lenin he deceives himself poorly. Those who wait for that must wait until a shrimp learns to whistle."

"Yes, today we have genuine Russian weather. Yesterday we had Swedish weather. I can't understand why your weather is so terrible. Maybe it is because you are immediate neighbours of NATO."

"Finding a reason for an armed conflict now would be very easy, but finding a way to put an end to such a conflict would be very hard."

"Whether you like it or not, history is on our side. We will dig you in. (.)"

"When it is a question of fighting against imperialism we can state with conviction that we are all Stalinists. We can take pride that we have taken part in the fight for the advance of our great cause against our enemies. From that point of view I am proud that we are Stalinists."

"I am very glad to hear this, since I come from the Ukraine. From now on I can sleep peacefully. I will immediately telegraph my daughter in Kiev."

"If Adenauer were here with us in the sauna, we could see for ourselves that Germany is and will remain divided but also that Germany never will rise again."

"A man emaciated by a grave illness is at first treated by doctors gradually. Food is administered to him in small doses. If more is administered to the patient, it might kill him. And so we want to begin disarmament not with a full dose, although we are prepared even for a full dose. I have said already that the Western powers greatly distrust us. We, too, do not trust them in everything. And so, in order not to destroy a thing which is of great and vital importance to mankind, disarmament, we suggest to begin not with a cardinal but with a gradual solution to disarmament problems."

"The thought sometimes -- the unpleasant thought sometimes creeps up on me here as to whether perhaps Khrushchev was not invited here to enable you to sort of rub him in your sauce and to show the might and the strength of the United States so as to make him sort of … so as to make him shaky at the knees. If that is so, then if I came -- if it took me about 12 hours to get here, I guess it'll just -- it'll take no more than about 10½ hours to fly back."

"I happened to read recently a remark by the American nuclear physicist W. Davidson, who noted that the explosion of one hydrogen bomb releases a greater amount of energy than all the explosions set off by all countries in all wars known in the entire history of mankind. And he, apparently, is right."

"We have come to this town where lives the cream of American art.… But just now I was told that I could not go to Disneyland. I asked "Why not? What is it? Do you have rocket-launching pads there?" I do not know. Just listen to what reason I was told: "We," which means the American authorities, "cannot guarantee your security if you go there." What is it? Is there an epidemic of cholera there or something? Or have gangsters taken over the place that can destroy me? Then what must I do? Commit suicide? … For me, this situation is inconceivable. I cannot find words to explain this to my people."

"Mr. President, call the toady of American imperialism to order."

"I see, Mr. President, that you too are not devoid of a sense of anxiety for the fate of the world understanding, and of what war entails. What would a war give you? You are threatening us with war. But you well know that the very least which you would receive in reply would be that you would experience the same consequences as those which you sent us. And that must be clear to us, people invested with authority, trust, and responsibility. We must not succumb to intoxication and petty passions, regardless of whether elections are impending in this or that country, or not impending. These are all transient things, but if indeed war should break out, then it would not be in our power to stop it, for such is the logic of war. I have participated in two wars and know that war ends when it has rolled through cities and villages, everywhere sowing death and destruction. … If people do not show wisdom, then in the final analysis they will come to a clash, like blind moles, and then reciprocal extermination will begin."

"We and you ought not now to pull on the ends of the rope in which you have tied the knot of war, because the more the two of us pull, the tighter that knot will be tied. And a moment may come when that knot will be tied so tight that even he who tied it will not have the strength to untie it, and then it will be necessary to cut that knot, and what that would mean is not for me to explain to you, because you yourself understand perfectly of what terrible forces our countries dispose. Consequently, if there is no intention to tighten that knot and thereby to doom the world to the catastrophe of thermonuclear war, then let us not only relax the forces pulling on the ends of the rope, let us take measures to untie that knot. We are ready for this."

"Don't you know how to paint? My grandson will paint it better! What is this? Are you men or damned pederasts? How can you paint like that? Do you have a conscience?"

"Politicians are the same all over. They promise to build a bridge even where there is no river."

"Berlin is the testicle of the West. When I want the West to scream, I squeeze on Berlin."

"If you start throwing hedgehogs under me, I shall throw a couple of porcupines under you."

"I remember President Kennedy once stated... that the United States had the nuclear missile capacity to wipe out the Soviet Union two times over, while the Soviet Union had enough atomic weapons to wipe out the United States only once... When journalists asked me to comment... I said jokingly, "Yes, I know what Kennedy claims, and he's quite right. But I'm not complaining... We're satisfied to be able to finish off the United States first time round. Once is quite enough. What good does it do to annihilate a country twice? We're not a bloodthirsty people.""

"My arms are up to the elbows in blood. That is the most terrible thing that lies in my soul."

"Comrades! We must abolish the cult of the individual decisively, once and for all."

"Concerning Stalin's merits, an entirely sufficient number of books, pamphlets and studies had already been written in his lifetime. The role of Stalin in the preparation and execution of the socialist revolution, in the Civil War, and in the fight for the construction of socialism in our country, is universally known."

"When we analyze the practice of Stalin in regard to the direction of the party and the country, when we pause to consider everything which Stalin perpetrated, we must be convinced that Lenin's fear were justified. The negative characteristics of Stalin, which, in Lenin's time, were only incipient, transformed themselves during the last years into a grave abuse of power by Stalin, which caused untold harm."

"Stalin acted not through persuasion, explanation and patient cooperation with people, but by imposing his concepts and demanding absolute submission to his opinion. Whoever opposed this concept or tried to prove his viewpoint and the correctness of his position was doomed to removal from the leading collective and to subsequent moral and physical annihilation."

"We must affirm that the part had fought a serious fight against the Trotskyistes, rightists and bourgeois nationalists, and that it disarmed ideologically all the enemies of Leninism. This ideological fight was carried on successfully, as a result of which the party became strengthened and tempered. Here Stalin played a positive role."

"Stalin originated the concept of 'enemy of the people'. This term automatically rendered it unnecessary that the ideological errors of a man or men engaged in a controversy be proven; this term made possible the usage of the most cruel repression, violating all norms of revolutionary legality, against anyone who in any way disagreed with Stalin, against those who were only suspected of hostile intent, against those who had bad reputations. This concept 'enemy of the people' actually eliminated the possibility of any kind of ideological fight or the making of one's views known on this or that issue, even those of a practical character. In the main, and in actuality, the only proof of guilt used, against all norms of current legal science, was the 'confession' of the accused himself."

