Mykola Doroshenko, Ambassador Extraordinary and Plenipotentiary of Ukraine to Uzbekistan, gave an interview to Yep.uz. I asked him the following question: “What does Ukraine expect from Uzbekistan — both from its people and its leadership? To what extent are those expectations being met?” The meeting took place on March 3, 2022, at the Ukrainian Embassy in Tashkent.
Mykola Doroshenko: What is happening in Ukraine today? It is a war aimed at destroying Ukrainian citizens, a war intended to impose the so-called “Russian world,” which no one in Ukraine is waiting for.
What you are currently seeing on Uzbek television channels — by which I mean Russian channels broadcasting in Uzbekistan and shaping public opinion — is a narrative claiming that we are killing ourselves, that “nationalists and fascists” are murdering their own people, and that Putin is a liberator. People are being indoctrinated, and that is deeply regrettable.
You can see for yourself how Kharkiv is being destroyed, how Kyiv, Chernihiv, Mykolaiv, Kherson, and other cities are being shelled and effectively erased from the face of the earth. Modern artillery and missiles are being used against residential neighborhoods in Ukrainian cities. The images are horrifying and available online.
Today, this is a genuine humanitarian catastrophe for Ukrainian society, and we want to stop it and awaken public awareness. In particular, we are talking about Uzbekistan and about bringing information to people so that, through their relatives and friends in Russia — where more than one million Uzbek citizens work — they can help shape public opinion against the war. We need images of this terrible war to open the eyes of Uzbek society as well.
Yep.uz: Are those images not available in Uzbekistan’s media?
Mykola Doroshenko: They are, but there are far too few of them. You read and watch the media yourself. We would like to see more of those images.
We sent a note to Uzbekistan’s Ministry of Foreign Affairs requesting the closure of television channels that spread false information about the war in Ukraine (Yep.uz has also regularly called on Uzbek authorities to shut down Russian propaganda channels). We understand that deciding which channels to broadcast is a matter for the government, the authorities, and the businesses that operate them — that is their right. However, we want to draw attention to the fact that such channels create a distorted perception of events.
Every day we send information and press releases to Uzbek media about the situation in various regions of Ukraine, including data on casualties and damage to infrastructure and hospitals. You have seen the bombed orphanages and hospitals where children with cancer were being treated — those children have now spent a week in basements.
Let me give you one example. We posted an appeal on the embassy’s Facebook page asking citizens of Uzbekistan to donate money and humanitarian aid for elderly people, children, and hospitals (Yep.uz provides the banking details at the end of this article. To collect donations, the Ukrainian Embassy opened both Uzbek-soum and U.S.-dollar accounts at the National Bank for Foreign Economic Activity).
I also shared the appeal on my personal social media page. One comment, written by a woman named Guzaliya Golovleva, said: “People, have you all gone crazy? You’re not collecting money for women and children, you’re supporting fascists who are killing their own people.”
This is not everyone’s opinion. We receive a great deal of support from Uzbek citizens, bloggers, representatives of public organizations, groups, and opinion leaders. We see that they are watching this terrible war unfold live and expressing solidarity with Ukraine. Other citizens respond to people like this woman and challenge such views.
But she also wrote: “So who is bombing them? Russia? It is their own authorities. And I don’t think your money will even reach your relatives. I truly feel sorry for civilians and for your relatives because they are innocent and have been caught in events that make one’s blood run cold. I sincerely sympathize with them and with you, but I simply don’t have the patience to read these comments.”
That was written by Guzaliya Golovleva. Unfortunately, there are many people who think similarly, which is why I ask you to help spread information.
I would also ask you to publicize the hotline established by Ukraine’s Ministry of Defense for relatives of Russian soldiers and officers:
+380894201860
+380894201861
+380894201862
Perhaps, through Uzbek citizens working in Russia, this information will reach mothers and other family members.
We have appealed not only to the public but also to Uzbekistan’s Ministry of Foreign Affairs for humanitarian assistance. Thank God, we have already received confirmation from the ministry that a humanitarian aid flight from the government of Uzbekistan is being prepared. We are currently discussing which airport will receive the cargo. It will go to Poland and then be delivered onward to Ukraine.
Yep.uz: How large will this aid package be?
Mykola Doroshenko: I do not know yet. We sent a long list of needs to Uzbekistan’s Foreign Ministry, and it may be expanded depending on what resources are available.
