Jakarta – The Russia-Ukraine war is not just about territorial grab, it is also about preserving Ukrainian values, freedom, and identity, Deputy Director General of the Ukrainian Institute Alim Aliev said at Taman Ismail Marzuki here on Tuesday.

This can be seen from the number of cultural objects that have been destroyed, which has reached around 500. Many artists have also left Ukraine due to the war, he highlighted.

“For us, it (a cultural object) is the expression of our identity because culture has been in our blood,” he said.

The assault against Ukrainian’s identity has also manifested itself in the way Russia has imposed its totalitarian ideal on Ukraine, according to Olexiy Haran, a comparative politics professor at the National University of Kyiv-Mohyla Academy (UKMA).

Russia is trying to make Ukraine a part of itself to the extent that Ukraine is to be called Little Russia, that is, it will not have its own name, he said.

Among the values that Ukrainians have, freedom is the most important one that Ukraine is trying to defend in the war, he added.

Freedom, in this case, means freedom to speak whatever language that Ukrainians wish to speak, to elect their own leaders, and to solve their own problems.

“I may speak the Russian language, but I don’t want a Russian to come here and teach me how to behave,” he remarked.

This is especially important given that historically, Ukraine never had a monarchy, although there were foreign tsars that tried to occupy it, he explained.

Aliev and Haran have come to Indonesia in order to establish contact, garner support, as well as spread news concerning the situation in Ukraine.

This is important given the massive advantages that Russia has, to the extent that Haran compared Ukraine’s current war to the fight between David and Goliath.

Haran said he expects Indonesia’s support given its history of fighting for independence from foreign oppressors.

During their five-day visit from February 6 to February 10, 2023, Aliev and Haran are scheduled to hold a series of meetings with various ministries and institutions.

Source: Antara News