"When the fascist armies had actually invaded Soviet territory and military operations began, Moscow issued the order that the German fire was not to be returned. Why? It was because Stalin, despite evident facts, thought that the war had not yet started, that this was only a provocative action on the part of several undisciplined sections of the German Army, and that reaction might serve as a reason for the Germans to begin the war."

"We will take America without firing a shot. We do not have to invade the U.S. We will destroy you from within."

"The living will envy the dead."

"We cannot expect the Americans to jump from capitalism to communism, but we can aid their elected leaders in giving them small doses of socialism until suddenly they awake to find they have communism."

"Khrushchev was overthrown in October 1964 by a politburo disgruntled by his brinkmanship over Suez, Berlin, and Cuba and also opposed to his erratic search for coexistence with the United States. During his nine-year rule, Khrushchev had attempted to achieve the impossible: while striving to dismantle the repressive elements of Stalinism, he had used Stalinist measures to crush popular revolutions in Eastern Europe; while seeking to unify global communism, he had created a powerful rival in Mao’s China; while seeking to revive Marxist-Leninist revolutionary impulses in the Third World, he had not only raised Washington’s hackles but also embraced nationalist leaders who imprisoned their left-wing opposition; and while seeking détente with the United States and the end of NATO, his inflammatory language and nuclear threats had underscored the need for a united West. Despite their differences in age and temperament, Kennedy and Khrushchev were both hardened Cold Warriors who only dimly recognized the radical changes in the world landscape that were beginning to reduce the Superpowers’ control. Their successors, less experienced in diplomacy and more intent on domestic reforms, would create a dangerous pause in the Superpowers’ post-Berlin, post- Cuba search for détente."

"Political conditions on the other side had also changed significantly as a result of the Sino-Soviet rupture. In the late 1950s, Mao, resentful of Moscow's refusal to support China's atomic weapons program, condemned Krushchev's abandonment of the doctrine of revolutionary warfare and his pursuit of peaceful coexistence. Krushchev, a critic of Mao's disastrous Great Leap Forward and belligerence toward his neighbors, in 1960 suddenly withdrew Soviet experts and reduced Soviet assistance to China. After the split became public at the Twenty-Second Party Congress in October 1961, Mao openly mocked Krushchev's retreat during the Cuban missile crisis, complained of Moscow's pro-New Delhi stance during the 1962 Sino-Indian border conflict, and denounced the test ban treaty as a means of preventing China from developing its own nuclear weapons. By the end of 1963 the two communist giants were openly competing for leadership of the revolutionary movements in Asia, Africa, and Latin America."

"Our only "crime" is that in Bucharest we did not agree that a fraternal communist party like the Chinese Communist Party should be unjustly condemned; our only "crime" is that we had the courage to oppose openly, at an international communist meeting (and not in the marketplace) the unjust action of Comrade Khrushchev, our only "crime" is that we are a small Party of a small and poor country which, according to Comrade Khrushchev, should merely applaud and approve but express no opinion of its own. But this is neither Marxist nor acceptable. Marxism-Leninism has granted us the right to have our say and we will not give up this right for any one, neither on account of political and economic pressure nor on account of the threats and epithets that they might hurl at us. On this occasion we would like to ask Comrade Khrushchev why he did not make such a statement to us instead of to a representative of a third party. Or does Comrade Khrushchev think that the Party of Labor of Albania has no views of its own but has made common cause with the Communist Party of China in an unprincipled manner, and therefore, on matters pertaining to our Party, one can talk with the Chinese comrades? No, Comrade Khrushchev, you continue to blunder and hold very wrong opinions about our Party. The Party of Labor of Albania has its own views and will answer for them both to its own people as well as to the international communist and workers' movement."

"It is not we who behave like the Yugoslavs but you, comrade Khrushchev, who are using methods alien to Marxism-Leninism against our Party. You consider Albania as a market commodity which can be gained by one or lost by another. There was a time when Albania was considered a medium of exchange, when others thought it depended on them whether Albania should or should not exist, but that time came to an end with the triumph of the ideas of Marxism-Leninism in our country. You were repeating the same thing when you decided that you had "lost" Albania or that some one else had "won" it, when you decided that Albania is no longer a socialist country, as it turns out from the letter you handed to us on November 8, in which our country is not mentioned as a socialist country."

"Nikita Khruschev was a difficult man to deal with, often very hard, always determined. But his peasant side which made him alternatively good-natured and cunning, also made him likeable."

"Comrade Khrushchev often repeats that Socialism cannot be built with American wheat. I think it can be done by anyone who knows how to do it, while a person who doesn't know how to do it cannot build Socialism even with his own wheat. Khrushchev says we live on charity received from the imperialist countries … What moral right have those who attack us to rebuke us about American aid or credits when Khruschev himself has just tried to conclude an economic agreement with America?"

"He's a charming fellow between sentences."

"The peoples of all our democracies are hungry for peace and security. For 20 years some of us have lived either at war or under the shadow of war. They yearn for some alleviation of the exertions and sacrifices that have been demanded of them. They hear the argument put forward that the development of nuclear weapons has rendered conventional forces obsolete and unnecessary, and that it is a waste of money and effort to continue to maintain them. They are asked by some to believe that the hydrogen bomb has rendered war impossible because it is so deadly that both sides would be annihilated. There is therefore a danger that the free peoples may be lulled into a sense of false security, and that they will succumb to the temptation to relax their efforts which are still essential, if peace is to be preserved, and if our freedom and way of life are to be safeguarded. We must therefore be very careful not to be misled by specious and wholly untenable arguments, or read more into the smiles of the Kremlin than the facts of the case warrant. After all, even Mr. Krushev has himself warned us against wishful thinking. Here is what he said at a Kremlin banquet as recently as a fortnight ago: "The West say that the Soviet leaders smile, but that their actions do not match their smiles. But I assure them that the smiles are sincere. They are not artificial. We wish to live in peace. But if anyone thinks that our smiles mean that we abandon the teachings of Marx and Lenin" (i.e. that the ultimate purpose of Soviet policy is world revolution),"or abandon our Communist road, then they are fooling themselves". In the circumstances I submit that our course is plain. If we are to achieve a lasting relaxation of tension between East and West, and with it practical measures for peace, we can only do so by maintaining our unity and continuing to build up our collective strength."

