I lived close to Polish Consulate in Kyiv when airplane tragedy happened in Poland in 2010 and this country lost significant part of political elite. I remember how Ukrainian people brought thousands of flowers to the gates of the Consulate in order to commemorate the victims and support Polish nation. It is very embarrassing to confess, but I did not bring flowers even though I lived so close. Somehow I believed that all these flowers brought miles away from Poland do not make sense: flowers can not change the things, they can not reduce the pain and moreover most of Poles will never even see them.
After shooting civilians in Kyiv in February 2014 I changed my opinion on 180 degrees. When terrible and cruel events happen in your country, when you feel desperate and lost, when hundreds of people are killed and you have no idea what to expect tomorrow – you want support. Now I can declare confidently: international support is very important. And I am happy that thousands of people from all over the world supported Ukrainians. We saw people who came to support us in Prague, Bratislava, Vilnius, Warsaw and other places. We saw this on TV, read in internet, shared photos on facebook and simply discussed with each other. But we knew everything. We felt that we were not ignored by this huge world at the moment of our tragedy. And it helped. Really helped.
I want to express special gratitude to citizens of Tartu who organized the event and came to commemorate the Ukrainian heroes killed on the 18-20th of February. Hundreds of people came and brought candles. It was windy and cool weather, so wind extinguished the candles all the time, but people lighted them up again and again for a few hours. It was also very touching moment when a few Ukrainians who were present there sang a national anthem. I want you know, dear Estonians, that this news was widely spread here in Ukraine and we really appreciate your support.
In conclusion I want to appeal to all people from all over the world: if you see injustice, cruelty or tragedy that happens somewhere in the world, please, express your regret to those people, show that you support them and let them know that you love them. In the end, we all are children of one planet, we all have blood in our veins and beating hearts in our chests.
Thank you!