A Ukrainian honour guard stands as a symbolic illumination called "Rays of Memory" is seen over the graves of Ukrainian soldiers, who died in the war with Russia, at Lychakiv Military Cemetery in Lviv on 23 February, 2025, on the eve of the third anniversary of Russia's invasion of Ukraine. Photo: AFP
Ukraine's ambassador to New Zealand says Russia must be held to account for its invasion of Ukraine if a long-lasting peace deal is to be achieved.
Monday marks the third anniversary of Russia's invasion of Ukraine, which has led to an estimated casualty toll of nearly one million people.
Vasyl Myroshnychenko said he did not expect the conflict to go on as long as it had.
He said three years ago he was still in Kyiv when Russian paratroopers and special forces landed about 20 minutes away from where he was living.
"I was with my 18-year-old daughter, with my five-year-old son, with my wife, in bed hearing explosions, seeing Russians invading Kiev," he told RNZ's Midday Report.
"For me that will always be in my memory thinking about what the brutal Russian dictator has done deciding to invade a sovereign country, deciding to subjugate democracy next door."
In 2014, Russia seized the Crimean peninsula and then launched an insurgency to occupy parts of eastern Ukraine.
"They need to be held accountable for what they've done, for their act of aggression, for their numerous war crimes, for their crimes against humanity," Myroshnychenko said.
"Because if aggression is rewarded it sends a very strong signal to other authoritarian leaders who will believe that 'might is right', those who have nuclear weapons will believe they can do whatever they want because they have nuclear weapons."
Thanks to British and American leadership countries created a coalition in support of Ukraine, which New Zealand had joined, he said.
It was great to see bi-partisan support for Ukraine in New Zealand, as well as support from regular Kiwis, he said.
He said he had been in New Zealand for a fortnight recently and met with government and opposition politicians, as well as meeting with mayors in Auckland, Wellington and Christchurch and attending Waitangi Day events.
"Everywhere I went, all the Kiwis I met, everybody was expressing their support for Ukraine and this is very heartening, this is very uplifting."
Supporting Ukraine means investing in security
New Zealand needed to continue supporting Ukraine because there was so much at stake, he said.
"It's not a charity, it's an investment into your own security," he said.
"We see how the security environment is changing in the Indo-Pacific, how fragile it can become and how affected New Zealand, Australia and your Pacific neighbours can become.
"You were relying and everybody else was relying on a rules-based international system of the UN charter and all the principles which are enshrined in that charter which Russia has blatantly dismantled and therefore it's creating a very dangerous world for all of us."
Peace must be sustainable
Myroshnychenko said both Ukraine and the US administration wanted to end the war.
"But we need to have robust, sustainable peace, we need long-lasting peace and most importantly we need justice.
"We need justice for what has been done because if aggression is rewarded, if war crimes are not being accounted for, if Russians can get away with what they've done - it's really created lots of instability globally."
It was important for American, European and Ukrainian leadership to speak to Russian leader Vladimir Putin from a position of strength, he said.
"That's the only way we can have a durable peace, because of course we can probably get some sort of ceasefire that four years later Russians will restock, resupply and mount another attack."
For example Russia attacked Ukraine in 2014 and were emboldened by the weak reaction from the international community to attack again, he said.
"We need to have security guarantees to make sure that Russians don't invade us in the future."
US President Donald Trump recently sparked outrage after falsely calling Zelensky "a dictator" and claiming Ukraine started the war.
Myroshnychenko said Ukraine was in constant contact with the US administration, as well as maintaining close contact with the European Union and European nations.
"It's only American and European leadership together that can guarantee a sustainable peace and this is what we want to achieve."
The "stellar" leadership of Ukraine's President Volodymyr Zelensky had "inspired the world to come to Ukraine's help" and without that assistance Ukraine would not have been able to survive, Myroshnychenko said.
At a media conference on the weekend Zelensky said that he was "ready" to resign as leader if it meant it brought peace to his country, suggesting he could swap it for NATO membership.
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