"And lastly, Chairman Khrushchev has compared the United States to a worn-out runner living on its past performance, and stated that the Soviet Union would out-produce the United States by 1970. Without wishing to trade hyperbole with the Chairman, I do suggest that he reminds me of the tiger hunter who has picked a place on the wall to hang the tiger's skin long before he his caught the tiger. This tiger has other ideas."

"In Thompson's mind was this thought: Khrushchev's gotten himself in a hell of a fix. He would then think to himself, "My God, if I can get out of this with a deal that I can say to the Russian people: 'Kennedy was going to destroy Castro and I prevented it.'" Thompson, knowing Khrushchev as he did, thought Khrushchev will accept that. And Thompson was right."

"Khrushchev relaxed somewhat the dead dictator’s regime without changing its basic institutions or laws: one-party rule remained in place, as did the ubiquitous secret police and censorship. Nevertheless, life for Soviet citizens eased considerably. Millions of concentration-camp inmates regained their freedom. Many victims of repression were rehabilitated, which did not benefit them but brought relief to their families. Limited contacts with foreign nationals were permitted once again. More visitors from abroad received entry visas, and more Soviet citizens could travel outside the USSR. The jamming of foreign short-wave broadcasts continued as before, but it was not foolproof, so that the Soviet public could obtain a more realistic picture of life abroad as well as at home. The effect was to open people’s eyes."

"Nikita Krushchev's eagerness to challenge U.S. interests around the world contributed to the spread of the Cold War in the Middle East, East Asia, Latin America, and even Africa. Krushchev's aggressiveness was motivated not only by a desire to take advantage of an opportunity to expand Soviet influence but also by the perceived Soviet need to fend off a growing challenge by China for leadership of the communist movement. Krushchev's willingness to engage the United States in a nuclear arms race was motivated primarily by his realization that the Soviet Union, despite the continuing development of its nuclear arsenal, was still vulnerable to an American nuclear strike. He undoubtedly believed that the best defense is a good offense and that a forward policy would conceal Soviet nuclear weakness while serving to pressure the West to resolve issues, such as Berlin, to the satisfaction of the Soviet Union. Krushchev's aggressiveness also made Soviet-American reconciliation impossible during the 1950s."

"Krushchev's public rhetoric also made Soviet-American reconciliation difficult, if not impossible, early in Kennedy's presidency. On January 6, 1961, the Soviet leader declared his country would support "wars of national liberation" in the underdeveloped world. Krushchev's declaration, wrote the president's confidante and historian Arthur Schlesinger, Jr., "alarmed Kennedy more than Moscow's amiable signals assuaged him." Although Kennedy was willing to negotiate an end to the Cold War, the Third World challenge which Krushchev threw at him would have to be dealt with first."

"In the opinion of another historian, Bruce Miroff, Kennedy's reaction to Krushchev's blustering revealed an acute inferiority complex, which the president manifested by a perverse need to prove his leadership capabilities. As a result, rather than ignoring or minimizing Krushchev's threats, as Eisenhower usually did, Kennedy personalized them and converted them into tests of will, in the process manufacturing crises that need not have been. "There was really nothing in that Eisenhower] era comparable to the Berlin crisis of 1961 and the Cuban missile crisis of 1962," Miroff observes, both of which represented the closest approaches to a superpower nuclear war during the Cold War. For whatever reasons, whether they were primarily ideological, political, or psychological- and all were important- in formulating his initial response to the Soviet Union Kennedy chose to emphasize Krushchev's bellicose actions rather than his friendly gestures. Only after Kennedy had proved to the Soviet leader that he was not soft on communism would diplomacy make any headway during his presidency."

"Partly to offset America's nuclear superiority, but primarily to deter another U.S.-backed invasion of Cuba, Krushchev decided in early 1962 to deploy on that island nation thirty-six medium-range ballistic missiles (with a range of 2,200 nautical miles). Since the United States had deployed Jupiter IRBMs in Turkey, the Soviet leader had no qualms about trying to do the same thing in Cuba. "It was high time," he recalled thinking in his own memoir, "America learned what it feels like to have her own land and her own people threatened.""

"It is probable that Krushchev also wanted a dramatic way of achieving a breakthrough on the Berlin problem, and perhaps expected that the successful deployment of missiles in Cuba would do much to neutralize U.S. nuclear superiority, thereby enabling him to increase Soviet pressure on that beleaguered city. In addition, some analysts believe, the successful deployment of Soviet missiles in Cuba would distract attention from Krushchev's growing domestic problems, primarily the mediocre performance of Soviet agriculture, and solidify the leadership of the Soviet Union in the international communist movement, which was being increasingly challenged by the Chinese."

"Ironically, the enhanced short-term prestige that Kennedy experienced in the wake of the Cuban missile crisis only produced greater long-term insecurity for his country. The humiliation Krushchev suffered at the hands of Kennedy during the missile crisis contributed to his removal from power in October 1964. The new Soviet leadership, headed by Leonid Brezhnev, was determined to avoid a repetition of the humiliation Krushchev had experienced. Beginning in early 1965, the Kremlin embarked on a massive expansion of the Soviet nuclear arsenal that would enable the Soviet Union to achieve nuclear parity with the United States by the end of the decade."

"Let’s set the record straight. There is no argument over the choice between peace and war, but there is only one guaranteed way you can have peace—and you can have it in the next second—surrender. Admittedly there is a risk in any course we follow other than this, but every lesson in history tells us that the greater risk lies in appeasement, and this is the specter our well-meaning liberal friends refuse to face—that their policy of accommodation is appeasement, and it gives no choice between peace and war, only between fight and surrender. If we continue to accommodate, continue to back and retreat, eventually we have to face the final demand—the ultimatum. And what then? When Nikita Khrushchev has told his people he knows what our answer will be? He has told them that we are retreating under the pressure of the Cold War, and someday when the time comes to deliver the ultimatum, our surrender will be voluntary because by that time we will have weakened from within spiritually, morally, and economically. He believes this because from our side he has heard voices pleading for “peace at any price” or “better Red than dead,” or as one commentator put it, he would rather “live on his knees than die on his feet.” And therein lies the road to war, because those voices don’t speak for the rest of us."

