Ukrainian parliamentarian Kira Rudyk, vice-president of ALDE Europe and leader of the Voice party, recalled the first day of the war, noting that parliament had only 10 minutes to vote on martial law, and that politicians in Kyiv had promised to be united until victory achieved.

The statements were made on Saturday in the Parliament Palace at the beginning of the work of the Political Committee of the UDRP.

At the same time, Kira Rudyk thanked Romania for its support, stressing that future generations will not forget it.

“It’s been almost nine months since the invasion of Ukraine and so much has happened and I’ve learned so much. The most important lesson I’ve learned, the most important lesson of this war is that you can’t carry it alone. You can win , only when you have friends, brothers and sisters, allies by your side. I am very grateful to be here among allies, partners, sisters and brothers. I want to thank all of you for the help my country has received from you for all the weapons, money, kind thoughts, humanitarian aid, for the huge amount of food, for warm clothes, for the fact that so many children and women from Ukraine found their home in Romania. This is something that we will always remember and for which we will always be grateful,” she said .

She said that on the first day of the war, although parliamentarians were supposed to gather to vote on martial law, security and guards ruled it out, deeming it too dangerous, and the parliament building was threatened with bombing.

“You probably know that it is most difficult for politicians to be united. I want to share with you a very personal story. (…) On the first day of the war, at 5:00 a.m., the bombardment of Kyiv began in the city of Ranok. The most important thing that the parliament should do , when the war starts, is to get together and vote for martial law. We called each other as party leaders, hoping to get the parliamentarians together. Kyiv was falling apart, the people they were trying to evacuate with their families were being bombed everywhere, some were hiding in bunkers. Some of the parliamentarians did not respond and we didn’t know if we would make it. The guards and guards told us that we could not enter the parliament because it was too dangerous and that the next target for bombing was the Ukrainian parliament. It was really dangerous because it’s in the middle of a big park, and it wasn’t too hard for enemy pilots to drop some bombs there, so I’m going to pick us up at 7:00, no matter how many people come,” Kira Rudick said.

President Golos noted that 400 of the 420 deputies had gathered. There was no light in the building, and the windows were covered with sandbags.

“Security and guards told us: ‘You will have a maximum of 10 minutes, after that we will no longer be able to ensure your safety.’ The parliament building was in complete darkness, there were many soldiers inside, all the windows were boarded up. with sandbags We tried to quickly to enter, and looking around saw that 400 of the 420 members of parliament had come. We were so scared, and for ten minutes, when we were desperately pressing the buttons, asking for help from all countries in Europe and the world, declaring martial law, declaring war and mobilizing , to make sure that the country is preparing for war and that we are ready to face the aggressor – we sang the national anthem and held hands .. was the most emotional moment of my life. And at that moment I took an oath: no matter how hard it is for us politicians, we will united until we win the war,” said Kira Rudick.

She noted that Ukrainian politicians, as before, are united for a common goal, and emphasized that everything is possible when people are united. At the same time, he thanked the USR and ALDE leaders for their support to Ukraine.

“We live in a time when impossible things happen. At the beginning of the war, no one believed that we would last more than two or three days, then no one believed that we would get heavy artillery and that we would use it so effectively. And then no one I didn’t believe that we would last more than two or three days,” he said. No one believed that we would receive the status of a candidate country for joining the EU, no one believed that we would be capable of a counteroffensive and that we would return Kherson, now no one believes that we would join NATO, that Russia would be withdrawn from our territories and that we will restore our sovereignty. No one believes that we will seize Russian assets and use them for the benefit of our country, no one believes that we will become members of the EU and that we will rebuild Ukraine. But the most important thing is that we believe in it,” said the Ukrainian parliamentarian. (Source: Agerpres)