The Victor Pinchuk Foundation has opened the Russian War Crimes Exhibition in Berlin in partnership with the Pinchuk Art Centre, Office of the President of Ukraine, Ministry of Foreign Affairs of Ukraine, Deutsche Bundestag, Humboldt University of Berlin.
On September 4 2023, the Victor Pinchuk Foundation and Pinchuk Art Centre, in partnership with the Office of the President of Ukraine, Ministry of Foreign Affairs of Ukraine, Deutsche Bundestag and Humboldt University of Berlin, opened the Russian War Crimes exhibition in Berlin. The project shows photos taken from all over Ukraine since the start of Russia’s brutal and unprovoked full-scale invasion of Ukraine on February 24, 2022. Even so, it only addresses a fraction of the committed crimes. It makes the Western audience witness the stories of torture, executions, and bombardments committed by Russians against Ukraine’s service members and civilians.
Katrin Göring-Eckardt, Vice-President of Bundestag; Victor Pinchuk, founder of the Victor Pinchuk Foundation, Pinchuk Art Centre and YES; Wolfgang Ischinger, President of the Foundation Council of the Munich Security Conference Foundation, YES Board Member; Andriy Yermak, Head of the Office of the President of Ukraine; Dr Claus Kress, Director of the Institute of International Peace and Security Law at the University of Cologne; Julia von Blumenthal, President of Humboldt-Universität zu Berlin and Florian Jeßberger, Director of The Franz von Liszt Institute for International Criminal Justice at Humboldt-Universität zu Berlin spoke at the official opening of the Russian War Crimes Exhibition.
Katrin Göring-Eckardt emphasised Russia’s international law and humanitarian rights violations. She noted the scale of the committed atrocities: “The exhibition Russian War Crime presents photographic evidence of Russian atrocities in Ukraine. At its heart are the innocent victims. The exhibition makes clear the massive extent of the terrible deeds committed. And it stands as a reminder to those of us in positions of political responsibility worldwide: These crimes must be punished. Russia and Putin must be held responsible.”
In his speech, Victor Pinchuk said: “We created this exhibition because we hope that it will help decision-makers make a firm decision to send more weapons much quicker. Of course, we have shown this exhibition many times already, but the specific of this exhibition is that evil is very productive. Each time, in each edition of this exhibition, we have to show new and new images — because evil is working nonstop. Even today, you will see images of a crime committed recently in Chernihiv. Just two weeks ago, a Russian ballistic missile destroyed a theatre there — seven people were killed, and more than 150 were wounded”.
Andriy Yermak addressed the audience through a video, emphasising again the vital significance of following the peace formula proposed by the President of Ukraine, Volodymyr Zelensky and demanding justice for the war crimes committed by Russia: “Since February 2022, 136,000 crimes have been committed against Ukrainians due to the large-scale Russian aggression. According to our data, about 11,000 civilians have been killed during this time, 497 of whom were children. And these are not the final figures. Another 20,000 children have been kidnapped and taken to the Russian. Many of them have living parents in Ukraine, but they were forcefully adopted. These figures are not comprehensive, and the list of crimes is far from exhaustive. We demand justice for every tortured and killed Ukrainian, for every destroyed home, for every tear shed by a Ukrainian child”.
At the end of the discussion, Wolfgang Ischinger gave a closing speech. “There is no such thing as nice pictures about war and war crimes. There is no such thing as war crimes without blood, torn bodies, suffering, and genocidal activities. And I think it is our duty to show our population, our voters, and even our children that war does not exist in academic papers. War is something that exists at this moment, right here, in the heart of Europe. If one could fly to Kyiv, they would be there in less than two hours. And then we also remind you, and the point has been made, that it is unfortunate that we here in Berlin, here in Germany, tend to have forgotten so easily and so much about a war that came to Berlin 80 years ago. Some eighty years ago, we took it to Ukraine and other parts of the former Soviet Union”. He added, “I think we should not do too little too late. Let us do more right now”.
The Russian War Crimes exhibition was first shown at the former Russia House in Davos during the World Economic Forum (WEF) Annual Meeting 2022. Later, it was displayed, with significant impact, in the Houses of Parliament in London, at NATO Headquarters and the European Parliament in Brussels, as well as in NYC during the UN General Assembly. In January 2023, the exhibition returned to Davos, where its new version was again demonstrated during the World Economic Forum (WEF) Annual Meeting. Later, this project was hosted at the Munich Security Conference, and in the summer of 2023, it was exhibited during the NATO Summit in Vilnius, in July 2023, and in August 2023 in Bratislava.
Top Photo: Russian War Crimes. In partnership with PinchukArtCentre, Office of the President of Ukraine, Ministry of Foreign Affairs of Ukraine, Deutsche Bundestag, Humboldt University of Berlin.
Victor Pinchuk Foundation “Russian War Crimes Exhibition” September 4th, 2023 – September 16th, 2023