"Both Khrushchëv and his successor Brezhnev asserted that communism around the world outdid the West’s advanced capitalist countries in freedom and welfare. They ignored the point that elections were pointless when a single candidate from one party alone was allowed to stand in them; they glossed over the detention of political, intellectual and religious dissenters in the Gulag. But Soviet leaders were frequently thought to score better on other matters. There was no unemployment in the USSR. Citizens were guaranteed shelter, heating, fuel, schooling, public transport and healthcare at little or no cost. Tourists to the Soviet Union reported that muggings were rare and graffiti scrawls practically unknown; and neon-light advertisements were nowhere to be seen. What is more, Soviet spokesmen castigated racism, imperialism and nationalism. The USSR was a multinational state. Its spokesmen insisted that it had eliminated the iniquities of imperialism, nationalism and racism. Although the European empires dissolved themselves in the 1950s and 1960s, the former colonies continued to face difficulties of economic dependency and under-development. Soviet Azerbaijan was compared favourably with ex-British Nigeria, ex-French Algeria and ex-Dutch Malaysia."

"in January 1961, she (Carol Ruth Silver) saw Soviet premier Nikita Khrushchev bang his shoe on the table during his famous address declaring the Soviet Union's support for national liberation struggles in Cuba and Vietnam. Witnessing Khrushchev's historic challenge to U.S. hegemony in international affairs broadened Silver's thinking."

"Even so, the new leadership, among whom Nikita Khrushchev slowly emerged as the head, went ahead with gradually setting free many of those imprisoned in the GULag. While labor camps would continue to exist right up to the end of the Soviet Union, Khrushchev removed them as a key part of the country’s economy, which under Stalin had been completely dependent on prison labor. Hundreds of thousands of prisoners—political protesters, petty thieves, foreign soldiers, those who belonged to the “wrong” nationality, and those many who had no idea why they had been arrested—started to emerge from the camps, and struggled to get home or find a new place in society. These are the people the Russian Nobel laureate Aleksandr Solzhenitsyn immortalized in One Day in the Life of Ivan Denisovich and the process Ilya Ehrenburg called “The Thaw.” But Khrushchev himself later admitted that the new leaders “were scared—really scared. We were afraid that the thaw might unleash a flood, which we wouldn’t be able to control and which would drown us.”"

"The new Soviet leaders understood that some of Stalin’s policies had created the resistance that had boiled to the surface after his death, not just in East Germany but elsewhere as well. But they were also afraid that the East German rebellion could be repeated elsewhere if they were not careful. By late 1953 they had therefore developed what they called a “new course,” which was intent on reform without weakening the Communists’ monopoly on power. The main parts of the reform program were reducing the number of people who were arrested or otherwise excluded from society, amnesty for most political prisoners, cuts in heavy industry and defense industry output, and improvements in the production of food and consumer products."

"It meant a lot to me that Chelsea have wanted me for the last three years and that is the reason I chose them. It was important for me to come to a club with the same level of excellence. It is a great team and it is important to play for a great team."

"We might have a quick word with each other but that is natural as we both speak Russian. Maybe I shouldn't speak Russian!"

"If my goals and victories can help the world remember Chernobyl and bring a smile to the face of the people still suffering then I dedicate all my success to them."

"Andriy is our locomotive. We don't have players of the calibre of Kaka, Cafu and Maldini to play alongside him, but he carries the team up."

"Shevchenko is the best attacker in Europe. He has a great deal of consistency and he just keeps scoring - which in Italian football is very difficult. He is a complete player, someone who can do everything on a football field"

"In the same directive he raised the question – this was in the middle of 1934 – that now that Hitler had come to power it was quite clear that his, Trotsky’s line on the impossibility of building up socialism in one country alone had been completely justified, that war was inevitable, and that if we Trotskyites wished to preserve ourselves as a political force of some sort, we must in advance, having adopted a defeatist position, not merely passively observe and contemplate, but actively prepare the way for this defeat. But in order to do so, cadres must be formed, and cadres could not be formed by talk alone. Therefore the necessary wrecking activities must be carried on now. I recall that Trotsky said in this directive that without the necessary support from foreign states, a government of the bloc could neither come to power nor hold power. It was therefore a question of arriving at the necessary preliminary agreement with the most aggressive foreign states, like Germany and Japan, and the he, Trotsky, on his part had already taken the necessary steps in establishing contacts both with the Japanese and the German governments."

"During the period while I was detached temporarily from the Gold Trust and assigned to work in copper mines, I had an opportunity to observe at first hand the actions of Yuri Pyatakov, the vice commissar executed in 1937, after he had confessed to leadership of a wrecking ring. I went to Berlin in the spring of 1931 with a large purchasing commission headed by Pyatakov; my job was to offer technical advice on purchases of mining machinery. Some things happened on that occasion which I never understood until I read Pyatakov's testimony at his trial in 1937."

"Among other things, the commission in Berlin was buying several dozen mine hoists, ranging from 100 to 1,000 horse-power. Ordinarily, these hoists consist of drums, shafting, bearings, gears, and so on, placed on a foundation of I or H beams. The commission asked for quotations on the basis of pfennigs per kilogram. After some discussion, the German concerns later mentioned in Pyatakov's confession reduced their prices between 5 and 6 pfennigs per kilogram. When I studied these proposals, I discovered that the firms had substituted cast-iron bases weighing several tons for the light steel provided in the specifications, which would reduce the cost of production per kilogram, but increase the weight, and therefore the cost to the purchaser."

"Naturally, I was pleased to make this discovery, and reported to the members of the commission with a sense of triumph. But these men were distinctly lukewarm; they even brought considerable pressure on me to persuade me to approve the deal. I couldn't figure out their attitude. I finally told the commission members flatly that they would have to make such purchases on their own responsibility, and that I would see that my own contrary advice got on the record. Only then did they drop the proposal."

"At the time I attributed their attitude to obstinate stupidity, or perhaps some personal graft. But this incident was fully explained by Pyatakov's subsequent confession. The matter was so arranged that Pyatakov could have gone back to Moscow and showed that he had been very successful in reducing prices, but at the same time would have paid out money for a lot of worthless cast iron and enabled the Germans to give him very substantial rebates. According to his own statement, he got away with the same trick on some other mines, although I blocked this one."

"The danger is that sometimes skinheads want to join the movement, [our] movement has nothing to do with that… They [homosexual people] should sit and be happy that they are not getting killed. (…) From their side should be respect; on my part there is nothing to respect them for, [they are] sick people."