This is a positive development and part of the answer to your question about our expectations. We hope for humanitarian aid for the elderly and for children, including babies being born in basements. You have seen the images of children sheltering in subway stations.
What is important is that a nationwide resistance movement has emerged in Ukraine. Ordinary citizens have joined the effort to resist the aggression.
You and I belong to a generation born in a country that ceased to exist in 1991. We grew up with the song “The Sacred War”:
Rise up, mighty country,
Rise for a mortal fight
Against the dark fascist force,
Against the accursed horde.
Today, a fascist horde, a Russian horde, has entered Ukraine, and you can see the devastation it brings. They shelled the area around Babyn Yar. A television tower stands nearby, and their strike hit the Babyn Yar memorial complex. Our president addressed the nation afterward. Many Ukrainians felt as though the approximately 100,000 Jews murdered at Babyn Yar had been killed a second time by Russian fascists.
We must speak openly about the fact that this horde is violating international law and destroying civilians. This is not a war against the military. It is a war against cities, residential neighborhoods, and the infrastructure that sustains them. Elderly people, children, and ordinary citizens are suffering. Most importantly, we are now appealing to the Red Cross to establish humanitarian corridors so that refugees can leave combat zones. People in Kharkiv, Kherson, and other cities want to escape the shelling.
The horde does not listen. It is deaf to such appeals. It is simply sacrilegious.
It is also very important for us that you use your Telegram channel and your website to publish photographs of these destroyed cities — look at Kharkiv, Chernihiv, Irpin, Bucha, and Vorzel.
Yesterday, Ukraine’s First Lady Olena Zelenska appealed to first ladies around the world to call for an end to hostilities and the withdrawal of Russian troops. I hope similar appeals will appear here in Uzbekistan. Of course, we would welcome such a statement from Mrs. Mirziyoyeva and the president’s family.
Uzbekistan has a deputy prime minister responsible for family and women’s affairs. The voice of reason should be heard and should reach the public so that comments like the ones I quoted earlier do not become widespread.
Yesterday, the UN General Assembly adopted a resolution in which 141 countries supported Ukraine, while five countries voted against it. Look at Russia’s level of support: only Eritrea, Syria, North Korea, Belarus, and Russia itself opposed the resolution.
One hundred forty-one countries called the war a war and demanded an end to the aggression and the withdrawal of Russian troops from Ukraine.
Yep.uz: Kazakhstan, Armenia, Kyrgyzstan, Tajikistan, China, and India abstained.
Mykola Doroshenko: Yes, 35 countries abstained. Uzbekistan did not vote.
Yep.uz: Uzbekistan did not vote. Azerbaijan and Turkmenistan also did not vote.
Mykola Doroshenko: The number of countries supporting Ukraine has continued to grow — it is now 85.
Yesterday, 38 countries appealed to the Hague tribunal to open an investigation into possible war crimes committed against Ukraine in recent years. The court will ultimately decide, but we hope that Russia will be held accountable. Lawyers and activists are collecting evidence of destruction and aggression dating back to 2014, when Russia annexed Crimea and the war in eastern Ukraine began.
We are doing everything possible to stop the war and to raise awareness in Uzbekistan so that people can share information through their relatives and friends. Yesterday, the Ukrainian delegation traveled to a second round of negotiations with the Russian side. I hope these talks will bring progress. (By the time this interview was published, the second round of talks had concluded, and the sides agreed only on the possibility of temporary ceasefires in sectors where civilian evacuations would take place through humanitarian corridors.)
Ukraine did not attack Russia. Ukraine did not provoke this war. What is happening is a war driven by the ambitions of one sick individual. The entire world now sees his behavior as irrational. He threatens the world with nuclear weapons. You heard his call for the “denazification” of Ukraine. We cannot even understand what that is supposed to mean. The destruction of a nation? If they call us Nazis — people who speak Russian, Ukrainian, Uzbek, Belarusian, and many other languages — that is horrifying.
You see that Kadyrov’s forces are preparing to fight Ukrainians, yet among those defending Ukraine are around two million Muslims. Crimean Tatars and Chechens are defending Ukraine. And the president of the country is Jewish. So are they Nazis too?
The ambassador also expressed gratitude for any assistance, even very small donations (for example, 23,000 soums or 50,000 soums). Such contributions show that people care about Ukraine’s fate and want to help those suffering from war and aggression.
