Politicians From Ukraine

"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..."

"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 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."

"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)"

"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)"

"(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."

"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."

"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."

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

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

"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."

"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."

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

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

"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."

"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."

"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!"

"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)."

"Justice is the first victim of peace."

"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."

"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."

"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."

"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."

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

"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."

"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."

"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."

"Demilitarization of Russia is well under way"

"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."

"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."

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

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

"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."

"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)."

"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."

"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."

"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."

"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."

"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."

"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."

"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."