"Not so long ago, I got into an argument with one of the readers, who is also my friend. She ardently defends the rights of gays and lesbians, whom I, in her words, “unjustly insulted” in many articles."What do you care about them ?!" - once again, like hundreds of commentators on articles before her, the girl asked. And for the umpteenth time, like hundreds of commentators, I answered - I don't care about them. I do not distinguish them from the dog shit on the side of the road, I do not care about them, but I do care about my children and the future of the territory with which my life is connected..."

"I hate Adolf Schicklgruber. This is a vile rascal and all that. But was he really wrong, sending this abomination [homosexuals] together with gypsies [...] into gas chambers and for sterilization???!!! What do you think - return the article for sodomy now - will then the number of sick youngsters and "stars" with broken asses decrease?"

"Gypsies are the filth of the world. Europe is gradually waking up, and under the outraged cries of tolerasts, it begins to clean the dirt. When will we wake up?"

"In Iran, after the 1979 Islamic revolution, over 4,000 lesbians and homosexuals were sentenced to death. The clerical regime also executed many women for extramarital sex. [...] I believe that in Iran with prostitution, pedophilia and rape the situation is hundreds of times better than in our extremely cultured and civilized country."

"Unpleasant information came to me that in Kyiv, the inhabitants of Western Ukraine suddenly began to tell the people of Kyiv how they should behave, how they have to love Ukraine, how they need to sing the anthem, walk with the flag. I have several friends from Western Ukraine, I respect these people, I am proud of friendship with them, these are quite sane people. I ask my appeal to the irresponsible women not to consider him chauvinism and racism and something else. In fact, until the 39th year you were nobody. You were instead of oxen, you were like marmots on their holes dug in the mountains. Or buried, you were dug in the 39th. Do you understand? The regions of Kyiv, Zaporizhzhya, Poltava have something to hate Stalin. You do not, you have to put Stalin a golden monument in one of your villages. And you have to pray at this monument in fact, because you saw civilization in the 39th year. You started to wipe your ass in the 39th. When they tell me they served soups to the Poles, I say this is impossible. They served soups to farm laborers of the Poles. Because no one would have allowed them to the Poles. You did not have land. You... I am Ukrainian, and you are not Ukrainians. You second... there, second... well, I don’t say second grade, no, you are just half-breeds. Three-timers, foursquads. You are half fucking Poles, half you are Hungarians, half you the devil knows what you are really. Do not tell the people of Kyiv how they should behave, how they need to love the country, love their flag. Because it is not your flag. You have no flag. You are not Ukrainians."

"On March 24, Anatoly Shariy published a post with a spontaneous confession about his old statements:"

"The OUN values ​​the cost of living of its members, very much; but our idea in our notion is so majestic that when it comes to its realization, not one, not hundreds, but millions of victims must be dedicated in order to realize it."

"When the people choose bread between bread and freedom, they eventually lose everything, including bread. If the people choose freedom, they will have bread grown by themselves and not taken away by anyone."

"Even the best opportunities and readiness to help will not give up if the nation itself does not fight and forge its own destiny by its own struggle."

"In every ideological or political movement, the two most important components play an important role: the idea and the person. Leading ideas and worldviews in the ideological movement and guiding program decisions in the political - create the "soul", the essence, the inner meaning of the movement. People who recognize, disseminate and implement ideas and programs and for that purpose take an active part in the movement - create its living, active organism."

"Creation, formation of personnel for the liberation struggle - this is the most important, the main task of the whole revolutionary process."

"The ideological and political work of each political factor must be direct and immediate. In national life, each environment must perform its inherent function within such limits, forms and means that it can achieve on its own and which correspond to its real influences in Ukrainian society. Every serious environment must operate under all internal and external conditions, regardless of other factors."

"Faith strengthens the forces of the soul the most. Through true and deep faith in God, the Savior, each person and the entire nation is able to continually draw from the eternally living source as much strength as their souls can perceive."

"The Organization of Ukrainian Nationalists with organizes and leads the fight of the Ukrainian people develops its activity in Ukraine as well as abroad, primarily in those western countries where the Ukrainian emigration has settled."

"The Ukrainian people takes up an extremely hostile attitude towards Bolshevism, communism, communist system and regime. It also takes a hostile attitude towards all the kinds of enslavement and exploitation of Ukraine by Russian imperialists. There is only a small number of Ukrainian fellow travelers of the Bolshevik regime who take up another attitude towards it. The revolutionary anti-Bolshevik fight of the Ukrainian liberation movement is the true spokesman of the attitude and aspiration of the Ukrainian people."

"The ultimate end of the Bolshevik policy is to destroy the peculiar substance of the Ukrainian people in every respect, and to drown the Ukrainian people in the sea of the so-called Soviet people or, rather, in the modern form of the Russian imperialism devouring other people. In this way, the Ukraine would allegedly turn into one of the Russian provinces. However, the Bolsheviks dare not speak openly of that end and pursue it in a straight way. On the contrary, they are compelled to apply very complicated means, and even to retreat in some fields."

"In the hearts of the Ukrainians, there is no feeling of hate toward the allied nations. On the contrary, they wish all the people to unite in their common fight against the enslaver, Russian Bolshevism."

"The name “Ukrainian nationalist” is consonant with “Ukrainian patriot” who is ready to fight for freedom of his people, to sacrifice for his people everything he has, even his life."

"The Ukrainian liberation fight is a component of the general liberation fight of all peoples enslaved by Russian imperialism. In our opinion, Bolshevism is only one of the forms of the traditional Russian imperialism. In our fight against the Russian-Bolshevik imperialism, we consider ourselves an ally of all the freedom-loving nations. We offered resistance to the Russian-Bolshevik imperialism in the past, we are opposing it now and we shall oppose it in the future."

"Stepan Bandera once put forward three attitudes towards non-Ukrainians. It is very simple. There is a fraternal one - for those who are fighting with us for Ukraine, regardless of nationality. There is a tolerance - to those people who live on that land, do not oppose our struggle, so we treat them normally, there is enough space for everyone in Ukraine. The third is hostile to those who oppose the national liberation struggle of the Ukrainian people, and this is in any state, any nation has such positions."

"Bandera died as he lived - violently. Hated by the rulers of the Kremlin (Stalin and Khrushchev), he became a target for the Soviet secret services. When Bandera started to implement his plan for a great Ukraine, he must have been aware that he was playing a risky game, especially since it was based on an alliance with Hitler. Was he aware of how this might end? We will not find out, but he probably had to ask himself when he was in exile in Munich: will they come or not? They came. They always come."

