On February 24, in Tbilisi, on Rustaveli Avenue on the anniversary of Russian invasion and the start of the war in Ukraine, a solidarity rally of several thousand people “This is Georgia - Glory to the Heroes” was held.
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“All I want to say is thank you so much for coming here. February 24 is already a principled, historical date. The world split in two before our eyes. On one side there is light and on the other side there is darkness. Exactly one year ago, on this day, the whole civilized world believed that Kiev would fall in three days. If Kiev had fallen, it would be clear what would happen to our country. We would very, very likely lose the most precious thing we have - the independence that generations have sacrificed their lives for. We have shed a lot of blood for this. Then a miracle happened. What we have been watching for a year is a real miracle. We watch what the Ukrainians are doing “in live”. They have Stopped this evil empire. Draw a very clear line between morality and immorality. Where is white, where is black. The fact that you are here today is proof that you don't need to explain it,” said Zurab Japaridze, one of the organizers of the rally, the leader of “Girchi - More Freedom”.
Giorgi Vashadze, leader of the “Strategy Aghmashenebeli”, also addressed the demonstrators. He said that with this action, the citizens of Georgia sent a message to the civilized world about where Georgia stands - that it deserves both the European Union and NATO.
“Our main goal is not to give to GD opportunity to shift us from the path of European integration and to receive candidte status for the European Union at the end of the year. Today's meeting was important for this issue, but it is not enough to achieve this. Georgia needs national energy. Transformative changes will not be achieved with one action, we will again need gatherings, united, coordinated and courageous actions,” Vashadze listed the activities that are planned in the coming months:
- Let's directly start talking and negotiating with the West for Georgia's accession to the European Union.
- Let's release the political prisoners and stand by all those people who are oppressed by the existing system.
- Let's act systematically in order to obtain the EU candidate status at the end of the year, which means security and prosperity for us.
- Let's do all these actions together, just like we did today.
Kyiv Mayor, Vitali Klitschko, addressed the crowd in front of the parliament building, who thanked Georgian people for their support of the Ukrainian fight and their solidarity with them. According to Klitschko, Georgians know best what Russian aggression is and how Russia is trying to occupy neighboring countries.
“Georgians support Ukrainians not only morally, and we appreciate it. Your soldiers are fighting alongside us for the freedom and independence of Ukraine. I pay my respect to the memory of 36 brave Georgians who died for Ukraine. Since the beginning of the large-scale invasion of the Russian barbarians, many soldiers were wounded, some of them were captured by the Russians. We are grateful for your courage, desire for freedom and independence.
I am sure that Ukraine and Georgia, whose people aspire to a democratic Europe, will successfully overcome this path and our countries will become members of the European Union. No one can prevent our people from realizing their civilized choices. Today, this is how we defend Europe and its values. Glory to Ukraine! Glory to Georgia! Glory to our heroes!” Klitschko said in his video address.
The action ended with the national anthems of Georgia and Ukraine.
One year has passed since the beginning of the war in Ukraine. Russian President Vladimir Putin announced the invasion of Ukraine on February 24, 2022, at dawn. He called the war a “special military operation”, the aim of which was the demilitarization and denazification of Ukraine. At the end of September, Russian authorities held pseudo-referendums in the temporarily occupied Ukrainian regions of Donetsk, Luhansk, Kherson and Zaporizhia, and then declared these regions as Russian territorial entities. At the beginning of November, the Ukrainians regained control over Kherson. After February 24, Ukraine liberated about 54% of the lost territory, and by the end of the year, Russia controlled about 18% of all Ukrainian territory.
As President Volodymyr Zelensky said in his address to the population, it was a year of endurance, care, courage, pain, hope, unity and invincibility, the main result of which is that Ukraine has endured and not been defeated. According to Zelensky, his country will do everything to win in 2023.