"We, Poles, have no reason to have warm feelings for the Ukrainian nationalist leader. On the contrary, although he was born, raised and educated in Poland, many consider him one of the greatest enemies of our nation (it is enough to mention, for example, the massacre in Volhynia). It is viewed in a similar way in Russia - it became a synonym of nationalist orthodoxy and fascist tendencies already in the times of the USSR."

"Of course, Poles have the right to their opinion on Ukrainian history. Just like us on the subject of Polish history. But the Ukrainian side has never had any comments to commemorate the Polish heroes whose role in the history of Ukraine is absolutely negative. Besides, Stepan Bandera has nothing to do with the Polish-Ukrainian conflict. At that time, he was in a concentration camp."

"My life plan from early childhood included everything, depending on the books I read and movies I watched, but political activity. Furthermore, it was clear to me that there was no political future for Crimean Tatars under Soviet rule. Under the Soviets, political activity meant zealous service to the Communist Party and unequivocal approval and praise of everything that was happening in the country. This was simply not compatible with my religious identity and national dignity."

"Everybody understands that in order to liberate Crimea and restore trust in the international law peacefully, one has to implement effective economic sanctions, which would compel the aggressor state to return the occupied territories and operate within the framework of the existing international order."

"Russia has once again demonstrated that not a single memorandum or agreement signed with it guarantees security and territorial integrity. Since Ukraine is not likely to have military capabilities equal to Russia’s, due to the difference in the size of the country, human and natural resources, Ukraine will have to join NATO or any other regional defense alliance of collective security. Ukraine’s relations with Russia may only be settled after Russia withdraws from the occupied territories and compensates for the damages caused to Ukraine. However, under the current regime in the Kremlin it is highly unlikely that the situation will change."

"Until the occupation of our land is over, we cannot make any deals."

"The occupation of Crimea must prove to be increasingly costly for Russia. There is a notion that Crimea won’t be de-occupied while Putin is in power because that would signal his political death. But, if the sanctions for international damage are powerful enough, then it is quite possible that Crimea will be freed even under Putin."

"First of all, we do not trade with our loyalty expecting whose bid will be higher. We have decided a long time ago. To say the least, we don’t have a great deal of trust in Russians."

"If you have hurt even a single innocent person, even if you remain independent, that struggle for independence will never be considered a victory."

"The main merit of the Crimean Tatar national movement is that we avoided bloodshed in our struggle. We have shown that putting human life first, talking about one's rights and the rights of others, one can get out of difficult situations without blood."

"I knew from an early age that we had been vilely evicted from the Crimea, and that the Soviet government was bad."

"If a person is to think about the future of his own children, he must first have a homeland. If he does not have a homeland, that nation will not have a perspective. This is the first reason, but apart from that, our fathers and grandfathers always talked about Crimea. Even though we did not see it, we always knew that the Crimean Peninsula was our homeland and that we would return there eventually. That's why our national movement was one of the strongest movements in the Soviet Union."

"It will be a lot of refugees (if Russia invades Ukraine). It will be a disaster for Europe because this war is not only (in the) east of Ukraine. This war is going in (the) east of Europe. I am seriously saying."

"We hope to learn about defending against cyberattacks on critical infrastructure, defense against aerial and missiles attacks and the use of UAVs (unmanned aerial vehicles). There is a great potential for future cooperation (with Israel)."

"Hide your loved ones (dear Russians) if they are dear to you. Don't send them (as Russian armed forces to attack Ukraine) to certain death. They will be killed (by the Ukrainian people) from every window in every Ukrainian city."

"We have enough reserves and strength to withstand not only military but also economic, trade and energy aggression (from Russia). We have no economic reason for worsening situation, except for panic. We continue our active cooperation with the International Monetary Fund (IMF). And today we welcome the start of yet another IMF mission in Ukraine."

"There is no purgatory for war criminals. They go straight to hell, Ambassador ."

"If [Putin] wants to kill himself, he doesn’t need to use the nuclear arsenal. He has to do what the guy in Berlin did in a bunker in May 1945."

"Russian troops block numerous attempts of the Ukrainian authorities to evacuate civilians."

"Russia bears full responsibility for the killing and injuring of innocent people, destruction of civilian infrastructure, and obstacles for the safe departure of Ukrainians and foreign citizens."

"I think that it is not only Russian diplomats in New York who need mental assistance but also those who posted today this text: 'Foreign Minister Lavrov: The goal of Russia's special military operation is to stop any war that could take place on Ukrainian territory or that could start from there.' Russian Embassy in London. Retweeted by the Russian Foreign Ministry. Let me remind the Russian diplomats that in London in case of need for mental help, you can dial NHS line 111. Thank you."

"Demilitarization of Russia is well under way"

"We, not just Ukraine but everybody, must make an effort to help the Russian population to direct their country back on the road towards democracy, how to develop democratic institutions and how to develop a living, sustainable society."

"I don't buy this version that they are so brainwashed that they don't understand what is happening. We don't live in the Soviet era when there was no internet or when citizens couldn't travel abroad or didn't have any means of getting information."

"Militarily, Russia will be defeated. It will cost us further losses of civilian and military lives, and we can only try to minimize the damages, but together with Norway and other allies I am not in doubt that Russia will be militarily defeated on Ukrainian territory."

"Ukraine wants to be independent, and we will celebrate our national day with our partners and friends."

"Creating quality legislation is the main task of the Parliament of Ukraine. I am extremely pleased to have been personally involved in those initiatives that can become the foundation for further improvement of legislation today. These are bills on the referendum, on law-making activities, on criminal liability for button-making, on de-Sovietization of legislation, on recodification of civil legislation."

"Russia may have destroyed our Mriya. But they will never be able to destroy our dream of a strong, free and democratic European state. We shall prevail!"

"Russia is undoubtedly not capable of waging another full-scale war comparable in size to what it is waging now, the war currently taking place in Ukraine. That is a fact. But let me return to what I was saying. You must be sure of two things. First, that if Russia physically invades your territory, your armed forces will be capable of forcing Russia, at a minimum, to get bogged down in war. You should not assess the strength of your army at parades, but realistically understand — is your country’s army capable of stopping Russia, the Russian army? And second: how ready is the people, the entire population, to rise up and fight the occupier in one form or another? If these two factors are present — if you have a strong army and a population that does not accept the occupier — then Russia will be forced to escalate the scale of the war. And it truly does not have the capacity for that. But for a localized destabilizing operation, Russia will always find the resources, do not doubt that."

"What is given to Ukraine is not charity. It's an investment in the protection of NATO and in the protection of the prosperity of the American people."

"Justice is the first victim of peace."

"For our nation, this (2022 Russian invasion of Ukraine) is a struggle for our very existence. We don't have a choice. We must stay, we must fight (the Russians)."

"Each (social media) platform is very important to us now and we are using every opportunity to attract large companies to this horror happening now in Ukraine (due to Russia invasion). We are trying to bring the truth to the Russians and make them protest against the war."

"We will definitely win (against Russia) and we will rebuild everything (in our country)."

"We are ready for any scenario (dealing with Moscow-backed forces in Donetsk) at any time."

"Finland is a country that shows high standards of environmental waste management. Almost all citizens of this country sort garbage. As a result, 99% of household waste is recycled. This experience will be useful for Ukraine. Thus, a similar process is underway in communities – the separate collection of household waste has been introduced in 1,725 communities of our state. However, it is necessary to scale this direction and implement the useful practices of international partners in the country."

"We have no choice but to go and sow. In general, we are working on the following mechanism: where we can sow, where the situation allows, we go out and work. We have sown wheat, barley; we have winter crops; we are not giving up, as it is a matter of food. I want to tell you that farmers' mood is so that we will achieve territorial integrity. We are in full coordination and have a clear understanding that the country's food security depends on what we will have in fields."

"In my childhood years, I dreamt of being a footballer. But as my friends often joke, they tried to take the ball in an unsportsmanlike way... which is how I became a boxer."

"Boxing is my life, but my life is not only boxing."

"Anyone can insult a boxer, but not everyone will manage to apologise in time."

"I do sports, business and politics. In sports, after you break the rules, the sportsman receives a warning or might be disqualified. In business, whoever uses forbidden tricks risks being left without partners. Politics is a whole lot different. It resembles a jar with cockroaches. There you have competition - who tricks whom, who lies to whom. And even if politicians employ forbidden tricks against each other, they [ultimately] meet again in the same jar."

"Everyone was supposed to go to parliament to work with their heads. For some, working with their heads didn't work out, so they went on to employ their fists. As an expert in this matter I can say that they didn't manage to do it very well, either."

"(Of Ukrainians' preferences to look to the future in the European Union) And today in the next day, not everyone can look [there]. That is, not only all can look [there], few can do that."

"From Bill Clinton?.. E-e-e-erm... Be simpler and speak in accessible... in accessible language of the pe... peop... in accessible language... of the people. Because numerous politicians try to speak in such pher... terminology and in so outlandish terms that... you can listen [them] for an hour, and then... erm, ask him what you've understood from all of what he said, and that guy won't be able to tell anything. (During an interview with Ksenia Sobchak)"

"In Odessa region [there is] a city, 50 kilometres, not far away... Fifty kilometres... You know, the distance isn't measured in kilometres. Two hours! It takes two hours to drive 50 kilometres. (Describing his journey from Izmail to Kiliia)"

"(Reply to a provocator) Get your fucking ass on the Maidan quickly!"

"I have to confess... for a long time, for many-many years, I am a convinced lesbian. I struggle to understand the representatives of sexual minorities when so many beautiful women are around you."

"The problem we've encountered is the inept policies of the whole ruling class of the country, and we shouldn't be looking to the people for the reason [behind them]."

"I want to draw attention of everybody [to the fact that] I met with numerous policemen who died, with the protesters who died, and all of them are asking..."

"I have two deputies, four of whom have already been lying in the Cabinet of Ministers for one month and whom it is impossible to appoint. I have no idea why."

"She [Klitschko's wife] is everywhere. She is in Kyiv. Today she flied to Germany. She works in the whole world. And after all she is where I am."

"I ask all Kyivans to understand this problem, and I will also ask all Kyivans... in the same manner to be especially... with especial attitude address the problem of heat conservation and the preparation to earth. Klitschko confused земля (earth) with зима (winter)"

"(Answering the question of the status of post-annexation Crimea) We have... what we had. We have talked about that. The current situation we have. And we have to look which we can... What we can do..."

"In previous years, when the Kyivans were waking up without any permits at all, the parks and squares have been built over and as a result, now we have a lack of trust."

"For the cold water to become hot, you have to heat it up. Obviously, for that we need gas. We are waiting for the gas supplies to begin but there aren't any."

"I, for instance, don't see any smells whatsoever. (While tasting tap water)"

"Journalist. Tell me please, how much time do you need in order to get the capital in order?"

"Lobanovsky is no longer with us, but he remains alive. His work remains alive, his people remain alive, his remains are still alive, the memory about him is still alive."

"If in earlier times one in six people died in intensive care, now it's every other person. This is very important. We are elevating [the quality], we are saving lives."

"Among the ill are two inferior children: a 16-year-old guy and a 17-year-old young lady. He meant "minor"."

"In great mood we greet the year 2220... eh, 2222..."

"If my home country needs my life, I am ready to give my life — for my country, for my children, for the future."

"Nobody wants to die, everybody wants to live, but the Russians want to rebuild a Russian empire and we don’t want to live in a Russian empire. The Russians try to put us on our knees, but we’re fighting right now for freedom and for the future of our children and our country."

"Ukraine is a peaceful country, we were never aggressive to anyone. But, right now, the situation is about our future, the future of our children - and we have to defend that."

"Russians go away, Russian soldiers have to go away from our home country - and after that we are ready to discuss."

"Russian soldiers are fighting for the money, Ukrainian soldiers, Ukrainian citizens are fighting for the future of our children - and you feel the difference between the money and the children."

"You don't kill your brother. You don't rape your sister. You don't destroy your friend's country. That's why today we dismantled this monument once created as a sign of friendship between Ukraine and Russia."

"Boxing has rules. Politics has very flexible rules."

"Naftogaz was mostly used as an instrument to do two things: firstly, to bribe the electorate through the huge prepaid subsidies, and secondly for corrupt practices."

"“Every Saturday, they would run shows saying how bad Naftogaz is, what a bad person Kobolyev is” (Andriy Kobolyev said to the Wall Street Journal about a Firtash-controlled television station called Inter started airing negative coverage about Kobolyev. “In Ukraine, those favors don't come for free. If you want a TV channel which is a propaganda channel to promote you, that comes at a cost,” he said."

"You can either be in Turkmenistan, where you have free gas but low salaries and no freedom, or you can be in the European Union-style, but then the gas will be priced to market value. Sorry."

"With blows like that, the Russian Federation is trying to make sure that Ukraine as a state will fail Kobolyev said that Nord Stream 2 would kill the Ukrainian transit route."

"Every day for Naftogaz is like walking on the edge."

"The construction and launch of Nord Stream 2 are nothing but part of Putin's plan to wage war against Ukraine. He wanted to give up transit through our country so that any further invasion would not affect Russian gas sales to Europe."

"Even if Russia gives guarantees, I believe the likelihood of Russia helping us is zero."

"This plan enabled Ukraine to achieve two goals: create the independent GTS operator in line with European rules and protect the country's interests in the arbitration proceedings against Gazprom."

"A lot of populist politicians began to use it as a tool to discredit reforms and to increase their rating in the year of double elections. ... Now I will give my salary and bonuses in equal proportions to three Ukrainian organizations – “Narodny tyl” supporting the families of the dead warriors, “Come back alive” supporting the army, [MIM] and “Tabletochky” to help children with cancer."

"There is no reason for the EU not to place an immediate embargo on supplies of Russian LNG and petroleum products. Russia's energy stranglehold has lasted for too long. This step will save lives, and not only in Ukraine."

"Beyond the military domain, the most obvious target for such retaliation is Russian energy exports, which account for roughly 36 percent of the country's total budget revenues, most of which are used to fund military expenditure. Europe should move fast to replace Russian energy supplies permanently."

"Moreover, the EU's Green Deal, which commits the bloc to become carbon-neutral by 2050, means the balance of bargaining power has shifted decisively from fossil fuel producers to consumers. European governments must use that advantage to sanction Russian energy exports in a way that will not damage their economies. The best approach is the tried and tested Iranian sanction model: natural gas can flow from Gazprom to Europe. However, all proceeds are kept in special escrow accounts in European banks until Russia meets certain conditions."

"However, shifting gas sales, for example, to Chinese markets is not possible. ... In the case of China, it might take 10 to 15 years to build the infrastructure. The existing pipeline to China is small and is not connected to the areas currently supplying Europe. To lose your biggest, most lucrative market, to lose 80% of your revenues, and become fully dependent on China, does not look like a very smart or strategic move. That does not look like a victory."

"The Russians and Putin have always believed Europe can never survive without Russian oil. ... Putin thinks if he wins in Ukraine, the Kremlin will be forgiven because there is no alternative, and the west is weak. That is how he thinks, how Gazprom thinks, and how Rosneft thinks. That is how they see the world. That is why Putin personally controls the energy trade. It is his sacred cash cow. ...There is a Russian proverb: a sacred place is never empty for long."

"Kobolyev is one of the most remarkable anti-corruption leaders in Ukraine."

"Kobolyev is “a stalwart reformer” and “a rare Ukrainian in power who never stopped fighting corrupt efforts to benefit the well-connected at the expense of the Ukrainian people.”"

"Kobolyev is “as clean as they come,” saying he had been “fearless and determined to sort of shake everything up.”"

"You’re going to sit in prison."

"After all, the Cuban people, together with Fidel Castro, Che Guevara and other leaders, fought for the same thing we are fighting for in Donbass - the right to decide their own fate. And the Cuban people won, even though all the combined forces of the West were against them. Just as they are against us now. That's why Fidel was important to us. That's why we thought and remembered him. [...] And also Fidel Castro was an example for us that he fought for an idea, not for power, oil or money. [...] The very ideas that the Cuban people stood up for are close to us and we understand them. These are the ideas that are now written on our banners: Freedom, Justice, Conscience, Equality. These are the ideas for which one must fight and for which one can die."

"Soviets, as a way of governing, have not lost their relevance even now."

"The USSR is the country in which we grew up, in which we lived, in which most of us were happy. [...] It is what we all came from. It is love for the Motherland, it is respect for the army, it is upbringing, it is care for the elderly, for children. [...] It is free medicine, free education - the best in the world. America and Europe used our methods and formed their teaching methods from our experience."

"We have no right to forget the good things of the USSR."

"Many people think of the USSR as an empire, but we think of it as our homeland. [...] Sooner or later we will come to the logical conclusion and build the country we dream of."

"[Talking about the War in Donbass] Unfortunately, today the world, saved at the cost of millions of lives, is once again being invaded by Nazis. In neighbouring Ukraine, elderly Nazi collaborators and their heirs are marching through towns and villages. The great Victory Banner, which proudly flew over the Reichstag, is banned. We will not allow it in our country; we will always remember and cherish the truth about the great victory. And we must convey this truth to our children and grandchildren."

"Why are we fighting, what do we want to see next, what kind of future are we building? [...] These were ideas of freedom, conscience, justice, equality. These are the things I have on my heart right now, the things I think about, and I think these ideas are shared by the majority of our fellow citizens."

"The entire Donbas militia was ideologically motivated. That is why we are winning. Ideological motivation gives us that quality which overcomes the mechanical advantage of the enemy."

"Both the first and second Maidans were directed against former Donetsk governor Viktor Yanukovych, leader of Donbass and of non-nationalist, centrist political forces. His position enjoyed substantial electoral support as the people of Ukraine demonstrated little interest in becoming an ‘Anti-Russia’. President Viktor Yushchenko, who came in the wake of the first Maidan, very quickly lost the confidence of the people, for the most part, because of his anti-Russian policies. The elections after the second Maidan were won by Pyotr Poroshenko, who promised peace with Russia in a week. Thus, he was elected as a peacemaker president. Nevertheless, he became a president of war, failed to implement the Minsk Agreements, and miserably lost the next election. He was replaced by Vladimir Zelensky, who also promised peace, but became the personification of war. So, the Ukrainian people were twice promised peace and then deceived. Having gained power under the rhetoric of peacemaking, Zelensky is the second Ukrainian leader who has taken an extremely radical position."

"We a beautiful nation, we are the largest territory in Europe. We are a European nation with great traditions, we are among the top ten countries in the world in terms of minerals. We only need to restore the state's governance and build a strong state economically and militarily, and we will be able to save Europe."

"During Maidan in Kyiv, it was the first time people died in centre of Europe with the European flags."

"Should the people put their faith in me, I will use all my will, experience and my team of professionals to stop further impoverishment of Ukrainians, put up a proper fight against external aggression, and get key victories that will ensure the development of democratic foundations and the revival of Ukraine as a strong independent European nation."